/\ +1 I bought 40 sheets of black plastic "cardboard" material, (same shit they make political lawn signs out of) for like $20. It's a cheap way to make air dams. The material is soft enough to cut with tin snips, but strong enough to take a beating behind the bumper.
Not gonna lie that went right over my head [doublepost=1526521549][/doublepost] The oil cooler sits in front of the passenger wheel and is fed air by an opening on the right side of the bumper so sealing the rad won't change oil temps.
You are cooling via different systems (oil/water) radiators, but still the same block of metal. Enhancements to either oil or water cooling will "assist" the other.
Technically yes but that's isn't really how it plays out in reality. Oil is exposed directly to combustion temps and will pretty much always run 30-50 degrees hotter than coolant. From there heat is transferred to the block and head and from there it is transferred to the water system. But the block and head are large chunks of metal and it takes a lot to keep that much metal cool, so by the time the water system has absorbed the heat that it can from the engine, it really hasn't removed any from the oil system. Coupled with the fact the block is iron and iron doesn't conduct heat as well as aluminum means it takes even more cooling capacity from the water system to keep the block cool.
Correction... Found my old invoice. (it's been a while) I ordered 20 sheets for $37.59 shipped and all. Here is the link.... https://www.signwarehouse.com/p/endura-cor-plastic-sign-blanks-24-inch-x-18-inch-black I looked into ABS plastic but it was too friggin expensive. These work fine for air dams and baffles. This is the only pic I could find from when I finally started this last month. I've since sealed up the radiator edges and will make baffles for the intercooler fins. Will share more pics later as it evolves.
Yea that's similar stuff to my last splitter, which was made of alumalite. Same construction but the inside corrugation is aluminum. I'm mostly focused on getting the new splitter done right now as it doubles as my undertray and without it not only is the underside of the engine not protected but it also runs a little bit hotter since all the air escapes out the bottom. I got it cut out and semi mocked up last week, I just need to clean up some holes and rivet it all together and figure out the cables for the front. It's made out of HDPE and you can buy it at menards, .125" thick 4x8' sheet is like $30 IIRC.
Forgot to post up stuff about the splitter but this past week I made some pretty good progress on it. A couple weeks ago I fit it up to the car to make sure I got the holes in the right spot and riveted the air dam to it (unfortunately no pics of this as I lost my phone and everything on it shortly after). This past week I finished making all the brackets for it and trimmed the sides in preparation for some endplates. I originally was going to use cables in the front but wasn't a fan of how how much they were pulling up the edge of the lip and getting them to hold the splitter at the right height with proper tension on both cables so I chucked em and got some rods. The end result is it being mounted at 8 points on the car and it is able to hold my weight but still flexes a fair amount. Starting on the passenger side it's got one bracket that attaches to the oil cooler bracket: One bracket sandwiched underneath the intercooler mount: The two threaded rod adjusters on the front are secured to the crash bar: Another bracket sandwiched underneath the other side intercooler mount: A bracket on the far driver's side that goes up to the side of the frame rail: And two brackets at the back that attach it to the subframe and north/south brace, going to be 3 brackets once I fix some threads in the subframe: Still has a bit of bowing where the rods are at the front but it's not as bad as the cables so the plan is to make a brace on the underside that runs between the rods which should help minimize the bowing: Oh and I washed the car for once
With how much it is bowing already at the support rods I think you need some sore of reinforcement plate in the bottom to distribute the pressure and keep them from pulling through.
I agree. Going to try a straight piece between the rods on the underside 2" wide 1/16" thick aluminum is what I'm thinking of starting with and if that doesn't work as well as I hope then I'll start brainstorming other options.
it wouldnt be pretty or aerodynamic but an angled piece would stiffen it right up. if its reinforced to not pull through i dont know that i would be too worried about having it perfectly flat. is it bowing from the weight of the material or is the angle coming off the bumper lower than you are looking for? you might be able to just put a bend in the splitter in front of the bumper to change the profile a bit. since you arent on super stiff racecar suspension and will still be getting a good bit of body movement i would error on having it slope down towards the leading edge to give you a margin of error for front lift turning it into a wing.
It currently has 1.5" fender washers on both sides of the splitter to distribute the weight off the rods a bit better. It's bowing from the weight of the material for sure. I'm actually debating getting some slightly longer rods and I think it need to be angled a hair lower at the front. Unfortunately since the material is so flexible if you bend it it won't hold the bend. I wish there was a way to stiffen HPDE by a chemical means (ie hardening it) as that would be perfect. I'm about to try my hand soon at laying carbon fiber and if my small trial projects turn out well I'm debating making a mold off this splitter and making one out of foam and carbon fiber which would solve all the bending issues. I definitely don't want it touching the ground but yes I think a very slight angle down is where I'm hoping to get it to.
Is there a lip to hide a hat's height inside the bay? https://dragonplate.com/docs/DPSpecHatStiffener.pdf
Not sure I have 1" clearance on the inside under everything. Originally I had planned on making a sort of skeleton brace out of some thin (either .25" or .5") angle aluminum, but the inside doesn't sag at all, it's just where the rods are where it's distorted.
Scuff it up with some course grit sandpaper and clean it really well and it should hold fine. Ive done it on plastic parts, its not the best but it holds. thats a big surface area so that will help.
Got my prototype trailing arms that I designed a couple days ago. Just need two more small pieces and I can throw them in the car to test them. Super rewarding feeling to actually be able hold these things in my hands!
