Does this make any difference?
 

Here is what my car looks like.

http://img15.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp0..._122_705lo.jpg

From my understanding the rear area of these cars suffer from poor aerodynamics. I want to improve aerodynamics of the car.

Do you think adding something like this would help improve aerodynamics or would it do little to help improve aerodynamics?

http://img199.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp..._122_467lo.jpg

Welcome to the site!

Your pictures don't work, :(

Welcome, pictures aren't working here either....

Hmmm thats weird that only I can see them.

Try this.

http://img130.imagevenue.com/img.php...B_122_49lo.JPG
http://img15.imagevenue.com/view.php..._122_705lo.jpg
http://img199.imagevenue.com/img.php..._122_467lo.jpg

The roof spoiler in the last picture does nothing to help aerodynamics. The step looks small enough and the back long enough that the flow probably has the time to reattach. What's the angle between the back edge of the roof and back of the car excluding the spoiler?

Welcome to the community.

Can you find a way to make a clear cover that will make the light cavity blend with the body? I bet that would offer some improvements. Air is hitting the lights like a wall. Rear wheel skirts would probably help too. Both are pretty standard mods.

I find it hard to believe that anyone would modify a classic in beautiful condition. And that's coming from a committed liberal green ecomodder and hypermiler.

I don't know what it is but it's probably worth more than my house. I think you'll destroy the value if you modify it.

that rear deflector looks like it is there to keep the rear window clear, it also makes the roof line longer allowing the air flow to stay smoother as it goes across, this is apparently why station wagons get better mileage then sedans, they have a longer smooth roof.

that rear deflector looks like it is there to keep the rear window clear, it also makes the roof line longer allowing the air flow to stay smoother as it goes across, this is apparently why station wagons get better mileage then sedans, they have a longer smooth roof.
What kind of car is that? it almost looks like a kit car body... but nicer.

Beautiful! What is that, a Kelmark? It looks great: nice find, nice work on the paint.

You could add a glass "hatch" over the rear between the buttresses if that won't interfere with any cooling air.

kitcar :thumbup:

Yes its a Kelmark GT. Worth more than your house thats one cheap house I only payed $2000 for it. :)

Kelmark GT is one of the more attractive VW-based kits - it echoes the fine lines of the Puma, itself a VW-based car that was barely-sorta available in the States.

Nice ride, 123. If you're into VW at all, then you're probably skilled with a wrench - a necessity for aircooled gearheads. Check out what Hot VWs magazine has been doing with their so-called "Mileage Motor." They've been pushing past 35mpg with no trouble - no, the motor ain't stock, but the mods aren't extreme at all. And they've gotten those numbers in a Super Beetle. This swoopier chassis should be able to do lots better. Perhaps best of all, to get those MPG numbers, the mods they made to the engine bumped it up to ~90hp and gave it a big, meaty torque band: just right for a sporty car.

I think I still have an old kitcar magazine with info on that body kit.. :thumbup:

I recognized it right away, but didn't know the name of it..

I see an orange one around town now and again during the warm but not hot months and it has gullwing doors.. It mite be a Brickland or a Bradley GT kit, haven't had much eye time for it.. :thumbup:

Don't be misled: a Bricklin is not a kit car. That's a specific chassis, and the drivetrain is all Ford Cleveland. Good luck hypermiling that!

The Bradley GT was nice, but the much rarer GT II was much prettier, had a better shape overall. In my opinion, it was better thought-out.

If it's going to be air-cooled VW power,some concessions to drag reduction may have to be made to keep that puppy alive.The Porsche 914 tapped the separated flow behind the rear windscreen to create a vortex and slammed flow into the engine bay,ala: bug/Ghia/etc..You will have to be especially careful not to impede airflow to cylinder,heads, and oil-cooler or it'd thumbs-up at the side of the road and a call for a tow-truck.Be careful! It's a beautiful car.

I never said a Bricklyn was a kit car.. you misread what I wrote..

I have seen very few of these survive in this sort of condition, most are in major states of disrepair. $2000 is a pittance if it has no mechanical problems, excellent find :thumbup:.
The Kelmark GT kit car was actually an attempt to replicate the looks of the 1969-74 Ferrari Dino 246.
You can mate a nice Porsche engine and tranny to them if the VW boxer isn't your style (if you're on this forum, the boxer IS your style :thumbup:).

Good luck with your mods, but the most critical ones (in my opinion) are avoid an air dam, close up the gaping holes that are the headlights (heat up some plexi and go to town), and make the underbelly as smooth as silk. She'll retain her looks and have a much sweeter Cd without increasing her CdA, not that a 4.5 foot tall car has that much CdA :rolleyes:.

Aero brings up an excellent point. You may want to route an air pipe to the engine bay and/or get a bigger oil cooler, to keep things cool, nothing sucks worse than overheating in the blazing summer afternoons.

If you are only worried about overheating while idling, I'd just rig up a water sprayer to inject mist on the cylinders. If there is any fear of shock cooling, you could take the slightly less efficient route and spray mist into the cooling intake air.

This would work especially well in dry, hot climates common in the southwest. It would probably work, albeit less efficiently, elsewhere in the United States.

- LostCause

I would be more concerned with cracking the block. If 123 mounted a larger oil cooler, or some other less radical modification it would be nearly maintenance free, whereas a water sprayer would have to be filled up. I'm not bashing the idea, I just think simple is probably better in this situation.

Wow I have been so busy lately I have not checked this in a while. Thanks for everyones input. The one thing with this car is it looks way better in the pictures then it does in real life pics hide all the body work to be done. Yet it is still in good shape for its age. One thought I had was to put a water cooled engine in it that way you get better gas mileage and cooling is not a problem.
looked into Honda engines but they don't work. :(

Why wont a honda engine work?

Older Honda engines rotate the wrong way.

a subaru engine would prosably work. it's the same basic configuration so it fits old VW layouts. its a common swap on VW busses

Hello,

Here are the pictures:
http://img130.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp...B_122_49lo.JPG
http://img15.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp0..._122_705lo.jpg
http://img199.imagevenue.com/aAfkjfp..._122_467lo.jpg