Testing aeroshell/boat tail For the Dodge
 

Later today, I am starting a testing aeroshell with integrated boat tail for my truck. No scangauge, I drive it few miles a year, so i am cutting right to the chase. I call it A-M-A testing :D
I am picking up the template at station 10, a point with 3.5° slope. I figure that will get me down faster, and is not a huge departure from <Shatner voice> the ...beauty , that is....the, template </Shatner voice>.
Length is still not a concrete number. It is somewhere around a total length of 12'.
I welded up my headache rack yesterday, and I will hinge this whole thing off it IF/when I build the permanent one. this one will probably be fixed for testing.
I have some nice big sheets of virgin cardboard to skin it with. A ton of scrap lumber, fasteners, some old gate hinges, etc.
I can borrow the tail lights and a pigtail for the lights.
Why now? I have a 320 mile 55~60 MPH round trip across the mountains to do Monday/Tuesday, and maybe a 450 mile 70 MPH freeway run in the middle of that, fuel paid. These opportunities just do not fall off the trees.

Fuel paid, no kidding!! Looking forward to it.

Photos. We need photos.

Right now, it sits in my noggin. I have to build a linux server first, that is the reason for the trip.
I hope to have some framework constructed today that will be picture worthy.

Looking forward to the progress. :popcorn:

I don't recall your Dodge. If it's covered on another thread, a cross link would be peachy. ;)

Rock on!

Skyking,

Will fuel be paid for based on:
a. a pre-established per mile rate, (Ka-ching!)
b. or based on gas pump receipts? (Why bother?)

It is Woody, right there below my avatar.
The only other thread:
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...sel-21857.html

Based on: the 60 MPH portion is for a job I get paid to do, namely set up a replacement server; the 450 mile 70 MPH part is tentative and more informal :)
Took me a while to get to the truck. I finished up the rack and need to paint it this morning, did not have hinges, need supplies.
Good news? I have help coming.

Help did not materialize, but I moved the schedule back a day. Design by noggin has morphed several times today. Will return with pics when the skeeters start eating me up :)

I wanted to use the template as closely as possible, so I designed a shell with longitudinal ribs. Now to get the shape right :)
I started by laying a sheet of plywood on the floor and tracing it. There is very little else you can find that is more true and square than a sheet of plywood.
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ell/shell1.jpg
I moved it 4 feet, so I could get a 12' grid drawn.
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ell/shell2.jpg
I moved it a couple more times, ending up with a 6' x 12' grid, on 2' spacing.
I hope to build a tail for the truck and thought I could use the length.
Now I could arrange the sheet of plywood to minimize waste.
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ell/shell4.jpg
Using a printed image of the template, resized to suit my truck, I scaled it to get dimensions at stations, and transfer that onto the sheet. I pulled a tape and also made station lines on the angled plywood.
Now I have marks on the plywood that are 2' apart. I want to draw a smooth curve through these points. I have a fiberglass rod for network wiring, but a 10' stick of 1/2" CPVC pipe will work as well.
I started by clamping the rod at one end over a mark, then bent it across the next and the next, taking time to smooth the curve.
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ell/shell5.jpg

http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ell/shell7.jpg

http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ell/shell6.jpg

I cut the first one out very carefully with the sabre saw. Since the cut is so close to a rip with the grain, the saw wandered pretty badly.
I got a decent looking curve after a couple of attempts, then used that as a guide. Once again, the sabre saw would not track well.
I ended up setting my cordless circular saw to just barely go through the 3/8" ply, and used it instead.
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ell/shell9.jpg

4 finished curves.
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ll/shell17.jpg

I painted the headache rack with something close off the bomb can shelf.
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ll/shell10.jpg

http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ll/shell11.jpg

http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ll/shell12.jpg

Installed and bolted in solid.

http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ll/shell13.jpg

I clamped a piece of 3/8" ply to the rack, and transfer marked it with a straight edge laid on the cab, and cut it out. It has 1/2" margin for the skin and construction method.
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ll/shell15.jpg

My box lids are one of the challenges. I have to make a door in each side of the shell so I can get into the boxes.
http://i810.photobucket.com/albums/z...ll/shell16.jpg
This also makes a big hole in the structure I have to work around.