Make sure to use something that will break itself before it goes through the intercooler or radiator.

 

orion, what did you make that mount bolt to?

also, is there a mount on the back too, or does it just have the one mount total?

having a hard time seeing how that alone would be enough, but im sure in person it would be different

 

corrugated plastic



Ok, so I'm bored.

 

We have always used cheap form grade ABS in various thicknesses for stuff like this. For William's car we used .060 & .125 to make the dive planes, block off the rad opening in the bumper. Bent and riveted together. His splitter weighs about 4 lbs and worked well enough to set another absolute Miata lap record last Sunday. Because it worked so well, it was getting bent down into the pavement under aero load and abrading through. So we're going to try some replaceable HDPE rub strips in a few spots.

Picture of final version we ran last Sunday

+1

Learned that the hard way.

 

God that car is so disgusting, I think I'm in love.

FUNCTION >> FORM

 

Looks like in the picture you’re having some issues with the corrugated plastic sagging down due to aero loads. It is nice and light though I think my fiberglass/plywood splitter ended up weighing 9 lbs if I remember right.

Any tips on fastening methods or hardware to use for mounting the canards? I’ve never seen any of these up close to get ideas. Most pictures I look at it appears like they are held to the bumper by majic.

Bob

 

A little red paint would go a long way on William's car.

 

nothing zip tie can't fix.

 

I didn't do the canards. They're not quite the right shape, screwed on with sheet metal screws. They need to be curved IMO. The dive planes and side plates on them were made at my shop. We used the thin ABS bent into shape an held together with aluminum rivets. The dive planes were riveted to the splitter for two reasons: To make damage repair a simple swap and also to make trailer loading easier.

At the trailing edge of the splitter it's held in with a QR pin sourced from Home Depot. The center of the splitter has a tongue that fits into a square hole cut into the under tray. The four stays also have QR's. So the whole thing pops off without tools and weighs nothing. It's also set up to simply fold away and get driven over in the event we dip a wheel. Nothing to go into the radiator, oil cooler, brake ducts or Rotrex cooler.

Once we get a set up that is a bit stiffer and more durable, we'll make a spare and hang it in the trailer. Dip a wheel now and our day is over so we need that spare.

That and a few more zip ties.

 

Yea I think my splitter is fastened too well. it is likely to do some damage if I punch some curbing square on with it wont rip off that easy. Some directions I found showed the use of short wood screws that would pull out of the wood on a hard impact.

I rigged up a series of 2X6 boards to get it transitioned up on my trailer without needing to pull the splitter off. The splitter is about 3.5” off the ground so it needs a very shallow ramp angle to load it.

Bob

 

This thread kicks ***.

 

can anyone post any pics of the way its mounted underneth the car please and well the front to. thank you

 

Emillio is that actually what you used for a splitter? Did you use multiple plys? I would think using a few sheets glued together with the 'grain' going different ways would work well.

 

I m the one that uses that corrugate plastic. It is strong and light as is. I use a 5/16" piece. Get them locally from a place that builds shipping containers for military.
it also cuts very easily.

 

Thanks for the reply. We hardly even have a military here in Canada so that' not really an option. Luckily I have a bunch of left over election signs from when my mom ran for city counsellor that are made of similar material.

 

You "THINK" we don't have an army, you just don't see them because they aren't in the news everyday like *cough* some other armed forces.

 

i use a thin sheet of aluminum held on at four points. at vir in the early morning session with a damp track i ran straight off and over a curb under braking. i thought for sure the splitter was ripped off. nope, just bent. it would scrape on hard right turns (left side was where the most damage was)
so i came in fearing it would get stuck under a tire and send me out of control. well when i pulled into the hot pit lane i saw that it was just bent under. tried my hardest to just rip it off including jumping up and down on it. didn't move an inch. so, i went and unbolted it in about 2mins. crazy part is, if you saw how it's held on you would never think it would survive the impact. as a matter of fact, it's still there holding my new splitter on. point is, what kind of material were you guys using that broke and ripped into your radiator,oil cooler or whatever?

here's how mines held on:

rear: factory bolt for bumper/support rod



front: L brakets bolt to factory threaded hole for bumper support, which hold the top of allthread, the bottom hangs down and bolts to splitter.





that's it, simple and it works.

 

I would answer your question but you quoted a pic so, no soup for you.

 

Ha ha ha

 

Thread resurrection

So Bob did you get a before-after idea on how much stiffness the fiberglass layup added to your splitter? My 1/2" plywood splitter is mostly complete and I am debating whether to bother glassing it or not. Right now it is not stiff enough without adding the usual tie rods to brace it to the chassis. I am also considering a dual-purpose stiffening/air-dam structure which should work but I have to be careful with this approach; it needs to self-destruct without taking the nose with it.