I spent a (very) little amount of time with the hammer and dolly making the left side of the hood over the wheel straight-ish in order to test another aero idea for Sven.
This is with zero cleanup whatsoever but for a first shot at the concept, I'm pretty happy with how it's come out. I intend to bend the slice to the far right downward but couldn't get that to happen from the top side.
I know that this has been done before but, like with the fender cut outs, I wanted to test my method.
I like the louvers!
In reply to AxeHealey :
I'd suggest rounding the corners of the louvers... not so much for aero effect... but from a "make things less stabby" perspective
In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
Yep, on it!
AxeHealey said:In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
Yep, on it!
figured you were, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to type "less stabby"
If the cantilever slicks are too wide find some SpecMiata takeoffs. The Hoosier SM7.5s are a 205/50/15 tire and should work well on this and can be found pretty cheap.
Maybe add a fence/wall along the sides - don't round the corners, just weld them to some sides that will give it strength and make it look more complete. You could paint the whole area black or just the sides.
In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
And who could blame you!
In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :
Great minds! I've got two leads on free SM take offs. I did realize though that I'll have to run spacers now either way because the brackets on the coil overs make the braided brake lines touch the wheel.
In reply to jfryjfry :
Interesting idea, I hadn't thought of that. I know you have a cleaner solution in mind but I think I actually like the berkeleyed up fish gill look better, especially for this application.
The rounded off route seems to work well. There is still some danger but it is definitely less stabby.
The passenger side is done now too.
Not pictured but I now have a plan for solidly mounting the splitter and air dam. I also removed a big chunk of the thick, heavy firewall insulation.
A minor repair using off cuts of the hood structure and nuts and bolts that were attached to the car somewhere.
In reply to AxeHealey :
Just wait until Sleepy starts telling you that your battery box could be lighter.
In reply to Stampie :
So you're saying I should cut the chunk of the crash structure I think young Guac can live without before I'm shamed into it?
either that, or you lighten it up after borrowing stampie's fancy hole shear, which I inadvertently shamed him in to... you know, I forget if he bought it, or built it, or some combination of the two... during the Q45 build
AxeHealey said:In reply to Stampie :
So you're saying I should cut the chunk of the crash structure I think young Guac can live without before I'm shamed into it?
There's no avoiding him shaming you. He'll do it so nicely too while he just cuts you to the bone.
In reply to Stampie :
Well it won't be for this that he shames me!
I spent some time digging through the scrap pile to figure out the splitter mounts. I landed on some square tube and a couple brackets or deflectors of some sort of unknown origin. First was modifying the piece of square tube to mount along with the factory crash bar.
Pretty slick, if you ask me. Then it was trimming the bottom and sticking it to the bracket.
Nice.
I'm really happy with how that came out.
Even with all that has been hacked out of this car, I made sure that I would still be able to re-mount the trim. It tickles me.
And then there were two.
dunno how far back you plan the splitter to go (front wheel centerline is a common rules limitation), but hopefully you got a plan for supporting the back edge?
In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
Nothing solid (get it?) yet but I figure with the mid and forward mounts figured out, I'm well on my way.
Guac still scoots although I feel like it should be quicker. It's so loud with no windshield that it's impossible to hear anything but it seems like the engine is smooth and happy. The ridicuslicks fit with a 5mm spacer but it's still wicked close - like close enough that tire deflection would be a problem - and slow speed maneuvering is horrible. Definitely stepping down to SM size. The exhaust turn down rattles just off idle. I need to figure out how to get the tach working and the right side is higher in the rear than the left.
None of that really matters at the moment because Guac is so cool.
as long as you do better than these yahoos...
clip of results of the above short-moment arm support setup:
This things gives me visions of building an H-production MINI Roadster to road race.
In reply to DeadSkunk (Warren) :
I'd subscribe to that thread should the person who owns it after the challenge decide to go that route!
I believe I found my rear mounting points. I haven't found a fastener in my stash that'll screw into that clip but I'm still looking.
I also confirmed that I have the correct tap to make my forward mounts work.
I'll either need to make the splitter out of two pieces of wood (front and rear) from a scrap piece I have or I'll need to find myself a bigger piece of plywood.
AxeHealey said:I'll either need to make the splitter out of two pieces of wood (front and rear) from a scrap piece I have or I'll need to find myself a bigger piece of plywood.
two pieces shouldn't be a problem, I'd suggest finding some relatively straight grain and knot free wood (I'm partial to poplar) to help tie the pieces together front-to-back from the rear to the front mount points (that'll help spread the load out). if you've got the means, you could cut that piece with a bit of a taper so the blade gets mounted around 5deg front-down (assuming you're close to ride height now) and around 3inches of front clearance... or some washers could do that too.
try to give the front edge a round-over on the bottom, as judicious a curve as you can manage. you can round-over the top too... but that can almost be done just with sandpaper and getting it radiused 1/16 to 1/8th of an inch
In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
I think I follow everything you're saying. I actually will need to make a spacer block beneath the mid mounts I made to clear everything - my measurements (eyeball) were a little tight. I don't have the tools to make a wedge but I may be able to make something work.
I cut up the big scrap piece I have. I'm not so great with wood so I was thinking sandwich plates like I did for the rad support in the areas highlighted.
Obviously the forward piece would be cut out so the rear piece fits flush.
Alternatively I could try to cut butterfly keys and use those and glue to stick the pieces together(?). I don't believe there is a good place to mount the front edge of the rear piece separately.
At this point I'm about 50/50 buying a new sheet of wood and cutting what I really want or just saying berkeley it, Challenge, it'll do donkey.
I think you're well on track to earning the Most Fun Had at the Challenge award. This looks like a blast!
AxeHealey said:In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
Obviously the forward piece would be cut out so the rear piece fits flush.
Alternatively I could try to cut butterfly keys and use those and glue to stick the pieces together(?). I don't believe there is a good place to mount the front edge of the rear piece separately.
At this point I'm about 50/50 buying a new sheet of wood and cutting what I really want or just saying berkeley it, Challenge, it'll do donkey.
assuming you can afford it in the budget... don't go to the trouble you're thinking. just have the rear piece overlap like you have it laid out and take advantage of the big glue bond area from having them that way. It'll help lower the forward piece. If you want, (after you cut any clearance you need for the wheels turning) you can bevel/taper the underside of the bottom piece all along the back edge. that'll help act like a splitter ramp in the fender area and then as a gradual transition in the center section... and it'll be really strong.
In reply to maschinenbau :
I'm looking forward to lots of three wheel fun!
In reply to sleepyhead the buffalo :
See, now, that's why you're head aerodynamicist of this illustrious race team!
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