Bassjuicing a Volt in Photoshop

[Cd]

Until just last week, I was seriously thinking of buying a used first gen Cheby Volt.
I passed one up for just over $6,000, and it was loaded with options.
This is what I had planned for the car.

The boattail would be made of thick plastic sheet I get from work. ( reused trash )
The inner structure would have been done much like the Insight boattail Metro had done using ribbing.
I also would incorporate his exposed tailight design.

The sheet plastic would have been bonded using epoxy, and would have had a clean fit and finish, with no exposed bolts, rivets, or other protrusions.

The Volts I have seen for sale are all in great shape, so this would have been a professional looking effort.

The plan was to attach the boattail for long trips, and drive around town with the tail off.
Attach points would be from the removal of the stock spoiler.

I didn't plan to go all out Bassjuicing it to the extreme with wheel covers, but I did a mockup anyway.
The Volt has a very flush wheel to body transition, so I'm not sure the front wheel covers would be worth it on this car.

[Cd]

This is the level I planned to stop at :





The last image is just taking the boattail to a full length.
It would be impractical, and most likely not show much benefit over a shorter length - but I drew it on anyway.

[Stubby79]

Looks a little fishy to me!

[freebeard]

It's moot, but I'd consider bringing the boat tail up to the rear wheel arches to mimic a Turnpike Cruiser style skirt, and incorporating Mercedes IAA-style retractable extension plates.

How would you attach and detach the boat tail and store it? Wheelie bars and standing upright on it's tail?

[Cd]

Originally Posted by freebeard

It's moot, but I'd consider bringing the boat tail up to the rear wheel arches to mimic a Turnpike Cruiser style skirt, and incorporating Mercedes IAA-style retractable extension plates.

How would you attach and detach the boat tail and store it? Wheelie bars and standing upright on it's tail?

Bring the boattail up to the rear wheel arches ? Like a 'Turnpike Cruiser' ?
Not sure what that is, and Google shows me images of an old 1950s Ford.
What do you mean bring it up ?

I actually have thought of a way to mimic the Mercedes.
There would be rails inside of a hollow box cavity.
( I was looking at drawer rails at my job.
They would work, but be really heavy. )
Panels would move back and forth on the rails, and have a spring that would pull them back to retract.
The main thing to overcome would be a way to activate the retraction when slowing down.

Perhaps a model aircraft servo.

I planned to also use servos to retract door mirrors.
They would fit flush against the door, but then pop out when triggered by a switch.
They would be spring loaded.

I planned to attach the boattail using the mounting points for the stock spoiler.

I would fashion up a cover to go over the void, but be easily removed.
Mounting on the bottom would attach to the frame using any attach points I could find, or from factory tow points.
The sides would float freely and have weather strip along the contact points to not damage the paint on the bumper.

[alexshock]

Hey, guys, last time I see this construction very often on different cars, mostly race-cars.



Where can I read about it? Is it some aeromodding trick?

[Cd]

Originally Posted by alexshock

Hey, guys, last time I see this construction very often on different cars, mostly race-cars.



Where can I read about it? Is it some aeromodding trick?

These are NACA ducts.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NACA_duct
They are a way to direct airflow to an area without an increase in drag and frontal area.

On this mockup, they are there to channel air into the remaining wake to decrease it's size.

It's a bit O.C.D., but every bit of drag reduction helps.
I also like the look of N.A.C.A. ducts.

I had them on my box cavity / Kammback.
I tested them, and airflow velocity through them was as good as from the edge of the roofline.
Unfortunately, I did not have a chance to test to see if they reduced drag, since I had the car stolen.
Yes ! You read that right - someone actually stole the car.
Imagine that L.O.L.

[alexshock]

Clear. Thank you!

Sad to hear that the car was stolen! It had so much efforts invested...

[freebeard]

Originally Posted by OP

Bring the boattail up to the rear wheel arches ? Like a 'Turnpike Cruiser' ?
Not sure what that is, and Google shows me images of an old 1950s Ford.
What do you mean bring it up ?

https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Even...-HARDTOP-22787

I meant something like 'extend it forwards to the wheel arch.' But what I learned from DDG Images is that they were called Supercruiser skirts. An example of Detroit following the customizers' bubble skirts.

According to Gene, Jimmy’s skirts became so popular that even the automakers tried to make them, “they were known as Mercury Turnpike Cruiser Skirts. Mercury made a kind of a similar skirt and put them onto their Turnpike Cruisers as accessories. They were made strictly for the Mercury’s. It didn’t have any of the styling that the Jones skirts had, but it was an attempt, and a lot of people bought Turnpike Cruiser skirts and put them on their car. Those came about because of the bubble skirt phenomenon in the Detroit area, and the factory figured out, hey why don’t we do that?”

https://kustomrama.com/wiki/Jimmy_Jones_Bubble_Skirts

That is a very interesting article (to me). Jimmy Jones was a blacksmith. His skirts were hand made and highly 'theftable'.



The Turnpike Cruiser was also interesting, with a roll-down 'Breezeway' back window and these ventilators:


https://cdn2.mecum.com/auctions/an11...5-233477_6.jpg

[Cd]

How would you attach such a thing ?
They would protrude and add frontal area.
The wheel pants / skirts ....SOCKS ! , I was thinking of would attach to the innner wheelwell lips.

BTW, Those are some neat looking cruizers !