Go Back   EcoModder Forum > EcoModding > Aerodynamics
Register Now
 Register Now
 

Reply  Post New Thread
 
Submit Tools LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 04-07-2009, 06:06 PM   #21 (permalink)
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: West
Posts: 145
Thanks: 1
Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by theunchosen View Post
Using sprayed in FG could be. . .risky. I've had FG cary body parts explode on the highway from rocks. It makes a lovely mess.

If you wanna go FG all you need to do is get a mold fabbed, put a liner down, lay Fiberglass cloth(Fiberglass Cloth in bidirectional weave) coat in resin and fixative and sit and wait. It heats up a little you wait 45 minutes pop it out sand, smooth paint bolt.
My first boss used to own a small company that made composite aircraft parts and small boats. They would coat the prototype with a waxy non-stick stuff, then lay a fiberglass mold over it and build up many layers. After it dried they would remove it, beef it up with a wood structure, and do some finish work such that the items done in the mold came out needing minimal handwork. I have never done this work myself but I understand it and know how it works. Fiberglass stinks and I have no desire to work with it myself unless I had a totally ventilated filtered room to work in wearing a haz-mat suit( I have neither). My machinist/fabricator work already cost me my lower back(reason I am at a desk now), and I'd like to retain a healthy respiratory system.

  Reply With Quote
Alt Today
Popular topics

Other popular topics in this forum...

   
Old 04-07-2009, 06:40 PM   #22 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Cookeville, TN
Posts: 850
Thanks: 1
Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts
Ah, yes you could layer it. . .I forgot you said it was a bathtub. . .manufacturer? The woven cloth is not as bad as the spray by a long shot. I made a duplicate of my current front bumper in case it exploded too.

Although the current bumper is easily 2-3 times stronger. The weave gives the material MUCH more strength than spray but it takes more time than spraying it and heating. With most resins out there you don't have to heat it or vacuum pump, but if you want you can get pre-impregnated for the ultimate in strength-density.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-07-2009, 08:00 PM   #23 (permalink)
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: West
Posts: 145
Thanks: 1
Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts
^^ Or use carbon fiber cloth instead...but I'd like to drive this thing not sit and drool on it all the time and get pissed everytime I get a rock ding.
Hoping to have Autocad in the mail today when I get home....
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-07-2009, 09:51 PM   #24 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Cookeville, TN
Posts: 850
Thanks: 1
Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by rkcarguy View Post
^^ Or use carbon fiber cloth instead...but I'd like to drive this thing not sit and drool on it all the time and get pissed everytime I get a rock ding.
Hoping to have Autocad in the mail today when I get home....
only downside is CF is way more expensive. . .and its actually heavier. If you wanted to do the chassis CF is the way to go but for body FG I would recommend some form of very resilient paint lol. FG is as light as it comes and since body panels don't support weight. . .

Yeah. . .rocks are the bane of composites. . .or at least CF and FG. I'm still looking for something thats a much thicker paint that might be able to dissipate rock impact energy. . .
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2009, 12:17 AM   #25 (permalink)
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: West
Posts: 145
Thanks: 1
Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by theunchosen View Post
only downside is CF is way more expensive. . .and its actually heavier. If you wanted to do the chassis CF is the way to go but for body FG I would recommend some form of very resilient paint lol. FG is as light as it comes and since body panels don't support weight. . .

Yeah. . .rocks are the bane of composites. . .or at least CF and FG. I'm still looking for something thats a much thicker paint that might be able to dissipate rock impact energy. . .
Vacuum formed tupperware body panels=Win
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2009, 12:22 AM   #26 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Cookeville, TN
Posts: 850
Thanks: 1
Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts
laugh laugh laugh FTW!
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-08-2009, 05:51 PM   #27 (permalink)
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: Massachusetts
Posts: 216
Thanks: 0
Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post
Rubberized undercoating could absorb some minor impact damage to composites. Wouldn't look so nice and would be heavy, but would probably work.
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2009, 12:29 PM   #28 (permalink)
EcoModding Apprentice
 
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: West
Posts: 145
Thanks: 1
Thanked 5 Times in 5 Posts
Autocad came wednesday and drawings are in progress. It's funny because so far it looks similar to a flatter 1st gen MR2...
I'm talking to a friend of mine who seems to think I'm not too far off taking a mold off of the original nose fabrication and using it to vacuum form ABS or Polycarbonate sheet....
I really like the K-1attacks nose and have styled mine similar however more neutral shaped as far as aero and no batmobile vents holes and stuff.
Getting headlights at 24" on center from the ground is proving to be the hardest part, because the whole thing is only 28" off the ground to the bottom of the glass....
I'm thinking I need some really wide thin headlights lol...
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2009, 02:20 PM   #29 (permalink)
Master EcoModder
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Maui, Hawaii
Posts: 813
Thanks: 5
Thanked 34 Times in 26 Posts
Try putting the headlights in pods, mounted on aerodynamic stalks. I think that would minimize the disturbance to the flow over the vehicle itself.

It's actually practical because the vehicle can use off the shelf projector headlights like these

Low beam http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=1800

High beam http://www.rallylights.com/detail.aspx?ID=1801
  Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2009, 02:24 PM   #30 (permalink)
EcoModding Apprentice
 
CobraBall's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: North Texas
Posts: 112
Thanks: 0
Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts
You could use a surplus military fighter "drop/belly" fuel tank as used in the attached photos. You may not want a V8 for power.

Really narrow & aerodynamic.

Bellytank



List of external fuel tanks & specifications.
External Fuel Tank Product Index

Attached Thumbnails
Click image for larger version

Name:	SoCal Lakester.jpg
Views:	29
Size:	15.8 KB
ID:	3202   Click image for larger version

Name:	Lakester.jpg
Views:	29
Size:	30.3 KB
ID:	3203  
  Reply With Quote
Reply  Post New Thread




Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Win $100.00 in Free Gas! Design Contest: Ecomod my Ride XFi EcoModding Central 127 02-17-2011 01:07 AM
What Does a Cool, Aero Car Design Look Like? SVOboy EcoModder Blog Discussion 0 01-26-2009 06:00 AM
Basic aero question (can dents hurt MPG?) reformed Aerodynamics 5 04-14-2008 09:59 PM
EV-1 aero question Otto Aerodynamics 3 04-09-2008 06:03 PM
tigra AERO PROJECT rear end question fabrio. Aerodynamics 19 03-31-2008 01:01 PM



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.
Content Relevant URLs by vBSEO 3.5.2
All content copyright EcoModder.com