diamond plate bellypan diffuser? - Page 3 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

winkosmosis · 01-09-2010, 08:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Christ

Going on personal experience, I gotta say that it's just as easy to bend tread plate as it is to bend flat aluminum sections.

The exception might be that the diamonds are thicker, so the metal is more likely to bend at the points exactly around them, but the purpose of those diamonds is not to add rigidity. If it does anything, it's a side effect of it's intended purpose.

Nobody said it didn't add rigidity, mcrews just made note that they weren't put there for that purpose.

I didn't say the intention is to add rigidity, I said that the diamonds DO add rigidity, which you are confirming. I have no idea why mcrews came in here with his hostile reply with all the CAPS about the intentions of the diamond pattern.

winkosmosis · 01-09-2010, 08:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcrews

Duh. Thanks Christ.

Wnkosmosis, probalbly, never having seen "tread plate" you comment is completely off the mark.
Please re-read the entire post fully. instead of aurguing about an off-topic point, the tread plate is the opposite of dimpling because, as Christ says, it is Added to one side of the metal for ONLY one function. skid resistance. NOT thickness. Not rigidity.

Now, if you wnat to challenge my expertise we can go to another thread, but I never sold a piece of plate 'less thick' than reguired because we went to 'thread plate'. It just doesnt work that way.

Considering it would be just as bendable between the diamonds, of course you wouldn't sell thinner stuff because of the diamonds. But that doesn't change the fact that there is added material in an interlocking pattern of bars. You're saying the intention is to add skid resistance, but that's a non sequitur here. The intention of Coroplast is to be used for signs. See my point?

You may be thinking of the specs for whatever sheets of metal you sold, but specs can't alter physics.

mcrews · 01-09-2010, 09:01 PM

No really, I don't see the point of the jello comment.

Again, it has NOTHING to add of value to the thread. OR to the WORKING knowledge that any of us need to live on the face of the earth.

But the physics of coroplast is a plus for underpanels

THe physics of tread plate is AGAIN, MUTE to the value of the thread.

Obvioulsy understanding the POINT OF THE THREAD.......
is not as important as proving some obstract point.

Christ · 01-09-2010, 09:16 PM

/argumentPlease?

ChrstphrR · 01-11-2010, 01:38 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by moonmonkey

i think you guys have convinced me i need to go lighter anyway, i think i will go with aluminum flat stock and some form of plastic, i buy alot of (hyzod) "lexan" from a plastic company in jacksonville fl Farco plastics, i will drop by there on monday and see what they have thats "coroplast like" maybe they have something thats stronger and not too heavy

Lexan at 1/8" thick is about 0.78 lbs/square foot, so it's half the weight, roughly, of aluminum.

Coroplast is a light, LIGHT skiff of polyethylene on either side with bits in between to make it rigid ... it's -almost- negligible in weight. And much cheaper than buying lexan.

Quote:

im driving to raliegh NC in a week or so, a 1000 mile round trip so i want my pan in before i go.

If you can't get it all on before you go, cover the front underside first, and work back... Your biggest gains will be from the bumper to just behind the front axleline. Concentrate on making sure what you attach stays ON, since you're travelling 1000 miles, not on covering everything over. You don't want to have to do a field repair along the way, delaying your trip!

Quote:

by the way how air tight against the bottom of the car does this need to be, i dont think i can seal it 100% because of the suspention at the wheel wells.

You don't want metal parts or sharp edges abrading against important things like your brake lines, of course. And no plastic near the exhaust.

Until a bunch of us figure out the "ideal belly pan" for a few dozen different makes of cars, it's going to be trial and error. Expect to either be covering underneath in sections, and/or be redoing things as you figure out better ways to attach the materials you'll use.

I "built one to throw away" twice now. One out of coroplast, that didn't last, and one out of perf-steel, that I used mainly for stiffness, and better measurements for mounting points.

And to top it off, the time I'll put into building the 3rd, I probably could just -buy- one of the readily available metal skidplates for my car ( Evolution Atlas Skid Plate For Beetle, Golf & Jetta IV ).

Think through how you'll mount things, first and foremost, and search around the forum here for ideas, too.

Off the top of my head, there was thread with a mustang that had a lexan engine undertray, and an insight with a fibreglass/foam core undertray, and plenty of people using coroplast, too.

Planning and looking at others' ideas will give you ideas, and maybe save you from following a few dead ends.

And, unlike what I've done... post pictures if you start something up!

aerohead · 01-12-2010, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by winkosmosis

It's not only cosmetic though. The "diamonds" are raised so they add rigidity

Yes,but isn't there an inter-spacial distance in between them ( like individual tread blocks on a tire ),where you'd be relying solely on the thickness of the sheet for it's strength?