We weren’t sure which direction we were headed when starting this project. Initially, we were planning on keeping the stock wing intact (primarily for rigidity) and that’s how it all started.
We put together 3-4 cardboard templates which were generated from tracing the stock wing and extending it 2″ to hit the rear hatch in the front and 2″ out in the rear. The material we used was 1/4″ thick foamed PVC, the same material most of the aero pieces were created from. Once the template was close enough we traced onto the plastic and cut with a jig saw and cleaned it up with the belt sander. The other pattern traced onto the plastic is our splitter. We figured it was good to have it drawn in case it ever explodes from one of Joseph’s many off roading experiences and we need to recreate it.
Initially, we were going to heat the material and form it around the sides of the stock wing. After staring at it and thinking about it, we just weren’t happy with how it was going to look from the rear sitting on top of the curved rear wing and it was looking too cool just the way it was.
We had a spare wing sitting up in the rafters of the garage, so we rolled the dice and hacked off the lip to clean up the view from the rear. The risk was the loss of rigidity from losing that lip on the wing. Time will tell if it was the right move or not.
Here it is mocked up and temporarily riveted into place. Needs a little more shaping on the sander. You can see the stock wing and stock struts below. Our wing has never been operable because we gutted so much of the electronics in the car. Its possible that it could be manually cranked down a couple of notches, but we have not tried it yet.
And here it is with the cut wing cleaned up and painted and everything riveted into place. We’ll see how it holds up on NJMP’s Lightning circuit in a couple of weeks. I think we’ll bring a spare stocker just in case 😉
Let us know what you think and if you have any suggestions. It definitely wasn’t a complicated project but really changes the look of the car.
Looks sweet guys. I love the material choice as well. I make have to remember that. Is the diffuser made of the same material? Is it easy to bend with heat?
Yup, all our aero bits are made from the same “foamed PVC” (1/8″ & 1/4″). It bends very well with heat – there’s a sweet spot with heat though, too much and the surface of the materials changes texture a bit. Gotta be careful.