Dodge Dart Aero mods

[woodstock74]

Been a while, but I finally executed the convex wheel covers. $35 for the wheel covers, the infill panel material was free from some mates in Atl (carbon fiber with a ply of backing glass):

[Daox]

Looks very nice!

[woodstock74]

Couple more pictures, one in-progress:



Installed and first running:

[MobilOne]

Looks like a stealth police cruiser. Neat!

[freebeard]

That turned out well.

If you're concerned about the pieces adhering, spray the whole cap with 5-8 coats of Plastidip. Even if it is the same color, it would present a monolithic face to the aerodynamic and radial forces.

[woodstock74]

Originally Posted by freebeard

That turned out well.

If you're concerned about the pieces adhering, spray the whole cap with 5-8 coats of Plastidip. Even if it is the same color, it would present a monolithic face to the aerodynamic and radial forces.

Thanks everyone! I'm pretty happy with them and how they turned out. Just wish I had pulled the trigger sooner.

The infill panels are adhered with simple silicone and I'm not concerned with them coming off, however, your idea sounds like a good one. If my tune changes I'll certainly take it into consideration!

[woodstock74]

So I had one of the hubcaps come off today. Luckily it was at very low speed (35 mph) and in my neighborhood, and I actually saw it careen off via the side view mirror. Went skipping along the side of the road in ditch and off into the grass. Wasn't damaged, but now I'm a bit gun shy. Now, I think, think I stress, that I hooked the wheel slightly off the road (there isn't a curb there) and I think that was the reason it came off. My memory is clouded because I was processing what the clicking sound was as I was looking in the side view mirror...it was the hubcap.

So the hubcap is a little worse for wear. The exterior is actually fine, but when it came off, a few very small sections of the mounting tabs cracked off. We're talking like small 1/8" corners off 3 of the tabs (there are 7 in total). Anyhow, I've been super jumpy about this possibility from the start. Had a bad experience with some moon hub caps a few years ago, and when these went on they weren't as "positive" a fit as I would like (not as positive as the factory hub caps). But they were certainly cheap.

What I'm wondering, I was thinking of putting a very small dab of silicone on each tab before I post it back on to the wheel to give it some extra stick/insurance. In the back of my mind I'm thinking it spontaneously launched off even though I know the conditions leading to it leaving the car were probably the culprit. But...any reason to think it would be a bad idea to put some silicone on the tabs? I only intend to use a small dab, smaller than your little finger nail, on each as they do need to come off at some point in the future. Thoughts?

[aerohead]

As long as the dabs are uniform,the dynamic balance of the cap should be maintained for smooth operating.

[woodstock74]

Still cruising along with the hubcaps, no additional issues. As fall is approaching (cooler weather to work outside on the car in), I start to ponder a doable project.

The other day I had to take off the front due to a flat tire and I got to looking at the inner fender. For some time I wasn't 100% sure where the front radiator air exited the car, though I'm pretty sure I've found the exit; into the wheel well as the holes for suspension clearance are 10 x larger than needed. Plus, there's a vertical return on the trailing edge of the fender opening that projects downwards into the underfloor, creating an additional low-pressure draw to help evacuate the front fender (and draw cooling air out).

Where I'm going with this...my car has active grill shutters. I was wondering, if I can figure out a way to draw even more air through the radiator, would it cause the grill shutters to be closed more often? I was thinking of putting a gurney on the leading edge of the hole in the inner fender; the area is so turbulent I don't think I'll take any drag hit though I'm sure the gurney itself won't be as effective as if it had been placed elsewhere.

Most of my question really has to do with general thoughts about the logic designed into the control system for active grill shutters, surely they react mostly to a thermostat that controls the temperature, right? So if I can draw more air through the radiator, it will cool more, and the shutters will spend more time closed, yes/no?

[freebeard]

Best practice in aircraft is to have the shutters on the outlet, instead of the inlet.

A gurney flap needs air velocity (I suspect) and that with the turbulence would make it ineffectual. A vent, though, could work there — and it could be a stove-pipe vent, one of those circles with three sectors open so a 60° rotation opens and closes it, without fighting the air flow.

The control logic though? Is the actuator pulse width modulated or trimmed?