Honda Insight Under-body Smoothing Panels (custom belly pan / undertray)

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by 3-Wheeler

Regarding stainless screws for panels under the driver area, I tried some stainless ones from Menards but the threads do run all the way to the head, and so they don't work. Might have to find some online and order them...
Jim.

Hmm? I don't follow. Is there a typo?
Or maybe I don't understand.
I thought threads going all the way to the head would be optimum.

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by brucepick

Hmm? I don't follow. Is there a typo?
Or maybe I don't understand.
I thought threads going all the way to the head would be optimum.

Your right, it's a typo. The stainless screw threads from Menards do *not* run all the way to the head, and so would not hold adequately.

Jim.

[BamZipPow]

Have you checked out other bolt suppliers? Fastenal comes to mind.
https://www.fastenal.com/

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by BamZipPow

Have you checked out other bolt suppliers? Fastenal comes to mind.
https://www.fastenal.com/

Thanks for the link. I tentatively checked it out and found only flatted round head stainless wood screws (#8 x 1.0 inch). It may not be a big deal, but I really like the truely flat-head screws, because there is less of a chance of snagging something on the head when running over chunks of hard snow in the winter. Sometimes you can hear the "zing" of something rubbing across the fiberglass when it occurs.

I will have to into this further.

Not sure if this is mentioned in the thread somewhere, but I have gotten stuck twice in deep snow, and the panels actually cause the car to "float" over the snow and raise the body and then limit traction to the point where the car stops moving.

Then to get "unstuck", all I have to do is dig the packed snow from under the car and watch it slowly drop back down to normal height, when I can get back in and reverse it from the stopping point. Having a small plastic telescoping shovel really helps for this.

Jim.

[Xist]

Round screw heads would also catch air!

[Xist]

Have you ever done a coast-down or tuft test?

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Xist

Have you ever done a coast-down or tuft test?

Hi,

Yes, I did about 50 coast down tests, about 5 years ago, using a hand held GPS. The results were not accurate enough to post anything here. I did find that the rolling resistance changed about 17% between winter and summer driving, if I can believe the numbers.

Jim.

[Xist]

Thank you very much for responding! How is everything holding up?

Spending that much time testing without useful results sounds aggravating. Have you done any new projects?

[3-Wheeler]

Originally Posted by Xist

Thank you very much for responding! How is everything holding up?

Spending that much time testing without useful results sounds aggravating. Have you done any new projects?

The tail section is holding up fine. Need to repaint it though, as I painted it with automotive paint, but did not put a clear coat on it and now the paint has faded.

Yes, I did a streamliner fairing for a CBR250, and now have traded the bike in on a new Yamaha FZ07. Just getting started on a new fairing for it this winter.

Jim.

[HHOTDI]

Way cool, any pictures of your streamlined CBR?? I bought a nice little CBR250r a few years ago and then had to work out of town for a couple of years. When i returned to start a "Craig Vetter" style streamliner build on it i found that i am getting too old to sit like that any more. So now i'm selling it and just bought a nice NC700x to streamline instead! Much more comfortable to ride for us old folks! :{)