CARGaerO t'ailer; a hitch-mounted boat tail (Pontiac Vibe)

[HydroJim]

It's pretty cool that you're mainly making the tail out of coroplast. Do you think that tail will be strong enough to support the weight of snow on top of it?

[Weather Spotter]

brush the snow off

[Tango Charlie]

Snow could be an issue. Coroplast is pretty slickery stuff, but I've seen some awfully sticky snow and ice, too! Only time will tell.

[KamperBob]

Looking good! I like you edge splints. That approach could help with compound curvature. I haven't worked with Coroplast yet myself. But future projects beg for it. I wondered about gluing previously but never pursued the topic. You super glue mention got me curious enough to start looking. I found these links helpful.
Coroplast - Manufacturer of Corrugated Plastic Sheets
Coroplast - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Recumbent Bicycle and Human Powered Vehicle Information Center
How to Glue Coroplast | eHow.com

Rock on!

[RiderofBikes]

For my adjustable Grille blocker, used Loctite Marine 2-part Epoxy for the slide stoppers. prep was wiping surface clean, lightly sanding(220grit) both mating surfaces, and squashed together let dry for ~5mins with slight compression.

Tail is looking great taking shape, i dont think it would hurt to have a couple wooden dowel rods connect wall-to-wall, as well some virtical supports toward the middle...

[Tango Charlie]

Earlier this week I installed the trailer harness wiring in the Vibe for the tail lights that will be mounted on the t'ailer's aft bulkhead. But I haven't had a chance to plug in the $26 trailer light set to see if it works.
Since I was busy with other priorities today, I didn't get to work on the t'ailer until after 9 o'clock. Burnin' the midnight oil.
I got the lower left skin on it, though. I accomplished something at least.
Why is it that the closer Labor Day gets, the smaller the steps I get done?

[thomason2wheels]

Nicely done! What percentage improvement do you expect from a boat tail? I'd very much like to see the finished product.

[Weather Spotter]

if he gets about what my sister car got , he should see about 5MPG at 55MPH.

[Varn]

Are you going to take off the roof racks? Is your attachment point the single 2" receiver hole.

[Tango Charlie]

Darin (MetroMPG) saw a 15% improvement when he put his cardboard prototype on his Blackfly. I'm hoping for 10%, since mine is truncated. That would net me almost 4 MPG.

I'd very much like to see the finished product, too!

Yes, the only attachment is the receiver. I drilled and tapped a hole in the bottom of it, and a 1/4-20 bolt tightened against the luggage rack's tongue (is that the proper term? The part that slides into the receiver, anyway.) keeps it from rocking to and fro.

Roof racks will be removed...sometime. It's been on my to-do list forever.