Diffuser and splitter build pics

[dave6666]

Actually... It clears the driveway angle with 3 to 4 inches to spare. Those pics were at the minimum clearance.

When I get to the front splitter which is next, clearance may be a different story.

 

[LifeIsGood]

Dave,

Thanks for all the information...you make it look like almost anybody can do this, but it does take quite a bit of precision cutting and drilling.

I see that you used 3/16" 5052 for the rear plate and 0.080" 5052 for the rear blades. Why use different sizes? Did you ever consider having the two outer most blades as extensions from the plate and then bending them down?

 

[BOTTLEFED]

Looks great Dave, can't wait to see it in black

 

[treesnake]

Dave,

Thanks for all the information...you make it look like almost anybody can do this, but it does take quite a bit of precision cutting and drilling.

I see that you used 3/16" 5052 for the rear plate and 0.080" 5052 for the rear blades. Why use different sizes? Did you ever consider having the two outer most blades as extensions from the plate and then bending them down?

Unfortunately there is a good chance that one of them might get bent on a steep curb, drive etc. Like the SRT, the individual damaged blades can be replaced.

 

[LifeIsGood]

That makes good sense...Thanks...

 

[dave6666]

That makes good sense...Thanks...

Exactly the reason... Replaceable blades. Or, if I decide I want them angled on the back I just just swap to another set. Or maybe if I want them painted white.

Another reason for the 0.080 blade is after looking at lots of pics of what has been done in the past, it looked "sheet metal" was the du jour most often. 3/16" thick plate is, well, metal plate.

 

[Bobpantax]

Dave. Where are the initial front splitter pics? Some of us are hooked on the mini series and need to see those photos.

 

[dave6666]

Dave. Where are the initial front splitter pics? Some of us are hooked on the mini series and need to see those photos.

Sorry Bob. That preliminary CAD shot was just a little intermediate step that was more for my internal use than it was to push that portion of this project to the forefront.

So, umm...

Just look at the piece of green fiberglass leaning up against the wall and imagine me sawing on it. Dust going everywhere.

Then, imagine me itching like a monkey going berserk trying to get out of my clothes because that dust is like down where...

Still give a damn about that front splitter for now Bob?

 

[X-Metal]

nice craftsmanship. very inspiring, thats awesome! you just motivated me to go work on my GTS! thankyou for taking the time to share this with us.

 

[Vipuronr]

That is a really great job!

 

[Bobpantax]

Sorry Bob. That preliminary CAD shot was just a little intermediate step that was more for my internal use than it was to push that portion of this project to the forefront.

So, umm...

Just look at the piece of green fiberglass leaning up against the wall and imagine me sawing on it. Dust going everywhere.

Then, imagine me itching like a monkey going berserk trying to get out of my clothes because that dust is like down where...

Still give a damn about that front splitter for now Bob?

When is the video going to be posted? Too funny Dave. The image is classic Three Stooges.

 

[dave6666]

Back... in BLACK!

Forgot to mention previously the weight of the rear diffuser is 17 pounds with the brackets.

The drive today showed some improvement on the sand/dirt that accumulates on the rear of the car. Not solved entirely, but better.

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[jasontiff]

Looks SEXXXXXXY!!!!! When those wheels going on?

 

[RobZilla]

This is what we've (at least I) have been waiting for.... time for the front splitter

 

[dave6666]

Jason... My new tires should be in next week, and after the 1/10/09 event that I plan on making if it doesn't rain, the parts will fly. BTW, I upgraded your new rear tires from an inspection passing 2.1 32nds, to an inspection blistering 2.5+ 32nds.

It's supposed to get down into the 40's tomorrow, or as us Texans call it "TOTAL WHITEOUT," so the plan is to start working on the front splitter tomorrow. Maybe I can get Tony Romo to come over and help. I hear he's not busy.

 

[jasontiff]

Jason... My new tires should be in next week, and after the 1/10/09 event that I plan on making if it doesn't rain, the parts will fly. BTW, I upgraded your new rear tires from an inspection passing 2.1 32nds, to an inspection blistering 2.5+ 32nds.

It's supposed to get down into the 40's tomorrow, or as us Texans call it "TOTAL WHITEOUT," so the plan is to start working on the front splitter tomorrow. Maybe I can get Tony Romo to come over and help. I hear he's not busy.

Oh, I wasn't pressin' for a timeline...I just wanted to live vicariously through you! I have a set of those iForged on my Ford GT (on Midnight Club: Los Angeles) and want to see them bad boys on YOUR car! MOAR PIX PLZ!

 

[dave6666]

Today's project in this 40 degree Texas weather - reminiscent of some of the final scenes of The Day After Tomorrow - is to make the pattern for the cut line on the rear of the front splitter.

Needs to follow the chin spoiler lip, as you can see in this pic. BTW, I'm in a contest with Tom to see who can obliterate the most driveways with the front of their car, but a repaint is probably in my future.

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The plan is to use a big piece of cardboard and a couple of fence pickets to make the pattern with.

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Cardboard cut in half and screwed to the fence pickets.

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Supported under the car with jacks.

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In addition to making the cardboard/lumber piece square/straight etc, I wanted it centered well on the car and took the time to get it right.

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From there I needed a way to draw a line under here.

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Problem solved...

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The line turned out pretty good in the center, but was a little tricky on the sides.

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With the line on one side better than the other, I decided to make a sub-template of that area to compare to the car, as well as transfer later to the other side of the big template.

Wax paper and a grease pencil.

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The sub-template fit the car well and the next step was to finalize the big template. Moved one of the boards to the other edge of the cardboard so both halves would stay together when cut.

Drew the line with the sub-template, and ran some 1/4" tape to smooth the rest of the line for my cut.

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Carefully cut with a modeling knife.

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Ready to transfer to the FRP sheet. Worth the effort to make the template square/even/symmetrical etc.

Next step is to cut the FRP sheet. Football for now.

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[Bobpantax]

Very interesting. You are the Yankee Worshop of the Viper nation.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Welcome to the Brotherhood of Driveway Gouging.

With the template made to the contour of the front fascia air dam, will you be mounting the front splitter to the underneath of the fascia, ahead of the air dam? (The cut edge on the right of the last picture butts up against the air dam?) I would want to see the splitter lower, although if the bugs in Texas are that big, you don't want to scrape them up into the radiator.

Speaking of radiator, what is the black panel under the radiator? On my Gen 1 the fascia is different; my "Roe Hole" is behind the air dam vs. ahead of the air dam on a Gen 2.

Yeah, it scrapes a lot.

 

[Fatboy 18]

Dave, that rear Defuser looks brilliant

Im looking forward to your next installment of How Tos



GOOD STUFF

 

[dave6666]

Tom... The cut as seen on the cardboard template will indeed butt against the chin spoiler lip. The Roe duct hole will be cut out later after I get the fascia off the car to mark that from the inside of the fascia. I will also need to modify some of the Roe sheetmetal inside the fascia. Just a minor thing but needed for best fit. Pics to follow on that.

As far as your Gen 1 vs. my Gen 2, I've seen that pic of your car before and can only assume that there are some significant differences as to how everything is designed - underneath and then up and back from there. I'm very familiar with how my '01 goes together but have never had my hands on a Gen 1 to disassemble, so that previous comment speculates the different designs.

The shiny black piece you see in that pic is part of the Roe package, freshly powder coated when I was doing the other aero parts, and off of the car whilst doing some unrelated work. Yup, a clean spot.

 

[dave6666]

Got the template transferred to my FRP sheet and then test fit the sheet to the car to check. Very pleased so far. The only place that part of this cut will show is on the sides and there is a nice small even gap. Might put some rubber edging over the sheet there to snug up against the body. Dunno. Still in the beer/reward yourself stage for a bit. Planning is on hold for a few more sips.

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[BOTTLEFED]

wow, that stuff looks really thick

you did a great job of fitting to the underside perfectly

so how are you going to hold that big chunk of plastic to the fascia?

 

[dave6666]

wow, that stuff looks really thick

you did a great job of fitting to the underside perfectly

so how are you going to hold that big chunk of plastic to the fascia?

As I had mentioned before, my first desire on material thickness was 3/8". But I found a full 4ft x 8ft sheet of 1/2" thick for 75% of the cost of just a 2ft x 6ft piece of the 3/8" sheet. Could not pass up the bargain on the 1/2" and have enough for a full spare splitter.

If you look at some of the other splitters that are seen on various cars 1/2" to 3/4" thick is not uncommon. Of course they may be using honeycomb or CF, both of which as I had said before I did not want to fabricate with.

At this point the mounting will be through all of the rivet points underneath on my Roe duct opening - 9 holes I think. Probably use 1/4-20 flat head screws there. Would also like to add at least one more screw per side outboard of that center array. I will also have a support cable on each side.

And thanks for the compliments on the fit so far. It is amazing what you can do with a piece of cardboard and 2 fence pickets if you have the time and patience.

 

[Stretch]

And thanks for the compliments on the fit so far. It is amazing what you can do with a piece of cardboard and 2 fence pickets if you have the time and patience.

...time, patience, and beer.

Good work Dave, it looks nice.

 

[VicTxV10]

...time, patience, and beer.

Good work Dave, it looks nice.

Ditto!

 

[BOTTLEFED]

As I had mentioned before, my first desire on material thickness was 3/8". But I found a full 4ft x 8ft sheet of 1/2" thick for 75% of the cost of just a 2ft x 6ft piece of the 3/8" sheet. Could not pass up the bargain on the 1/2" and have enough for a full spare splitter.

If you look at some of the other splitters that are seen on various cars 1/2" to 3/4" thick is not uncommon. Of course they may be using honeycomb or CF, both of which as I had said before I did not want to fabricate with.

At this point the mounting will be through all of the rivet points underneath on my Roe duct opening - 9 holes I think. Probably use 1/4-20 flat head screws there. Would also like to add at least one more screw per side outboard of that center array. I will also have a support cable on each side.

And thanks for the compliments on the fit so far. It is amazing what you can do with a piece of cardboard and 2 fence pickets if you have the time and patience.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade but I think you will need a little more than some screws and cables.
This is the main thing holding me back from designing my own front splitter. The mounting and fitment on the front of the Viper is almost impossible to attach aero parts to.

Just to give an example of the forces your splitter will see.
I helped a friend make and fit a front splitter for some track days on his RX-7. It attached to the front fascia and went all the way back to the frame/engine support with bolts all around. He used 2 supports at the front that connected the splitter to the bumper support. The splitter was made of 3/8" plywood (every common for racecars).
We thought it was very strong but it was only a test and not an engineered part. It was strong enough to stand on the front of it and hold the weight of a 180lb man.
However, once he got it up to speed at the track it began to come loose. I could see it almost touching the ground as he went down the straights. He kept getting black flagged for dragging parts. We secured it better and went back out. It did fine the rest of the day. But when we were on the interstate on the way home, it flew off. We could see that the force of 75-80mph just ripped it off the car. The bolts pulled through the plywood.

Just something to think about.

 

[RobZilla]

Im not an expert but isn't aluminum a lot more durable than plywood???

 

[dave6666]

You built a splitter out of 3/8" thick PLYWOOD???





I wouldn't build a dog house out of that!





OK. Sorry. That was disrespectful.




Maybe to a dog!





Dudes. And Dude-ettes.

The tensile strength of the fiberglass sheet I am using is 30,000 PSI. The average tensile strength of common pine is 300 PSI.

THIRTY THOUSAND

versus

THREE HUNDRED!!!​

The screws pulled through...






Sorry. There I went again.

 

[Bobpantax]

Easy Dave. He was not a rocket scientist and you are one.