Wood is actually a very good material to use in this situation, it's strong, flexible (slightly) and is resistant to wear and damage. Making it out of a thin sheet of aluminum might be lighter, but it'll be a lot more prone to damage. This is also cheap. Some thin plywood coated with epoxy would be very light, very strong and very durable, water tight too. That's probably what I'll do eventually.

If you empregnate wood with glue (guess what plywood is more or less...) it can be pound for pound stronger than steel.

Splinters would be no worse than bits of lexan or aluminum going under the car, and if you're going off that badly chances are there's damage from other stuff anyway.

 

maybe you're right. I still like the workmanship, you can tell it isn't your common ghetto hack job. It took time and effort.

I wonder what kind of performace/cooling benefits it will make.

 

phoenix7, racing in Florida, and the southeast in general, some sort of splitter is almost required. More to the point of guiding and trapping the air to feed the cooler/radiator than to create downforce. Downforce is actually the side benefit to the cooling aspect. I've heard of guys down here destroying the fiberglass units with an 'off' and then battling oil/water temps some 10-15 degrees higher. If your margins aren't there you're screwed. Easier to live without a splitter in cooler areas of the country I'd guess.

Black91n/a, Improved Touring rules only allow us to take the splitter back the the forward edge of the wheel opening and no further. I'm not sure but I think the axle centerline you referenced might be for Production.

I had thought about aluminum, but there is no way to buy it cheaply in the 4x8 size sheet that I used in wood. Maybe a future version will have a 1/4" plank instead of the 1/2" I used here, that sounds like a very decent suggestion. I'll learn as I go on this one and make improvements as needed in the future.

Any comments on the tunnel idea? You have to read the link referenced on page 1 to get a better idea of what I envision:

http://e30m3performance.com/installs...er/split_1.htm

Hat tip to Someguy_sg for that one.

 

way better if you made it out of some fiberglass

 

Last time I read a splitter rule it was for GT, as my racer freind broke his on his GT3 BMW and I wanted to know how big we could go when replacing it.

 

Air Dam & Splitter

Check out this link, page 12 - 16.

http://www.pmsc.on.ca/bulletin/2005/JulAug%202005.pdf

Looks like Polypropylene/polyethylene is the best choice for a splitter.

http://www.modernplastics.com/polypr...et-p-1019.html

I could sure use some cooling air here in Phoenix. I'm thinking of a small lip "street Splitter" and maybe a 2" air dam.

 

what color are you going to stain it. Sorry, couldn't resist.

 

Duh, you can buy it in black.

 

Umm, he'd be referring to the wood one. Plastic is a good choice, but to say it's the best is a stretch. Many materials will do a good job in that application, which is best is a matter of personal preference, budget and use.

That's a good article though.

 

Chris,
It looks good. I would take a few steps to lighten it up a little. Possibly do something with the "bridge" pieces between the actual splitter and the front fascia. All you need there is just enough wood to block the wind. You can't really go any thinner than 1/2 inch without taking other steps toward reinforcement. 1/2 inch will flex downward at speed. Remember when you make the mounts, the frame rails on the 89+ cars are not symetrical. The left mount will be different height than the right.
The wood has never been a problem for me. It has survived many bumps and bruises over the years with only a slight touchup. The only time it needed replacing was when my co-driver found a tirewall with my left front corner. Aluminum, fiberglass, plastics, and carbon fiber would have all needed to be replaced after that. The only difference was that my replacement was only about $30.
Take it to work with you and have one of the guys spray it with some "Slick Sand" or G2 from Evercoat. Then block it out like any othe rbody panel ready to be painted. Nobody will be able to tell it was made of wood then. If no one there will do it, I know a guy with a crappy spraygun and a 1/2 gallon of the slick sand left.

 

why not try and make a mold out of it? you could use some sort of fiberglass gel something or other to pour into the mold. I dont know exactly how all that works but it seems possible. you could reproduce and sell it too.

maybe use some sort of sturdy foam rubber like what nissan and mazda make there spoilers out of.

 

Damn I’ve been thinking about making something like this for awhile, very impressed with what you’ve done so fare cant wait to see the finished product. For those of us that are thinking about reproducing something like this, how did you make your templates?

-Thanks, Andrew

 

with his brain, his car, art paper, and a pencil :P

 

well i guess....after all open wheel race cars use ply to protect their expensive undersids....so why not as a low budget splitter

 

I couldn't resist.

 

yea man +1 i was gonna say that. I love the design its just the fact that its made outta wood. a nice fiberglass or maybe even carbon fiber version would be sick tho.

 

I think you guys are missing the point.

The wooden unit is cheap, easy, fast and won't be grieved over when it gets trashed (the first rule of racing being that if you can't afford to kiss it goodbye, don't put it on the track).

None of the above could be said of a carbon fiber piece...

 

Why not just carve it outa styrofome and glue/gel coat it for strenght. Seems a lot lighter than the wood. By the way, are you serious?! I know us FC guys do some pretty "custom" stuff, but this is ludricrous.

 

Wood is a great material, but I agree with lightening it. I look forward to seeing the refined product.

Not as functional and only works for s4, but I'm liking my 626 lip for now

 

i wonder how much one would have 2 spend 2 make a bike like that.

thats complete one-off costom

us fc guy arnt that cheap.

 

i think your missing the point...

if you make a mold out of it you can reproduce it in a lightweight material. fiberglass resin does not cost that much. maybe less then the wood even. it can be reproduced and sold possibly as well. 25 pounds is a lot for an ad on part.

 

ya, like ncross said, i have done numurous fiberglass projects, and you are halfway there.
just take the grade A "splitter" that you have, and that i must say is freakin sweet looking, and tape it off and finish the project.
take it, tape it off, and glass it, reinforce what you need, get the process down, so that the next time it breaks, you can reproduce one in 1/100th the time it took to make the wood one.
see what im saying? does that make sense?

peace

 

I see what you're saying, but I had 3 goals with this project:

1) Make it CHEAP!
2) Make it stronger and more durable than the standard fiberglass units.
3) Make it as light as possible without destroying goals 1 & 2.

I just put a skim coat of wood filler (very thin) along the leading edge of the two platforms and am in the process of finish sanding that smooth. Once I get the mounts made up, I'll cut away the excess wood material in the center of the platforms and attach what's left to the plank. Then I'll likely put a coat of resin over the top, finish sand that, and then paint it. I'll try to post some more pics as it progresses.

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments!

 

Here are a couple of pics after I rough sanded the filler. This really adds almost no weight to the unit but does succeed in cleaning up the "made from wood" look. Will do more finish work this weekend and attempt to fabricate the brackets as well.

 

or you could try fiberglass with that template it would be easy to make youd need like 10 15 layers to make it ne kind of stable