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Steve Broad
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 408,
Visits: 4.1K
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+x+x+x+x+x+xHi, me again.Looking at the pictures again, just a couple of questions.Do you have any window glass. If you haven’t the drag will be incredible.Are you allowed to fit a valance to the rear wheel area so there is no cut out. Don’t know the regs, but it may have to be removable.It looks as though there is a flange sticking out past the body line round the wheel arches and the windows. Is this needed as it will cause a lot of drag and turbulence. It will break up the boundary layer. If stiffening is needed can this flange go on the inside.M We use polycarbonate instead of glass as it is much safer and glass might shatter. The side windows are open only because the car is not running and it gets too hot inside, but during the competition the side windows will be covered. I was not very clear with my question but the main reason I'm worried about the door gap is mainly because it might cause problems in opening or closing the door, or even make the installation difficult. The main concern is not aerodynamic performance as we have much bigger gaps already, and because the car usually runs at very low speeds (20 kmh avg). At that sort of speed, why not simply velrco the doors on? Because of the safety regulations, the doors must be easily opened from the inside and the outside, and must lock properly. Any kind of tape is prohibited as it might trap the driver in case of an emergency. I doubt that velcro would stop someone getting in or out of the car, a tug or a kick and job done! As a bonus there is no risk of a lock failing to open :-) However, regs are regs. Agreed. However the regulations are there to simply stop people from abusing such ideas, its a student competition, and a single injury will not fair well in the media. Understand. Mind you, it will be pretty difficult to do much damage at 20 kph :-) Carbon fibre hinges?
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Zeyad Gamal
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 17,
Visits: 118
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+x+x+x+x+x+x+xHi, me again.Looking at the pictures again, just a couple of questions.Do you have any window glass. If you haven’t the drag will be incredible.Are you allowed to fit a valance to the rear wheel area so there is no cut out. Don’t know the regs, but it may have to be removable.It looks as though there is a flange sticking out past the body line round the wheel arches and the windows. Is this needed as it will cause a lot of drag and turbulence. It will break up the boundary layer. If stiffening is needed can this flange go on the inside.M We use polycarbonate instead of glass as it is much safer and glass might shatter. The side windows are open only because the car is not running and it gets too hot inside, but during the competition the side windows will be covered. I was not very clear with my question but the main reason I'm worried about the door gap is mainly because it might cause problems in opening or closing the door, or even make the installation difficult. The main concern is not aerodynamic performance as we have much bigger gaps already, and because the car usually runs at very low speeds (20 kmh avg). At that sort of speed, why not simply velrco the doors on? Because of the safety regulations, the doors must be easily opened from the inside and the outside, and must lock properly. Any kind of tape is prohibited as it might trap the driver in case of an emergency. I doubt that velcro would stop someone getting in or out of the car, a tug or a kick and job done! As a bonus there is no risk of a lock failing to open :-) However, regs are regs. Agreed. However the regulations are there to simply stop people from abusing such ideas, its a student competition, and a single injury will not fair well in the media. Understand. Mind you, it will be pretty difficult to do much damage at 20 kph :-) Carbon fibre hinges? We use plastic friction hinges like the one in the picture. Usually the hinges and the windshield are the last to be added to the car and most times than not we are behind schedule, so these parts get very little attention. Any ideas for the hinge would be much appreciated, as we have much more time this season. 
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Steve Broad
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 408,
Visits: 4.1K
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+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+xHi, me again.Looking at the pictures again, just a couple of questions.Do you have any window glass. If you haven’t the drag will be incredible.Are you allowed to fit a valance to the rear wheel area so there is no cut out. Don’t know the regs, but it may have to be removable.It looks as though there is a flange sticking out past the body line round the wheel arches and the windows. Is this needed as it will cause a lot of drag and turbulence. It will break up the boundary layer. If stiffening is needed can this flange go on the inside.M We use polycarbonate instead of glass as it is much safer and glass might shatter. The side windows are open only because the car is not running and it gets too hot inside, but during the competition the side windows will be covered. I was not very clear with my question but the main reason I'm worried about the door gap is mainly because it might cause problems in opening or closing the door, or even make the installation difficult. The main concern is not aerodynamic performance as we have much bigger gaps already, and because the car usually runs at very low speeds (20 kmh avg). At that sort of speed, why not simply velrco the doors on? Because of the safety regulations, the doors must be easily opened from the inside and the outside, and must lock properly. Any kind of tape is prohibited as it might trap the driver in case of an emergency. I doubt that velcro would stop someone getting in or out of the car, a tug or a kick and job done! As a bonus there is no risk of a lock failing to open :-) However, regs are regs. Agreed. However the regulations are there to simply stop people from abusing such ideas, its a student competition, and a single injury will not fair well in the media. Understand. Mind you, it will be pretty difficult to do much damage at 20 kph :-) Carbon fibre hinges? We use plastic friction hinges like the one in the picture. Usually the hinges and the windshield are the last to be added to the car and most times than not we are behind schedule, so these parts get very little attention. Any ideas for the hinge would be much appreciated, as we have much more time this season. This sort of hinge will be lighter: https://www.jefcomfg.com/carbon_fiber_hinges.htmlMaking your own is fairly simple if cost is a consideration.
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Zeyad Gamal
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 17,
Visits: 118
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+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+xHi, me again.Looking at the pictures again, just a couple of questions.Do you have any window glass. If you haven’t the drag will be incredible.Are you allowed to fit a valance to the rear wheel area so there is no cut out. Don’t know the regs, but it may have to be removable.It looks as though there is a flange sticking out past the body line round the wheel arches and the windows. Is this needed as it will cause a lot of drag and turbulence. It will break up the boundary layer. If stiffening is needed can this flange go on the inside.M We use polycarbonate instead of glass as it is much safer and glass might shatter. The side windows are open only because the car is not running and it gets too hot inside, but during the competition the side windows will be covered. I was not very clear with my question but the main reason I'm worried about the door gap is mainly because it might cause problems in opening or closing the door, or even make the installation difficult. The main concern is not aerodynamic performance as we have much bigger gaps already, and because the car usually runs at very low speeds (20 kmh avg). At that sort of speed, why not simply velrco the doors on? Because of the safety regulations, the doors must be easily opened from the inside and the outside, and must lock properly. Any kind of tape is prohibited as it might trap the driver in case of an emergency. I doubt that velcro would stop someone getting in or out of the car, a tug or a kick and job done! As a bonus there is no risk of a lock failing to open :-) However, regs are regs. Agreed. However the regulations are there to simply stop people from abusing such ideas, its a student competition, and a single injury will not fair well in the media. Understand. Mind you, it will be pretty difficult to do much damage at 20 kph :-) Carbon fibre hinges? We use plastic friction hinges like the one in the picture. Usually the hinges and the windshield are the last to be added to the car and most times than not we are behind schedule, so these parts get very little attention. Any ideas for the hinge would be much appreciated, as we have much more time this season. This sort of hinge will be lighter: https://www.jefcomfg.com/carbon_fiber_hinges.htmlMaking your own is fairly simple if cost is a consideration. Cost is not a main consideration, but we're from Egypt and finding this type of hinges might be tricky. They are however very good and open to a full 360 degrees which is great because now we can put them inside the vehicle to have a more streamlined look. I will try to find them here, if not I will see if we can get them from abroad. If we decide to manufacture them, does the moving part has to be Kevlar ? will carbon or fiberglass do the trick ? I'm not sure we'll be able to get Kevlar around here. Also, if you know of any decent tutorials on manufacturing them, I'd be thankful if you share them with us !
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Steve Broad
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 408,
Visits: 4.1K
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+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+xHi, me again.Looking at the pictures again, just a couple of questions.Do you have any window glass. If you haven’t the drag will be incredible.Are you allowed to fit a valance to the rear wheel area so there is no cut out. Don’t know the regs, but it may have to be removable.It looks as though there is a flange sticking out past the body line round the wheel arches and the windows. Is this needed as it will cause a lot of drag and turbulence. It will break up the boundary layer. If stiffening is needed can this flange go on the inside.M We use polycarbonate instead of glass as it is much safer and glass might shatter. The side windows are open only because the car is not running and it gets too hot inside, but during the competition the side windows will be covered. I was not very clear with my question but the main reason I'm worried about the door gap is mainly because it might cause problems in opening or closing the door, or even make the installation difficult. The main concern is not aerodynamic performance as we have much bigger gaps already, and because the car usually runs at very low speeds (20 kmh avg). At that sort of speed, why not simply velrco the doors on? Because of the safety regulations, the doors must be easily opened from the inside and the outside, and must lock properly. Any kind of tape is prohibited as it might trap the driver in case of an emergency. I doubt that velcro would stop someone getting in or out of the car, a tug or a kick and job done! As a bonus there is no risk of a lock failing to open :-) However, regs are regs. Agreed. However the regulations are there to simply stop people from abusing such ideas, its a student competition, and a single injury will not fair well in the media. Understand. Mind you, it will be pretty difficult to do much damage at 20 kph :-) Carbon fibre hinges? We use plastic friction hinges like the one in the picture. Usually the hinges and the windshield are the last to be added to the car and most times than not we are behind schedule, so these parts get very little attention. Any ideas for the hinge would be much appreciated, as we have much more time this season. This sort of hinge will be lighter: https://www.jefcomfg.com/carbon_fiber_hinges.htmlMaking your own is fairly simple if cost is a consideration. Cost is not a main consideration, but we're from Egypt and finding this type of hinges might be tricky. They are however very good and open to a full 360 degrees which is great because now we can put them inside the vehicle to have a more streamlined look. I will try to find them here, if not I will see if we can get them from abroad. If we decide to manufacture them, does the moving part has to be Kevlar ? will carbon or fiberglass do the trick ? I'm not sure we'll be able to get Kevlar around here. Also, if you know of any decent tutorials on manufacturing them, I'd be thankful if you share them with us ! There is such a thing as the internet :-) Or is the importing of stuff to Egypt the tricky part? If weight is the main criteria, then how about simply using thin plastic sheet, screwed or bonded to each part? Just playing with ideas. I am obsessed about weight on my project car so this is a subject close to my heart :-)
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Zeyad Gamal
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Group: Forum Members
Posts: 17,
Visits: 118
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+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+x+xHi, me again.Looking at the pictures again, just a couple of questions.Do you have any window glass. If you haven’t the drag will be incredible.Are you allowed to fit a valance to the rear wheel area so there is no cut out. Don’t know the regs, but it may have to be removable.It looks as though there is a flange sticking out past the body line round the wheel arches and the windows. Is this needed as it will cause a lot of drag and turbulence. It will break up the boundary layer. If stiffening is needed can this flange go on the inside.M We use polycarbonate instead of glass as it is much safer and glass might shatter. The side windows are open only because the car is not running and it gets too hot inside, but during the competition the side windows will be covered. I was not very clear with my question but the main reason I'm worried about the door gap is mainly because it might cause problems in opening or closing the door, or even make the installation difficult. The main concern is not aerodynamic performance as we have much bigger gaps already, and because the car usually runs at very low speeds (20 kmh avg). At that sort of speed, why not simply velrco the doors on? Because of the safety regulations, the doors must be easily opened from the inside and the outside, and must lock properly. Any kind of tape is prohibited as it might trap the driver in case of an emergency. I doubt that velcro would stop someone getting in or out of the car, a tug or a kick and job done! As a bonus there is no risk of a lock failing to open :-) However, regs are regs. Agreed. However the regulations are there to simply stop people from abusing such ideas, its a student competition, and a single injury will not fair well in the media. Understand. Mind you, it will be pretty difficult to do much damage at 20 kph :-) Carbon fibre hinges? We use plastic friction hinges like the one in the picture. Usually the hinges and the windshield are the last to be added to the car and most times than not we are behind schedule, so these parts get very little attention. Any ideas for the hinge would be much appreciated, as we have much more time this season. This sort of hinge will be lighter: https://www.jefcomfg.com/carbon_fiber_hinges.htmlMaking your own is fairly simple if cost is a consideration. Cost is not a main consideration, but we're from Egypt and finding this type of hinges might be tricky. They are however very good and open to a full 360 degrees which is great because now we can put them inside the vehicle to have a more streamlined look. I will try to find them here, if not I will see if we can get them from abroad. If we decide to manufacture them, does the moving part has to be Kevlar ? will carbon or fiberglass do the trick ? I'm not sure we'll be able to get Kevlar around here. Also, if you know of any decent tutorials on manufacturing them, I'd be thankful if you share them with us ! There is such a thing as the internet :-) Or is the importing of stuff to Egypt the tricky part? If weight is the main criteria, then how about simply using thin plastic sheet, screwed or bonded to each part? Just playing with ideas. I am obsessed about weight on my project car so this is a subject close to my heart :-) Sorry for the late reply. I checked here and we won't be able to get the hinges themselves, but we can get some Kevlar and carbon fiber. We'll try to make them ourselves once we get back to work ! Just out of curiosity, what car are you working on ?
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