Building the Front Wing & Mounts

Posted by jjludemann on March 24, 2016

Finished front wing on the car (endplates to be added after setting ride height)

: Airfoil profile laser printed on sticker paper, stuck to aluminum sheet

: Airfoil profiles cut from aluminum sheet

: Homemade hot-wire foam cutter cutting airfoil section from styrofoam block

: Laminating outer skin of epoxy resin and fiberglass

: Cutting aluminum jacking points to be laminated into the wing

: Bending wing mounting brackets to be bolted to the nose

: Test fitting brackets on nose

: Test fitting, bottom view

: Trimming front wing airfoil on the bandsaw

: Gluing 3 sections of front wing to brackets

: Reinforcing fiberglass skin across joints

: Laminating end plates with honeycomb core

: End plates cure under vacuum

: Sanding with pneumatic double-action sander

: Laying up endplate mounting points

: Epoxy & microballoon filler to smooth out the spar

: Top coat of 2-part epoxy paint

: Car lifted by front wing

Fabricating a Formula 1000 Race Car Diffuser

Posted by jjludemann on March 6, 2016

Finished diffuser mounted on car

I try to post updates only for completed projects, and since I’ve had several projects in progress it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. The diffuser is finally finished, so here are some pix and a video that explains it all:

: Cutting the side & central formers for the buck

: Buck ribs in place

: Buck top panel of 1/8″ plywood with melamine face

: Basic shell just removed from mold

: Test fitting to drill mounting holes

: Vacuum bagging strake sandwiches

: Fiberglass honeycomb sandwich strakes ready to be cut apart

: Gluing the strakes inside the diffuser

: Progress so far: curing in the sun

: Rear wing endplate mount of aluminum angle

: Rear wing endplate mounts formed of epoxy putty

: Ready for primer

: Primed with 2-part automotive spray filler

: After a coat of epoxy paint.

Laying Up a Carbon-Fiber Honeycomb Front Impact Attenuator

Posted by jjludemann on August 17, 2015

Nose in place while epoxying aluminum hard points into correct positions

SCCA FB rules require a metallic or composite front impact attenuator. Can’t have cars running around on the track with a battering ram on the front… My impact attenuation structure, or crash box, consists of a carbon-fiber and honeycomb sandwich laid up directly on the inside of the fiberglass nose. The carbon fiber varies from four layers at the front to eight layers around the rear attachment points so that it will crush progressively from the front to the back. Cylindrical aluminum inserts are used in the honeycomb as hard mounting points for the wing to the nose and for the nose to the chassis. This area is designed to be strong enough not just to absorb impacts but to allow lifting the front of the car by the front wing.

: Aluminum mounting points are first epoxied in place with the nose on the frame

: Inside view of gluing the mounting points in place

: Hard mounting points after epoxy has cured

: Cutting the vacuum bag to approximate shape before duct-taping it

: Using template to cut carbon fiber

: Aluminum inserts in side honeycomb pieces create hard points for mounting

: All the layers ready for layup

: Beginning the layup by coating the existing nose with a layer of epoxy

: First piece of carbon fibe goes in.

: A honeycomb and aluminum assembly is inserted on the side

: Ready to draw a vacuum

: Good vacuum after taping over microscopic holes.

: Removing the breather cloth

: Removing the perf ply

: After all vacuum-bagging materials are removed

Carbon-Fiber Honeycomb Vacuum-Bagged Test Panel

Posted by jjludemann on August 16, 2015

Click to watch the video on Youtube.

Inside the nose of the race car will be a carbon-fiber and honeycomb sandwich impact attenuator. So now’s the time to learn how to do vacuum bagging and sandwich layup. Also epoxy. So many new skills…