--- The Stude's 2013 Changes Page 21-A --- --- Wing &Vertical Stabilizers -- Part II --- |
There are restrictions on the size of the wing and also the height above the ground (65 inches) and how far behind the car (18 inches) the wing/verticals can be. We were taking measurements with the car on jack stands and I worried a little if we were close to the maximum allowed on the two above restrictions. As a result I decided to lower the tops on the structures that Hooley had made and that I took back to Utah with me. Also I wanted to round or square off the top of the trailing edges to make sure we weren't past the 18 inch 'behind the car' measurement. I wanted to make the verticals a little more aero by rounding the fronts and tapering the backs at less than an 8 degree convergent angle for the trailing edge. That was going to add length to the structure so.....
... I cut the back of the tops off, right arrow, along with the tops, left arrow.
Above the arrows point to the areas that were cut off and ...
.... above you can see the results.
A piece of square tubing was added to the back side, arrow, and cut to lenght after the picture was taken.
Next 3/4 inch round tubing was added to the leading edge and...
.... to the top to give that area a more pleasing profile.
Also round tubing was added to the trailing edge. It was added there to help in forming the trailing edge with a better transition from the flat surface to the tapered trailing edge. More on that later.
The 3/4 inch round tubing was aligned with the 3/4 inch square tubing by clamping it on both sides with the flat strap and then welding it in place.
Above is one vertical with the round tubing added around the perimeter. The top is actually parallel to the ground once the vertical is on the car as the back fenders slope downwards.
The verticals look huge in some of the pictures, but I think this picture gives a better perspective to their true size. They are about 32 inches high which is about double what is allowed with spill plates that can be 8 inches above and below the spoiler. They are more than twice as efficient though due to their flat surface and total area and even more so since they can be so far back on the car, much further back than spill plates on a spoiler can be. That really helps move the Center Of Pressure further back on the car which is a good thing.
Above the bottom left side was propped up to better represent how the vertical would sit atop the fender on the car.
Above square tubing and flat strap was added to the side of the vertical opposite the wing. This will allow a removable panel to be attached there with stainless steel screws so adjustments to the wing's angle of attack can be made.
Next the framework was placed on some 20 gauge cold rolled steel and marked and ....
.... cut out to cover the side facing the wing. The plate where the wing attaches was not covered but used to fill the space above the sheet metal.
Above the side with the removable panel has been cut and the area where the access to the wing adjustment has been cut out with the plasma cutter.
Above the clamp on the left is the piece that was cut out and will be reused as the removable panel.
The outer panel has been laid in place above, but not welded at this point.
The outer piece was tack welded to the framework from the inside and ....
... the tack ground smooth on the outer surface.
Before the one panel was welded into place the frame was laid on the other side and the framework was marked onto the panel with a marker, arrows.
Then holes were drilled...
.... in locations corresponding to where the square tubing would be under the panel once it was in place. The holes were enlarged with a step drill.
The panel was put into place and plug welded at the holes.
Before it had been put in place holes were also drilled through the framework near the bottom and through the first skin.
With the second skin in place the holes were then drilled from the other side through it. The holes are there to be use possibly for attachment points for strap that would go from the verticals down onto the sides of the fenders with backing plates in the fenders.
We ran out of time to do that and probably won't do it for now as the verticals got a real workout on one run when the car tried to spin but didn't as the verticals did their job and caught the car and didn't bend over as we feared they might in that situation. More on that in the 2013 story on the car that is elsewhere on this site
