Then, lay the mesh over the opening, and channel your best impression of tying up a bustier by threading zip ties through the mesh. This is a little bit of art and a little bit of science. You want the zip tie to go through whatever hole in the mesh will keep the zip tie straight. And don’t pull each zip tie taught as you pass it through the mesh, because inevitably you’ll need to go back and adjust one or more by a hole or two. Again, zen-like patience is key.
And if you haven’t done a good job trimming the mesh, this is where you will discover it, rending your veins open and spilling your lifeblood onto the floor. Or at least onto your nice new bumper.
The other areas/openings that I left un-meshed were not exposing any coolers, and only some intercooler piping. Anything that is strong enough to have put a hole in intercooler piping is likely to have gone straight through the mesh anyway, so I wasn’t terribly concerned. And, with these huge new front tires, I might have to re-route some of my intercooler piping anyway.
OK, it’s time for the final product!
My evil trash panda was ready for an alignment! In the end, I actually could run some rear spacers if I wanted the wheels to be flush with the body, but that might have other side effects, so, for now, I’ll stick with it as it is. With the car on the ground and still almost no front camber, the width of the front tires didn’t look like it would be too much of a concern. Maybe a touch of trimming would need to be done, but not much.
The last time the car was out at the track, we were noticing some issues with oil pressure drops under hard braking. Maybe it would be time to investigate some solutions. But first, an alignment!
3 comments
Rather than the rubber nut dealies you used to secure the skirts, have you considered using rivnuts as a more fabricated and permanent solution?
I may end up using rivnuts. I wanted to use some kind of quick fastener but that did not happen.
Dude