How did well have the side supports and inner fenders held up? No issues with the inner fender cracking?
Photography by J.G. Pasterjak
The SCCA ProSolo seasons kicks off this weekend in our own backyard at the Florida International Rally and Motorsports Park, so of course we have to be there in our favorite project car. (No, not the Fox, we sold that.)
As part of our prep for the 2022 season, we installed a new splitter on the front of our C5 Corvette, and you can see the nuts and bolts of that operation here. Once we got everything in place and trimmed up, it was time to finish things off and (attempt) to get the car on the trailer for the weekend.
1. First we needed a proper finish for our plywood splitter. As we were using untreated wood, our greatest enemy was going to be moisture, so we needed something to seal up the wood and provide some protection against the elements.
The thing about a splitter is that you pretty much know going in that it’s going to get torn up: Curbs, trailer ramps, other cars, shins. All are now on its radar.
And that’s why we chose plywood. Sure, exotic materials are cool and all, and even specialty materials like Alumalite or ABS plastic make great splitters. But suitable Alumalite or ABS sheets–not to mention carbon fiber or Tegris–aren’t available at more than 2000 Lowe’s stores or the 2300 or so Home Depots across America. Heck, Lowe’s is even headquartered in Mooresville, North Carolina, so clearly they make race car parts.
Anyway, to coat that plywood, we chose truck bed liner because it’s inexpensive, thick, waterproof and tough. Put on a shirt you don’t care about, pop open the can, and go to town.
2. We also built our own supports for the sides of our splitter as the Nine Lives Racing side supports don’t account for our OEM Z06 brake ducts.
[Building Bargain Brake Ducts From Porsche GT3 Parts?]
We used some aluminum from our scrap bin and attached the upper part of the supports to studs that secure the assemblies. We had to grind down a little lip to get the support to sit flat, but it wasn’t a big deal. There are plenty of fastener options in this neighborhood on the car as well, so you have your choice of hardpoints to use for additional bracing.
3. To help feed our radiator and oil cooler, we built a little ramp out of plastic. We just affixed the leading edge to the splitter and formed the sheet with a bit of heat and bending to deflect incoming air right into the radiator area.
4 and 5. Next, we had to fill the gaps between the bumper and the splitter. There are a bunch of options you could use here, but we went with some polyethelyne foam that had been in our materials pile that our wife told us to clean up a bunch of times, but we knew we’d use it eventually.
Not only did we show her and feel extremely validated and not at like like hoarders, but the stiff, easily workable foam made for great fill panels. Polyethelene foam cuts easily on a band saw, or with a reciprocating saw or electric knife, and can be massaged with a heat gun into more suitable shapes. It can also be bonded with spray adhesive or hot-melt glue.
We rough-carved our fills on the band saw, then used some trial, error and heat to massage them into their final forms. Right now, they’re just held in place with pressure and by the fact they’re form-fitting, but if they turn out to be the ultimate solution, we’ll bond them to the splitter before we do any high-speed track work.
6. Finally, our one bit of ProSolo-specific prep. Since ProSolo uses drag-style staging lights, some cars can “confuse” the beams by only breaking part of the beam, or breaking them with a panel at a weird angle.
ProSolo rules allow the use of a triggering “flapper” to ensure consistent staging. To make sure that we were braking the start beam and finish beam with the same part of the car every time, we made a flapper our final fabrication project before putting the car back on the ground.
We formed ours from a chunk of EVA foam carved to fit over the front of the splitter and against the front of the car. It extends high enough to consistently trigger all the proper beams. It’s affixed in place with a few beads of hot-melt glue that will remove easily with a heat gun after the ProSolo.
If you’re planning to be at the ProSolo this weekend, stop by and say hi. If not, watch our social media for updates.
How did well have the side supports and inner fenders held up? No issues with the inner fender cracking?
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