Getting in from Bonneville trip

[freebeard]

4. Could someone provide a link which goes into it's design and construction in more detail?

That would be aerohead. Click on any underlined example of his name to get to his Profile Page. Click on the statistics tab. Click on Find all threads started by aerohead. The result is seven pages.

At the bottom of the first page: Boat tail back on T-100

From a post on the 2nd page, Pickup truck aerodynamics

Yes,it started on the Dodge,then got moved and morphed to the T-100.After goats destroyed it,I chopped Poco-Loco,a Chrysler Marine sailboat,to take the place of the destroyed shell.It's very 'goat-proof',has nice compound form,and tuft-tested very well.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by kach22i

The below picture is an older one from one of Aerohead's albums.

Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum - EcoModder.com - aerohead's Album: Pickup images - Picture


Questions;

1. Is the aft storage box on all the time?

2. Is this box the same one used at the salt-flats?

3. Is this box attached with the tailgate up or down?

4. Could someone provide a link which goes into it's design and construction in more detail?

1. this is the boat tail in its embryonic state.It's only for road trips.
2. this tail,with additional mods is what I ran at Bonneville.It was missing the Plex' tail light covers but did have the completed fenestrations which box in the sides,morphing to the side contour of the truck bed.Also there is a top 'stinger' which completes 'poco loco',the Chrysler Marine' boat hull-derived aeroshell.And I should mention that poco loco finally received fairings on each side to integrate to the cab sides and kill the turbulence in those pockets.Also,There is a backwards-facing airtight Plexiglass backlight.
3. I remove the tailgate for the install as a weight-saving measure,and it rests on the bumper top with steel strap attachments at top,is through-bolted in the bumper,pop-riveted to the box sides through aluminum sheet,and screw-attached where the tails belly integrates into the trucks diffuser.
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I've never done a build thread.
*It's designed to Mair's specifications for boat tails,initiating its contour on top right at the tailgate since the box has no curvature do to the box rails.
*The sides continue the existing curvature provided from Toyota which begin around halfway over the rear wheels.
*The bottom projects along the upward 2.5-degree diffuser angle.
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*The superstructure is 3/4-inch (19mm) exterior grade plywood (sides and floor,diffuser and fenestration stringers).Glued and screwed.
*Major skin area is 1/8-inch Luan plywood attached with drywall screws
*Integration into box contour,above and below the tailights, is with open-cell Styrofoam with blocking coats of Elmer's yellow construction glue,sealed with Minwax polyurethane spar varnish,and primed/top-coated with Auto Zone's and O'Reilley's rattle-can gray primer and acrylic lacquer.
*The diffuser area is sheet aluminum,screwed to the plywood.
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*On the Bonneville trip she helped with 32-mpg at up to 75-mph.
*The last 1,200-miles were at 65-mph and I think (would need to verify) I was seeing 36-37-mpg.
*I've never seen over 39-mpg.
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I have an 18-inch stinger to add to the tail which I'll run next year at the A-2 Tunnel and in between with the road testing.This added length will take me to the 'phantom-tail' territory.
I'd hoped to have it for Bonneville but just couldn't get it completed enough for the trip.These projects take hundreds of man-hours.Some are over 800-hours so far.And they look like ---t.

[freebeard]

I know I'm drifting off-topic, but I just checked; and one 5x10' pieces of PolyMetal ($200 or less) would make a complete bellypan for a VW bus, from the front bumper to the rear torsion bar tube.

That would replace the three-piece stock bellypan and the cover under the pedals and shifter. And probably be cheaper.

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Does the box's projection obscure the off-side taillight much?

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

I know I'm drifting off-topic, but I just checked; and one 5x10' pieces of PolyMetal ($200 or less) would make a complete bellypan for a VW bus, from the front bumper to the rear torsion bar tube.

That would replace the three-piece stock bellypan and the cover under the pedals and shifter. And probably be cheaper.

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Does the box's projection obscure the off-side taillight much?

*That would be an economical belly at $200
*Yes,the far side tailight is completely obscured just as with a cargo platform.I have a light kit,just no time yet for install.

[freebeard]

I'm going to try this with one of my sample pieces: Cut back one aluminum skin and the plastic middle about 3/4-1" along the edge, lay in a stiff piece of aluminum wire I have, and wrap the other skin over so it laps 1/3" or so on the other side. Epoxy or solder the seam.

Drill the holes for the fasteners and dimple them so the bolt-heads are recessed.

What could possibly go wrong?

[kach22i]

Thank you freebeard and Aerohead for the links, information and additional photos.

[freebeard]

There's a button for that

[aerohead]

Buried deep in one of my clipboards I found my notes for the Department of Homeland Security incident.
It was September 30th,2007.I was eastbound on I-10 between Wilcox and San Simon,Arizona doing the posted 75-mph when this white Yukon blew by.I glanced 'U.S.Govt' on the tag.I'd seen this same vehicle blowing westward on the outbound leg of the trip.
I accelerated to intercept the vehicle so I could record the tag and report whoever was driving for vehicle abuse.
It took awhile but I caught up the the Yukon which was cruising at 108-mph.I recorded the tag info and then fell back to 75 mph.When I got to the New Mexico border I pulled into a NM highway patrol office to report the event.I didn't care if they cited me for what I'd done.
They said these folks were
'Homeland Security' and untouchable.We'd be more secure if they'd drive 1st-gen Insights,and at the posted speed limit.
Anyway,without the later mods the truck was doing 108 (a bit better than Bonneville on the damp salt) and It didn't dawn on me to watch my speed during the intercept.She wants to go!
The truck's still dead.Been driving the CRX for work.If the mechanic is so overwhelmed with work that he can't deal with it I guess I'll have it towed home and work on it myself.
If I'm to get her to the A-2 tunnel next spring I need to be fabricating before too long.

[freebeard]

Thanks for bumping your thread aerohead. I need to make myself a sticky note about that $200 bellypan idea.

It was your story and the movie The World's Fastest Indian that got me to Bonneville. The odds are good I'll be back next year, but it will be a year or two before I could run anything. The guy my son and I went with will be back next year with two Ducatis.

What needs fixing? Swapping in the quick-change rear end? It would be a good excuse to hit a few swap meets while they're still in season.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by freebeard

Thanks for bumping your thread aerohead. I need to make myself a sticky note about that $200 bellypan idea.

It was your story and the movie The World's Fastest Indian that got me to Bonneville. The odds are good I'll be back next year, but it will be a year or two before I could run anything. The guy my son and I went with will be back next year with two Ducatis.

What needs fixing? Swapping in the quick-change rear end? It would be a good excuse to hit a few swap meets while they're still in season.

The mechanic has gone from:igniter,to ECM,and lately the tank-mounted fuel pump.
Besides getting her running,I want to complete the driver's side front skirt,stinger,wheel fairings,a drop-diffuser, and then attempt to make everything presentable.Lot's of block-sanding,guide coats,sanding,filling,------------------ finally some top-coats.
And that's just for the wind tunnel.
My power-to-weight is so puny that in the mile,I'll never make it to 130.
If I can't make it to 130,then I can't get to the 2-mile course of the 150-mph Club,where she'd have more of a chance to reach terminal velocity.
She's really a 'long-course' vehicle behaving as L.J.K.Setright described the Citroen CX of the 1970s.He said that the CX would just continue to accelerate given the chance,continually gaining speed as if she had no really discernible top speed.
In my dreams,I've installed the V-8, 8-speed,and guts of a Lexus flagship.She's qualified at 130,and 150,and now I have permission to run the long course reserved for the 'real' race cars.
She's lost her shocks,has rigid links,allowing 1" of ground clearance,fire-suppression system, full cage,along with the other safety gear,and OPTIMISTICALLY,1-parachute.It would be instructive.
When you consider that GM's streamlined 1993 EV-1 was 6-mph faster than a 450-bhp Dodge Viper coupe of 1996 you begin to appreciate what aero will do for velocity.
It would have been something for Burt Munro to have run the Indian at Bonneville without the 'streamliner' body as he called it in the movie.
Hoerner gave motorcycles Cd 0.90 at 60sq-ft frontal area.
The World's Fastest Indian would have been pushing Cd 0.11 if closed canopy,and under 4-sq-ft area.Literally a 'screamer.'
PS I'm having twisted thoughts about the CRX.