Help me design my partial Kammback

[cfg83]

Weather Spotter -

Originally Posted by Weather Spotter

the lower one can just be a stand off with a lip going under the lip of the hatch. As long as the top is attached the bottom is just there to hold the angle. You could just run a piece down to the hatch and put some rubber on it so it will not scratch.

Ok, I promise to revist this. Gotta go stare at my rear hatch some more.

CarloSW2

[Weather Spotter]

You could even use a magnet to hold the bottom end on.
I got the MPG bug again!

[Piwoslaw]

Originally Posted by cfg83

Ok, I promise to revist this. Gotta go stare at my rear hatch some more.

Can we help?? Post some pictures and we'll stare right along with ya. New thread coming...

Originally Posted by cfg83

I know it can be done, but my investigation implies that I could get in over my head really fast. There aren't enough screws to take stuff apart, so I think I would end up destroying gaskets that would be hard to get for my out-of-production SW2. What I *should* do is go to a pick-a-part and see if I can find another rear hatch at a low price. Then I could dismantle it at my leisure.

Geez, if you got a second hatch cheap you could weld that darned kammback on!!

[Weather Spotter]

Update:
Paint is due in tomorrow.
In my driving the last few days I have noticed better FE with my mods. I also am starting to get lots of looks.

I also found that dust still gets onto the back window but that my washer fluid sprayer came off with the OEM spoiler. Time to fix that.



It is held in on the back side by some plastic tabs:


push them in (used a vice grip to hold them in so I could push it through the hole) and out it came:


some hot glue and it is attached (in about the same spot)




tested and it works!

back shot of car (see my new stickers)

[Varn]

I have used a heat gun on the inside of curves when using coroplast. It takes practice but keeps it's shape and makes the part a lot stiffer. Don't overheat the outside.

This picture shows the curved areas that were bent gently using heat on the inside.

[Weather Spotter]

Varn, what heat source did you use?
I tried a heat gun but could not keep it hot enough to work with it. Also did you make a mold to form it over? In my set up I did not know the exact shape until it was on and screwed in.

[cfg83]

Piwoslaw -

Originally Posted by Piwoslaw

Can we help?? Post some pictures and we'll stare right along with ya. New thread coming...

...

Geez, if you got a second hatch cheap you could weld that darned kammback on!!

Ok, I will start one. I warn you that I'm stubborn. Even though my Saturn isn't worth anything, my goal is always reversible mods, so there may be superior solutions that I won't employ.

CarloSW2

[Weather Spotter]

cfg83-

That is what I did with mine! I have lots of ideas on how to help!

[Varn]

Weather spotter,
I used a hardware store electric heat gun. I believe it was 1500 watts. Had no problem getting things hot enough. Keep the gun moving to avoid hot spots. No mold needed. Trial fit it exact is not needed. Once screwed in, heat it more in place if you need to.

Originally Posted by Weather Spotter

Varn, what heat source did you use?
I tried a heat gun but could not keep it hot enough to work with it. Also did you make a mold to form it over? In my set up I did not know the exact shape until it was on and screwed in.

[MetroMPG]

Weather Spotter - thanks for the good testing.

My first Kammback experiment was roughly the size you made, except cardboard was my material of choice. It also had "hard" shoulders (which I've since learned are to be avoided).



A-B testing (not ideal - take with grains of salt) showed a 2.3% improvement in fuel economy at 88.5 km/h / 55 mph.