Ben's S10 Aero Cap

[bennelson]

Hey everyone,

For a while, I have been considering some sort of aerodynamic pickup truck cap for my '95 Chevy S10 Short bed.

I went so far as to experiment with construction plastic curved and taped over the top.

You can see the YouTube video of that here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1I2bfUT3k8c

I am trying to do something similar in shape to this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNAUaZvjKZw

After playing around with a few materials, I think I want to make it out of fiberglass. What scared me away from that before is that I have ZERO experience with it.

My dad has been doing some work on fiberglass-covered cedar canoes, so he has some materials and experience with it.

Then I got to thinking that if I spend a lot of time to make one of these, maybe I should use a form or mold. That way, I can always make another one. Maybe other people out there would want them too?

I was thinking to keep it pretty light and simple. Just a curved wedge. Maybe something that I can cut holes in and add lexan for windows later.

Any suggestions on doing this, what materials to use for a form, etc?

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[wyatt]

Here's a way I found. I have posted it in other places, but it's worth looking at again. Using Fiberglass/Foam Sandwich Composite
If you are going for a truely simple shape, there would be no need for a mold, just some dimensions for cutting some 1" pink or blue Styrofoam insulation. I would think materials of fiberglass sheet (or similar) and epoxy (or resin) should work fine. I have heard that you get black color by mixing graphite powder with the epoxy (or resin) and there are liquid dyes that will turn it white (or probably a whole host of other colors). Enjoy!

[nj trucker]

1.i would get few 1x2 boards and make a perimeter on top of the bed.

2.put cross bars every half of a foot or foot depending on how much you want the profile of the cover to change from front to back.

3.make a hoop (heavy wire or plywood) at the front of the bed to match the cab of your truck

4. tape is your best friend, fool around with different tapers/slopes, use it to plan out support hoops

5.at the next cross bar make a slightly smaller hoop and put a slight taper on the outer edge

6. repeat step 5 going smaller until your at the last cross bar

7. at the last cross bar flatten out your design and at the back of the bed make a slight lip to help with turbulence behind the bed

8. use thinner wire in between hoops to add support for the cover

9. cover with felt, or whatever you choose to make a temporary cover

10. make sure cover is tight and secured to the bed, c-clamps should work well to hold it to the bed

11. test your design on a closed road, or back road

12. after you have the design you like and think will work best cover tight with felt to make a mold

after this not really sure, i never used fiber glass


make a small test peice to find out how many plys of fiberglass you will need for the cover

[Tango Charlie]

Ben, check out www.fiberglassforums.com/

Another thread around here somewhere recently referred to it. When I checked it out, it blew me away. Some of the things those guys do with FG are amazing. If they understood aerodynamics, they could do some really cool stuff!