I’ve been thinking about your project and believe the chop top will be a step in the wrong direction because you made this statement.
Quote:
Originally Posted by foxhound
im going to make molds of most of my stuff so i would be willing to build and sell extras.
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The
92-95 Civic is currently in the 15-20 year old sweet spot for a
kit car building platform.
The original owners are gone and second owner reliable transportation guy is stepping up to a 5-7yo car. It’s starting to be forgotten by the performance enthusiast crowd. It is now falling into the end user category.
Cars and parts are readily available. It has a strong aftermarket supply for anything you may want or need.
It is a popular platform for hypermiling!
No one makes an ultra low drag coefficient body kit!
A chop top will alienate your customer base!
I think the best course of action is to make a full bolt on body kit that anyone with a basic tool set can install over a weekend!
This will have a much larger potential market than the fastback truck bed topper guy on here has. You have indicated that you are able to and will be making molds for large fiberglass panels.
If you can spray 1, you can spray 1000.
You can make several versions of this.
The basic kit could be a comet tail that replaces the rear hatch only. It would bolt on and open and shut like factory. A reshaped front bumper cover could also be included.
A full kit could be a more extreme comet tail that replaces the rear hatch, tail lights and bumper cover and could extend further back.
Front would be a pointy nose that mates up flush to hood slope.
Instead of doing a 4” chop top you could change the slope of the hood to equal a 4” rise at the windshield or equal with the top of the mirrors. I think reduced drag gains would be similar to a chop top. I don’t know if there is a lower AS-1 line but I have seen many cars with decals down there and it won’t affect visibility for most drivers. Front edge of hood would be same as stock so nose piece fits either and hood is an option.
You can also make fender skirts, mirror deletes and numerous other accessories.
Attached photo is Aerocivic with a longer nose and the hood rise. Back is extended and I chopped in an inverted factory hatch glass which will work for a whale tail like the Oldsmobile has. Slide it a little further back on the slope and it could line up nicely with projected top and bottom curve of side windows.
Skyl4rk, this web site has suddenly changed me from normal guy to ultranerd in 5 days!