FINALLY SOME PICTURES!
The first image shows the side undertray constructed of 3 alloy extrusions (only two on the other side as the exhaust pipe runs down there)... they're sagging a bit because I have only attached them with 3 or 4 screws each. Once finished, I'll join them up with the two main centre undertrays just ahead and behind the rear axle.
That gold colour long piece of metal is where the centre belly pan will go... pics will have to wait for another day.
Also visible in the first shot are some rear wheel spats made of PVC pipe. I've also been working on flattening out the fuel tank.
Here you can really see the length of the side under-trays, 2 metres long (approx 6 feet):
They weren't quite long enough for the whole van, so these are two additional small panels about A4 size which will go just behind the front wheels:
I thought these last shots were fairly interesting as you don't often see hybrid composites like this... This is the front belly pan and it was built to be TOUGH! Bottom sheet is 200 gram/mē carbon fibre, followed by a few layers of 200 gram/mē kevlar, on top of that there are about 4 layers of 800 gram/mē fibreglass. And then some finishing fibreglass tape around the edges to absorb some of the excess resin...
So basically we have a reall MUTT of a composite right here. Fibreglass is actually very cheap all things considered, so that is what the bulk of this thing is made from... I chose a finer weave for the bottom layer (it's been applied to polyethylene sheet so the final finish will end up being very smooth!)
I actually wanted to get the woven carbon/kevlar, but they were out of stock. Carbon basically adds strength, whereas kevlar really adds toughness. It's better if you can get them combined into the same weave, but at least this way it will look totally black from underneath.
This is a rough outline. When the epoxy has cured in a few days, I'll cut this to a more exact shape. One thing I have done is extend the pan all the way to the sides of the car. These 'flaps' that you see will nicely curve back to where the wheel arch is...
