Pastywagon sprint dates 2010 - Overall championship win!

I must confess I am tending towards ply

found this which was interesting (half way down is a mag article about how to make a splitter)

http://www.timeattackforums.com/forums/aero-dynamics/1176-custom-front-splitter-design-2.html

Doodes....I got wood

Hey they used to put planks of wood on the bottom of F1 cars so dont knock it

And at £11, thats the kind of price we like for performance modifications!

Biological composites - its the future

If it doesn't get smashed off when I try it out, it will act as a template for a carbon/kevlar/foam vac-bagged sandwich

it wont be on the car for long all being well

Now in 9mm ply - just under 4kg - coat of black paint and stick it on

original calc was 4.52kg, but its actually 8.5mm thick hence a touch lighter, so nominally '9mm' ply

Ply floor now test mounted to the car and needs a couple small mods so thats todays job (a bit more clearance for front tyres when on full lock and a tiny cutout for the very bottom of the gearbox bellhousing).

Hydraulic struts specced and ordered and should arrive start of next week - pics soon

Support cables arrived - really nice and high quality, pics dont really do them justice - these are military aircraft spec 1.6mm stainless cables (plastic coated) with stainless eyes swaged on the ends - very lightweight and with a breaking point of over 100kg each. Was going to use cables as used on sailing boats but apparently these are generally crimped together so are no where near as strong for a similar size. Also the stainless is a different grade which is chosen for corrosion resistance over strength. They really are very nice. 4 of these supporting the floor - should be enough; dont think we will be getting more than 400kg of downforce

The cables wont be seen externally - they will be fastened to the top surface of the floor behind the bumper and to the car chassis - they will suspend the front edge of floor from the car, the rear edge being attached to the hinge shown - the gas struts will put the wires in tension so that the whole thing does not bounce around (with a force of 25kg each side of the car).

The idea is that the floor will essentially be rigid when any downforce is generated, but if I should hit a big curb, the floor will be able to hinge upwards and not get broken.

Thats the idea anyhow.

Inspiration taken from this 911 (cheers Barny), which had the wires/flexible floor but not the gas struts (and also a pair of diffusers mounted into the floor which will be a future mod)

gas struts arrived (just short of 300mm long):



Only just about possible to push them in by hand so about perfect for the app I reckon - set at 250N of force (25kg easier to imagine)

Ordered another couple of wire teathers today to give option of another mounting variation so as soon as they arrive, assembly time.

Ave it

Rob

yep, your gettin it

heres the first one mounted to the car - it will actually be compressed a smidge when finally fitted, by the wire teathers, so any downforce is carried on the wires rather than trying to pull the gas strut apart

ali angle bracket now to make to attach it to the floor

getting there - wires to attach now but its all got to come off first to cut a small hole for the very bottom of the bellhousing before I can get it totally flat for attaching the support wires

a bit extra clearance for the front tyres on lock will be added also while its off

tomorrow nights job

At full strut extension, the floor slopes down to the front by 2.1 degrees (front of lip at 80mm ground clearance, or just above the minimum 70mm that I have to run). The support wires will pull the front lip up by about 40mm so leave the floor dead level at 120mm off the deck. This will be the starting point for testing.

I think it looks ace - with the front bumper on it looks mini-touring car 'esque' - will look ace when its painted black and fully done

makes the front of the car look very wide

Latest: all wire supports now fitted - took ages getting it all completely flat. Into the last phase now which is fitting a length of flexible material between the bottom of the bumper and the floor - easy bit

then it comes off for painting and job done.