'62 Dodge D-100 'aero-back' concept

[aerohead]

I mentioned this @ permalink#2044,page 205,of the 'Interesting Aerodynamic Cars' thread.
I abandoned this project in 2005 when AeroStealth sold me his T-100.It's languished ever since.
The idea was to lose the entire truck bed and construct a new one which incorporated boat-tailing from right behind the cab,both in elevation and plan-taper.
I first constructed a wooden flatbed,then attached underfloor storage pods,fore and aft of the wheels,a between-the-frame spare tire enclosure,and then above-floor storage pods.
Everything is fashioned with the Aerodynamic Streamlining Template in mind,morphing from station to station,gaining tumble home and transverse radii.
The wheels are 'just' contained within the profile,and would be fully-skirted in the finished product.
Between the upper pods I maintained a little over 48" clearance so drywall and plywood could still be easily transported.Raiseable in-floor rollers would help with ingress/egress.









The aero-back just satisfies the basic needs of a pickup bed while optimizing pressure recovery in the wake and would bridge that gap between the aerodynamics of a pickup and conventional automobile.Probably eclipse them.
I've done my best to photograph it in situ.I've got nowhere to move it to.So I apologize for the lowsy images.

[gumby79]

Grate work

Wouldn't the "bows"(left to right supports)cause a corrugated shape with my shrink wrap(like an Army 5ton)? This is why I ran the surface supports front to back as spars with resesed side to side bracing.
The consept is the same, but the superstructure would only occupy .5"giving much more "useable" space, and be light enough to have the complete superstructure removable in less than 5min. To alow full pallets of brick to sit side by side(or whatever load didn'tfit under the cap.
Gumby Stay Flexible

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by gumby79

Grate work

Wouldn't the "bows"(left to right supports)cause a corrugated shape with my shrink wrap(like an Army 5ton)? This is why I ran the surface supports front to back as spars with resesed side to side bracing.
The consept is the same, but the superstructure would only occupy .5"giving much more "useable" space, and be light enough to have the complete superstructure removable in less than 5min. To alow full pallets of brick to sit side by side(or whatever load didn'tfit under the cap.
Gumby Stay Flexible

Yes they'd intrude into the usable space horribly!
This exercise would have lead to USG tooling plaster to create a male plug,from which female molds would have been produced,to create the actual wet layups for a composite shell.
The original Chevy Corvette was created in this manner.
Since the shell would be completely compound surfaces,it would require very little internal bracing.None at all in some places.

[gumby79]

What do you think the composite final cap weight be ? I understand the project is not complete and was never built so you don't have an actual number I'm only asking for a gess. When you say composite do you mean carbon fiber or fiberglass?

Gumby Stay Flexible

[freebeard]

What might have been. Ah, well. Would the whole thing lift off the truck frame in one piece?

gumby79 -- There's also basalt fiber now. It's less brittle and expensive than carbon fiber.

[freebeard]

[talking to myself because I'm impatient]

From that thread:

I don't think it's worth the effort to finish.With a weak slant six and all the mods I'd done she peaked at 21.5 mpg @ 65 mph,which is 3.5 mpg worse than the T-100 'naked'.
A long block is $1,400 and even with a fresh engine I'm not confident that she'd do much better than low 20s.
A spare T-100 bed for experimentation is $800 minimum.That's not going to happen.
If I didn't have to drive the truck I could do a wood-based bed/cover,but the Insight's been...

That's a shame. I like the slant six; I had one in my Cortez. If that Chrysler block is worn, that just means bigger bearings and more displacement, right?

I just came across this:

Just A Car Guy : Deus Ex Machina - 66 Plymouth Barracuda with 480hp 273 on a 4 speed.



Massive air scoops in the lower front quarters and a hot 3" pipe for a rear wheel spat on the driver's side. Does the Barracuda backlight fit the Template?

Apropros of the http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post514606 thread; don't count the slant six out until you've tried a four-barrel carburetor.

$800 minimum...

PlyMetal™ Swing Door - PLYWOOD CORE WITH INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR ALUMINUM LAMINATES

Standard Sizes

49" x 110.5"
49" x 121"
Nominal
Thickness
Plywood
.500"
.750"
1.000"
1.250"

I can get this stuff [almost] right across the street for something like $100 for 4x8ft (if I had $100 ), maybe only skin on one side. So say $200 for 1 1/4" stuff. You'd cut your taper on the back half and add the scraps back on with cabinetmaker's biscuits.


Cab swap! There's got to be an old 1938 Dodge pickup cab in Texas.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Are you somewhat likely to restart this project?

[gumby79]

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Are you somewhat likely to restart this project?

It sounds like not likely. At least till after the insight joins the 100mpg club.
Gumby Stay Flexible

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by aerohead

Yes they'd intrude into the usable space horribly!
This exercise would have lead to USG tooling plaster to create a male plug,from which female molds would have been produced,to create the actual wet layups for a composite shell.
The original Chevy Corvette was created in this manner.
Since the shell would be completely compound surfaces,it would require very little internal bracing.None at all in some places.

That sounds like a good method for making multiple copies, but if interested in a "One-Off" could one use fan-fold insulation over the plywood forms and then cover it all in fiberglass cloth and epoxy resin?

The plywood (serial model) bucks would have to be trimmed down all around for the thickness of the composite assembly.

Looks like a lot of work went into this project.

Thank you for sharing.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by gumby79

What do you think the composite final cap weight be ? I understand the project is not complete and was never built so you don't have an actual number I'm only asking for a gess. When you say composite do you mean carbon fiber or fiberglass?

Gumby Stay Flexible

We could probably have maybe 8-flavors.
*Chopper-gunned,polyester resin.
*Hand laid,vacuum-bagged,autoclaved, epoxy resin/fiberglass
*Hand-laid polyester FRP.
*Hand laid vinyl ester FRP.
*Vacuum-bagged,autoclaved, pre-preg Carbon Fiber.
*Vacuum-formed ABS.
*Stamped-aluminum sheet with post-form thermal hardening.
*Stamped-steel,electric spot-welded,electro-dipped,standard automotive finish.
I'm not a manufacturing engineer,so I can't say with any certainty what weights would be.
A SWAG would be,find the best existing product on the market and cut it's weight in half.The egg-shelling of the compound surfaces would allow extremely thin wall sections at same strength.