Front splitter design

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Front splitter design

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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 10 Years Ago HOT Topic Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	Hey all, Was hoping some of you may be able to offer me some advice on how to go about rebuilding a front splitter as a replacement for this: The issue is, the bottom is obviously contoured but the top is flat. The whole thing is 25mm thick (overkill engineering wise, but it needs to be that thick now for the bodywork to fit). Now normally I would make 2 moulds, but I want to avoid this for 2 reasons: 1. Cost. It's a large part, and making a mould for both the top and the bottom is obviously twice the expense. 2. The box-section you see on top of the splitter is bonded on, and so I can't take a mould from it. Hence I would need to make a new plug, which again is more cost. I'm building this for a customer who is a friend of mine, so I'm trying to keep the costs down. At the moment I'm leaning towards making a bottom mould and making a bottom section from that to have the shaped underside. Then, simply make a flat sandwich laminate using 25mm thick foam core. However this presents me with the issue of having to shape that flat sheet, and exposing the core, hence needing to do more finishing work. Easier solution?
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Hanaldo	Hanaldo posted 10 Years Ago HOT Post Details
Group: Forum Members Posts: 2.5K, Visits: 28K	Just thought I'd follow this up and share how I got on with this, in case anyone is interested... I ended up deciding to cut the top box section off, and go down the route of making a 2 piece split mould: This ended up being a pretty good decision, as upon dissecting the original I found that there was a 20mm aluminium honeycomb sandwich panel bonded into the front of the splitter as an impact absorption structure. I also had a look at how the original was made, and decided where and how I was going to make improvements. I decided to make the thing out of black diolen rather than carbon, as it's obviously quite exposed to abrasion etc. I followed this up with strategically placed Kevlar and triaxial fibreglass: And ready to infuse: I also decided to replace the aluminium honeycomb with a Kevlar skinned aluminium honeycomb to save weight: To bond the two sections together, I first bonded the honeycomb panel to the top skin and let it cure. I then placed foam weatherstrip around the perimeter to ensure the epoxy adhesive stayed where I wanted it: I then salvaged the original top box-section, repaired and repainted it, then bonded it back on: The corners sit in front of the front tyres and were getting blown to bits by stones and rubber coming from the tyres and wheel arches, so I used some of EC's carbon/Kevlar flexible sheet to give it a bit of protection. And finally I replaced the plywood scuff plates underneath with a high density polyethylene, or somewhat less impressive sounding... plastic chopping board. Little trick I picked up from the sailplane scene, it's super abrasion resistant stuff, took me hours to cut it to shape: And voila! 3 months of work summed up in a 5 minute post
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Front splitter design

Hanaldo - 10 Years Ago

Hi mate see your messages re wings,pm sent and more to follow ! But onto this little baby ! have...

f1rob - 10 Years Ago

Thanks Rob, will reply to pm! Haven't had the part off the car yet, but I did have a look at the...

Hanaldo - 10 Years Ago

i would say 25mm is not for strength, but for safety. if it would be 2mm thick it would be blade in...

tomzi1234 - 10 Years Ago

Just thought I'd follow this up and share how I got on with this, in case anyone is interested... I...

Hanaldo - 10 Years Ago

Apologies for the awful photos by the way, this phone used to be so good.

Hanaldo - 10 Years Ago

Fantasticattention to detail Hanaldo and I can tell that there's been a hell of a lot of elbow...

MarkMK - 10 Years Ago

top job there mate, looking forward to seeing it fitted back on the car

scottracing - 10 Years Ago

Great work, well thought out and expertly executed. thanks for sharing its great to see how people...

VVS - 10 Years Ago

Will make sure I remember to get some photos of it fitted back up. Might not happen for a little...

Hanaldo - 10 Years Ago

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