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Old 09-01-2018, 11:08 AM   #51 (permalink)
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Finally gotten around to a vertical skirt. Some of the self-imposed challenges were 1.) creating a means by which this could be removed without any tools, 2.) creating a stiff and robust installation 3.) minimizing the need to physically work underneath the car to attach 4.) minimizing bracketry that had to be added through the addition of new holes (I wanted to avoid drilling under the car). So by and large I succeeded, though I'm still not 100% satisfied.

I achieved most of my goals by utilizing the underfloor cladding already underneath the car. The Dart is pretty well cladded mid-wheelbase. Thus I was able to remove the underfloor and did most of the work on a bench in my garage (achieving # 3). I did have to add a bracket that mounts to the floor of the car independant of the underfloor cladding, and it's secured at the moment by a rivet. Furthermore, this bracket draws the cladding up as it was sagging under the weight of the skirt (the cladding that requires the bracket is a part I created a few years ago that is detailed earlier in this thread; by its nature it is thin and light weight, thus not particularly stiff across the distance it spans as it never was intended for the task I've repurposed it for). Thus, if the bracket fails, rivet pulls out, whatever, the entire skit will drawdown lower; not catastrophically low, but it would need to be addressed then and there in the event of any sort of failure.

At the leading edge I drew the skirt inboards to achieve two goals. First, I wanted to creat something I didn't have to remove every time I took the car to the dealer for work (oil change, tire rotations, etc.). And the skirt as originally devised would have been only offset an inch or so from where I believe they typically lift the car from. Secondly, I thought it might be worth moving it inboard to further grab the junky air coming off the inboard edge of the front tire. It creates a very subtle 'S' curve in plan. Secondly, the skit is only about 2/3s of the wheelbase. As you go rearwards, the car's floor goes up in X (height), and the surface isn't particularly geometric, thus I would have had to made a deep bracket that mounted to a organic surface shape. So I've punted on that for now.














I've only done the LH side for now; ran out of time (company coming over for the Auburn game at 3:30, War Eagle!) and will tackle the RH side tomorrow.

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Old 09-01-2018, 10:25 PM   #52 (permalink)
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I'm agog to see how this affects your performance. When you have the second fence in place (I think that's what you would call a skirt mounted inboard of the extreme edge), I wonder how it will affect the handling.
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Old 09-01-2018, 11:01 PM   #53 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by elhigh View Post
I'm agog to see how this affects your performance. When you have the second fence in place (I think that's what you would call a skirt mounted inboard of the extreme edge), I wonder how it will affect the handling.
Honestly have no reason to think there will be any affect. Took car out tonight, in assymetric config, mainly to verify the skirt depth isn't going to collide with the myriad of speed bumps in my area, and there was no notice at speeds upwards of 50 mph.
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Old 09-02-2018, 12:25 AM   #54 (permalink)
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Once you have inner and outer skirts, like Aerocivic, it will be measurable.
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Old 02-21-2019, 07:51 PM   #55 (permalink)
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Getting close to the MkII version of the wheel covers:



Depends on weather this weekend as its been raining here the last week it seems (and I think it's going to continue)...

My stipulations were, given the issues I had with the previous hubcaps, that they were captured by the lug nuts and have a sympathetic shape. I really like the shape of the previous ones, and this was the closest I could get (turns out they're direction knock offs of the OEM hubcaps without "Dodge" on them anywhere). These are cheapo made in Taiwan hubcaps. $40 for the 4. I've simply plugged all the openings in each one. Nothing dramatic.
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Old 03-27-2019, 08:45 PM   #56 (permalink)
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Finished product. This took entirely too long, but the weather and my painting skills conspired against me!




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Old 03-27-2019, 09:57 PM   #57 (permalink)
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Is that a hatch with latch? (sorry)

What did you use for paint?
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Old 03-27-2019, 10:07 PM   #58 (permalink)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by freebeard View Post
Is that a hatch with latch? (sorry)

What did you use for paint?
Yes, floating nut plate to get access to the valve stem.

Oh, it's just a rattle can job!
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Old 03-27-2019, 10:17 PM   #59 (permalink)
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Those have got to be some of the sharpest smooth wheel covers I've seen! Nice work!

Did you use fiberglass or vinyl to cover up the holes before painting?
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Old 03-28-2019, 12:11 AM   #60 (permalink)
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Nice work! Wanna do a set for me? Lol

They almost look like the covers on the Tesla Model3...

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