Aerohead's going to the wind tunnel! We're passing the hat to help with costs.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

The F40 has that big wing and a backlight. I'm reminded more of the VW XL Sport.

It looks like VW are following along behind aerohead's lead.

This has turned out pretty fun.VW has assigned Cd 0.26 to the camera system XL Sport,claiming it to be the lowest drag sports car on Earth.So the Spirit of Ecomodder is running in this league.And with the coming smaller mirrors,the 'Spirit' will eclipse the XL Sport's Cd.

[aerohead]

I dragged some of the damaged body parts into a clearing on the shop floor and began the slow process of metal bumping to see if I can salvage them.
A trip to two local steel yards failed to provide me with a Texas-sized body dolly to back up hammer blows.
The trip back to Darko is 16-months out,so there's time for repairs and new goody's.
I'll be slowly adding some concrete flat work to the shop also.After two hernia repair surgeries I'm not looking to blow my guts back out trying to move heavy things across dirt and gravel.My 'pit' has flooded so many times that it's forced me to accelerate the concreting process just so I can use the silly thing on a regular basis.
Harbor Freight no longer supplies the rollers I used on the front skirts so they'll require a re-think.
I've already got a long list of things to try next time in Ogden.
I'm also in line for a 1st-gen Insight.Gary wants to go back with me to Darko,and it would be nice if he drove the Honda (stock). It would give us a second 'calibration model' to compare Cd's to the A2 and GM,Warren tunnels,like we got to do with the Prius.
It's hot,and the mosquitoes are taking blood,but it feels good to be swinging tools around the shop.

[aardvarcus]

I'll share an idea I i have been kicking around (but not tested yet) for low profile rollers for front skirts in lieu of conventional rollers. Mount two lazy-susan type spinners flat against the wheel skirt, one on each side with the centers more to the inside of where you would mount your rollers. Skin them with a circular layer of HDPE or UHMW (less friction for the initial contact). If you turned the wheel, it would push the tire into the flat face of the plastic (close to the edge), which would then begin to spin the lazy-susan. The further you turned the wheel, the more it would move towards the center of the plastic lazy-susan spinner combo. It would be important that at full lock it didn't make it to the very center, as you never would not want the wheel to contact the center as that wouldn't spin. If you had enough room vertically, you might actually be able to fit just one large spinner instead of two.

Just an idea for you to consider.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by aardvarcus

I'll share an idea I i have been kicking around (but not tested yet) for low profile rollers for front skirts in lieu of conventional rollers. Mount two lazy-susan type spinners flat against the wheel skirt, one on each side with the centers more to the inside of where you would mount your rollers. Skin them with a circular layer of HDPE or UHMW (less friction for the initial contact). If you turned the wheel, it would push the tire into the flat face of the plastic (close to the edge), which would then begin to spin the lazy-susan. The further you turned the wheel, the more it would move towards the center of the plastic lazy-susan spinner combo. It would be important that at full lock it didn't make it to the very center, as you never would not want the wheel to contact the center as that wouldn't spin. If you had enough room vertically, you might actually be able to fit just one large spinner instead of two.

Just an idea for you to consider.

I've looked at them and these are some of the reasons I was put off by them.
*they have exposed, dry, ball bearings with a very loose pre-load.
*They'd have to go from 'zero',to a fairly large angular velocity instantly (30-mph left-hand turns through green-lighted intersections).
*If I greased them,there's no facility for dust seals.
*I live on an unimproved road with a lot of dust which eats unprotected bearings.
I've got some stuff with sealed bearings to play with which is a larger diameter than the originals which will reduce the surface feet per minute,probably an improvement.If I have to move the poles outward much I can always enclose them in streamlined blisters if they poke out.

[freebeard]

One or two narrow, polished stainless steel leaf springs, secured on both ends (for reversing) with an inch or more of arch, at the front and back.

Since the radius of the arch is much greater than the roller, the wear from friction on the sidewall shouldn't be any more than the roller which has to spin up from a stop anyway.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

One or two narrow, polished stainless steel leaf springs, secured on both ends (for reversing) with an inch or more of arch, at the front and back.

Since the radius of the arch is much greater than the roller, the wear from friction on the sidewall shouldn't be any more than the roller which has to spin up from a stop anyway.

Something I ran into,was all the raised embossed rubber on the sidewalls.Anything that contacts this stuff 'hops'.
Up until so many years ago we had a BANDAG recapping outlet in the area which did tire buffing for local racers.They might have been handy for sidewall smoothing.
We've lost them,and we're left to our own devices.

[freebeard]

We've lost them, and we're left to our own devices.

Like a 5" angle grinder?

[aardvarcus]

Originally Posted by aerohead

I've looked at them and these are some of the reasons I was put off by them.
*they have exposed, dry, ball bearings with a very loose pre-load.
*They'd have to go from 'zero',to a fairly large angular velocity instantly (30-mph left-hand turns through green-lighted intersections).
*If I greased them,there's no facility for dust seals.
*I live on an unimproved road with a lot of dust which eats unprotected bearings.
I've got some stuff with sealed bearings to play with which is a larger diameter than the originals which will reduce the surface feet per minute,probably an improvement.If I have to move the poles outward much I can always enclose them in streamlined blisters if they poke out.

Thank you for the feedback, I was a little concerned about the longevity of the bearings, so your points about the lack of dust seals reinforces my fears that they may not last, even if they were greased initially. How about this idea then, instead of using lazy-susan type bearings use one real automotive quality sealed bearing (like a rear bearing from a front wheel drive car) with a through bolt to hold the plastic right in the center? Thoughts?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Like a 5" angle grinder?

It seem like a natural.The tire store that I trade at uses pneumatic grinders to prepare tire insides for internal patching.I'll take a look at the disc they're using.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by aardvarcus

Thank you for the feedback, I was a little concerned about the longevity of the bearings, so your points about the lack of dust seals reinforces my fears that they may not last, even if they were greased initially. How about this idea then, instead of using lazy-susan type bearings use one real automotive quality sealed bearing (like a rear bearing from a front wheel drive car) with a through bolt to hold the plastic right in the center? Thoughts?

That would sure be a durable pivot point.I'm limited in machining ability but like they say,necessity is the mother of invention (or,the necessity of inventing is a mutha!).