I used PVC foam board. It is smooth stiff light weight and comes in black among other colors. It can be bent when heated and stays in the shape once bent. It can be glued with any number of glues but for large surfaces epoxy or gorilla urethane glue have worked best for me. I made three identical bucks to mold three identical channels then covered all three with one more piece. It reaches all the way to the sway bar. You have to remove your evaperative emmisions equipment which means you'll need to tune and you'll have to find alternate breathing arrangements for the tank. It takes a minimum of two 4x8 sheets just to do the diffuser. You'll have enough left over to do the side extensions and the tire damns if you want. You want a 7 degree angle to the diffusers inside top surface and you need to block off the front at sway bar between the diffuser and the tire well. There needs to be a vent at the rear over the diffuser in case air accumulates there from openings behind the tires. The sections behind the tires help in smoothing the air flow of the rear tires. The purpose of the diffuser to get the air under the car to rejoin with the air from over the car with a minimum of turbulence.
By the way you can't use most mufflers they don't leave enough room. I used a Pypes Super System. I had to move one of the hangers but other than that it was perfect, it's cheap and it sounds darn good.
The diffuser looks great. I do not have a great deal of experience with PVC. Can this be done on a 08 and what would be everything that would be on the list of materials that one would need to make this happen? I was also thinking of using this for my front splitter. Do you think that the materials would hold up for the splitter as well? Any info would be great and once again, This thread is really great.
DIY belly pan vs 2010+ belly pan
- Thread starter Chris B.
- Start date
I did use it for a splitter for year worked fine see picture below. I may be building a diffuser this winter for a 2007 I see no reason it wont work the same as it did on mine. Just don't try and make it too big. The under pan is the same the bumper is different but that's just trimming.
Thanks 908ssp, The splitter looks great. On the difusser you cut the Sintra to make the three channels and then gorilla glued them at making sure the panel against the rear of the car has a seven degree angle? Also, Besides APR, Are there a few good companies out there making good wings? I have seen a lot Ebay stuff out there but APR is the only ones I have seen that seem to be a company making wings that work rather than a very large fashion statement.
It really is! 908, you did a FANTASTIC job with that. Very intricate, very functional and best of all EXTREMELY good looking. Seriously, I love it! My new favorite S197!
Yes, APR is going to be the way to go.
There are other companies out there, but for the price and availability, APR is the way to go if you want real aero.
When I worked at Mosler and we were preparing Project Blue Devil for some top-speed runs/development, we had to completely redesign the aero to take the car from fast point a to point b car to FAST slipper car. This meant blocking off ducts/vents that would normally otherwise be open creating pockets and resistances of air.
I took a crash course in Aero development by reading this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Competition-Car-Aerodynamics-Practical-Handbook/dp/0857330071
which I highly suggest if you EVER plan on making ANY aero improvements to your car.
This is a great thread and I thank 908ssp for sharing more about his car with us. I'm around the PhoenixRacing T2 Mustangs all the time and they don't have half the time in aero development that 908 does. Great work!
For people that don't think aero is worthwhile, I give you the three most controversial(and American) aerodynamic creations ever:
(two of these cars were banned because they were too good/too fast)
and one of my favorite aero setups:
(I know it's not a mustang, but is one of the most successful AWD time attack cars ever)
From the back^^
If anyone can tell me all the aero/aero mods on this car, I will be thoroughly impressed
I made the three channels over size so they could trimmed once they were attached to the car. I had to make three identical bucks to form the channels because they had to be supported when the fourth piece was laid over top and glued and the bucks allowed me to clamp the assembly all together. I have to say this isn't really a project for the do-it yourself-er that needs instructions. You have to be pretty competent with a variety of fabrication tools and techniques but I want to give you an idea so if you feel you can imagine the process you can take a stab at it.
As to the angle it just worked out that way for the most part. I new I wanted a 7 to 9 degree angle but had to work with what was there. There is a rib which runs cross ways at the rear of the spare tire well that is kind of hook shaped. I made a an aluminum rib on the top of the diffuser to hang on that. I made a aluminum frame to attach the front of the diffuser to the front of the tire well that would place the front edge of the diffuser at the sway bar. this came out to 7degree angle. There are also hangers near the back that go to the frame.
The splitter is really pretty simple. A large piece of cardboard is used to trace the contour of the bottom of the valance then you draw your shape based on that. The trick is to fold the cardboard in half to get both sides symmetrical. Then transfer that shape to the Sintra. You can attach it to the valance with pop rivets just clamp the splitter in place and shove boxes under it to hold it against the valance. Once you have it tight and in place you attach it in a few places as you attach it more and more you can remove the boxes holding the splitter in place and attach it in more places. I attached the PVC one about every 6" with large head 3/16" pop rivets.
It really is! 908, you did a FANTASTIC job with that. Very intricate, very functional and best of all EXTREMELY good looking. Seriously, I love it! My new favorite S197!
Yes, APR is going to be the way to go.
There are other companies out there, but for the price and availability, APR is the way to go if you want real aero.
When I worked at Mosler and we were preparing Project Blue Devil for some top-speed runs/development, we had to completely redesign the aero to take the car from fast point a to point b car to FAST slipper car. This meant blocking off ducts/vents that would normally otherwise be open creating pockets and resistances of air.
I took a crash course in Aero development by reading this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Competition-Car-Aerodynamics-Practical-Handbook/dp/0857330071
which I highly suggest if you EVER plan on making ANY aero improvements to your car.
This is a great thread and I thank 908ssp for sharing more about his car with us. I'm around the PhoenixRacing T2 Mustangs all the time and they don't have half the time in aero development that 908 does. Great work!
For people that don't think aero is worthwhile, I give you the three most controversial(and American) aerodynamic creations ever:
(two of these cars were banned because they were too good/too fast)
........
and one of my favorite aero setups:
(I know it's not a mustang, but is one of the most successful AWD time attack cars ever)
..........
From the back^^
If anyone can tell me all the aero/aero mods on this car, I will be thoroughly impressed
Thanks a lot for the comments. I know my car and aero mods aren't the typical Mustang fare but I saw no reason to not to do what I wanted and the Mustang in many ways is great starting point. I have been doing this sort of mods on cars since the early 70s so I am probably older than you would have guessed. Those track time cars are pretty out there and I can really appreciate the work that goes into those cars usually on a shoe string budget.
908ssp and Chris, Thank you for all the info on aero and I will be reading the book. I am currently a wounded Soldier at Walter Reed in the DC area. I worked on electronics/avionics and airframe and powerplant on helicopters. I also build custom guitars as a side job. Before the Mustang and the guitars I built fabricated suspension for mini trucks( I was into mini's for years after my brother got me into them). I love all things with a motor. So this thread has been the best so far on the site in my opinion. I have a lot of time on my hands so I think that some Sintra is in order and I am going to mock up a jig to make my banks. Got any places that you suggest buying the Sintra from?
First off I want to thank you for your service. We all owe you our deepest gratitude without you none of use could do what we do. Hope you recover and make the most of your abilities.
I used to make custom guitars until I discovered Parkers then I realized I couldn't do any better than them.
Sintra isn't heavy but it is too big to ship. Check your local dealers in plastics and sign makers. I had to buy two full 4x8 sheets to get enough material for just the diffuser. Yes there were some sizable left overs but you can't get the sizes you need for the diffuser from one sheet. I paid just under $100 each I have seen it on the net for $125 each plus shipping.
Thank you for the kind words about my service. I am healing well just a little board. I will check around for Sintra in my area because to have two sheets sent to the house would cost in shipping just over what a single sheet costs and that is pretty expensive. I can see why the custom APR splitters cost so much, it will cost me the same to buy a custom APR carbon splitter as it would be to get two sheets of Sintra sent to me if I go from the net. I would still like to look into making my own, the way that I want it to be. I may have to start a carbon fiber venture of my own and see where that takes me. I think that the market for a good product at a fare price is in order. I have searched and have not found many, if not only one, company that does this stuff right so I think I may just have to give this a go. I have the time and the means and know how. I will just keep giving it a go and then repeat. Carbon fiber is not new and there are so many different ways to so about this. I will start with the Sintra and go from there. Thanks 908ssp and Chris, I will keep you up dated.
Grassroots Motorsports just had an interesting article about making your own aero components out of styrofoam and carbon fiber or fiberglass.
You can get carbon fiber "sheets" that can then be bonded onto other surfaces to make them stronger. You can make a wing with styrofoam and carbon that is super-strong and weighs next to nothing.
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You can get carbon fiber "sheets" that can then be bonded onto other surfaces to make them stronger. You can make a wing with styrofoam and carbon that is super-strong and weighs next to nothing.
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I saw that in GM. It was a good article. carbon fiber has few limits if you know how to deal with it. I get a lot of mags. because each have there own really good tech. I even get Sport Compact Car. Most of the mag. is trash but the tech is really great. So is Turbo, Cycle World, and a few others(of course MM&FF). There is a lot to learn from sources that a lot of people of never pick up. Back in the day you could count on one hand good rags that had good tech but now if you open up a little and search enough, You can find it in abundance. Another great way is to network, as we are doing now and it had helped greatly. I would have added Minitruckin or Truckin but the real tech is not there. Its in the shops doing the work for the crazy painted Mini's and full size trucks. Grassroots Motorsports is a great rag though.
I find it hard to believe you get Sport Compact Car, since its been out of print for years.
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Making a point to not close doors on other mags that have good tech in them. I get about 10 to 12 rags a month. In the end, If MM&FF, 5.0, and CycleWorld make it, The rest can hold me until the next month when they those rags make it again. Or a good fix of this forum helps too.
I'm trying to decide how far back I want to put the custom sheet metal on the underside of the front of the car. The photo below is the underside of a Boss 302 LS. It also has a front splitter which sticks out past the front bumper.
I was originally going to put the sheet metal back to line 1. However if I extend it to line 2 that will go back to the back of the oil pan. I just need to make sure the sheet metal doesn't interfere with suspension travel.
I was originally going to put the sheet metal back to line 1. However if I extend it to line 2 that will go back to the back of the oil pan. I just need to make sure the sheet metal doesn't interfere with suspension travel.
Shotokan1509
forum member
Very interested to see what you do, I was having the same thoughts. Is anyone adding vents similar to the ford one to pull air out of the engine bay? I was thinking maybe hodrod hood louver press would be good? I'd like to make it a big one piece splitter & pan even.
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