I hope Cd has answers for your questions, and I don't want to distract from your request for his thouhts:
Quote:
Originally Posted by brucepick
Cd, ya got any ideas on this stuff?
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But I have a different suggestion. What if trunk access were significantly rethought. What if the trunk lid itself were modified so that the lid only lifted 6" and the aft portion of the lid, with the tail lights, swung down like a tail gate? The clear kammback would not need to move anymore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by brucepick
The toughest challenge I see in extending a panel from the roofline is that the roofline is bowed upward at the middle, when you view from the rear. This makes for problems in hinging the panel for trunk access. Couple that with the preference for a panel that curves downward towards rear per the template, and that means the panel would have a compound curve, not easy to build or even to fake.
The hinge for the horizontal panel - to enable opening the trunk - is what I'm having a very difficult time picturing, due to the bowed roofline. I think the widest possible spaced hinges would be two, about a foot apart, centered on the roof transverse line. The outer corners of the panel, where the roof meets the C-pillar, would have to be free to hinge the panel up to open the trunk. I could anchor those front corners with removable screws, and would have to remove them before releasing the trunk latch. Even so, I fear the plastic would eventually crack when lifting it up supported only by two hinges at the forward end.
To give it the compound curve, I could cut a lengthwise slit in the panel, and slightly overlap the edges. Or turn the slit into a V-cut and just bring the two edges together. Either way, the plastic panel is weakened by the cut, and would need fasteners down the center.
Cd, ya got any ideas on this stuff?
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