Foam board wing on a 914 Porsche autocross car.

[Joe Sharp]

I thought someone here might enjoy a little off the wall creativity. I'm currently building a wing to put on the rear of my race car and I have a question for you.
How do you locate the center of lift on a foil?
I have the lay out for the templets to cut out the foam formers and the foam board to cover them with. I guess my next step is to cut out the templets and get ready to make up all the formers.
Thanks in advance
Joe Sharp

 

[LitterBug]

Oh dear... Go big or go home. I'm going to have to put a monster wing on my '86 BSP Corvette. LOL

Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[Grifflyer]

Center of lift is normally at the thickest part of the wing, but it is constantly shifting around due to changes in angle of attack.

 

[FDS]

Cue next FT episode, combining Josh’s former career and current one-
“Today on Flite Test we are going to make this Vette FLY!”

 

[Piotrsko]

Over on Ecomodder, California civic is trying to build a rear spoiler using DTFB and fiberglass. It doesn't seem to be working out well.

 

[Brett_N]

Over on Ecomodder, California civic is trying to build a rear spoiler using DTFB and fiberglass. It doesn't seem to be working out well.

and I'm sure those idiots are trying to put downforce on the REAR tires of a FWD car.

 

[Joe Sharp]

Center of lift is normally at the thickest part of the wing, but it is constantly shifting around due to changes in angle of attack.

Thank you Grifflyer, now I can locate the main spar and finish the templates.

 

[Piotrsko]

and I'm sure those idiots are trying to put downforce on the REAR tires of a FWD car.

NO, The "idiot" is modifying airflow aft of the passenger compartment in the turbulent area so he can exceed 70 MPG every day instead of randomly. Seems to work since he gained about 2 mpg and does not make the bumper a dust collector anymore.

 

[jthulin]

Let’s see the 914...

 

[Joe Sharp]

Race car, named Carerror, Because in 1970 at La Mans the Porsche team raced 911's in the GT class and were beaten by the Porsche distributor from France (Sunauto's number 40) by more than 20 minutes with a 914-6. I had Carerror in Carerra script on the side of the car. Most 911 owners never read the script and thought it said Carerra. They just seened to be pissed off because it was just there. Porsche supports the 911 as it is thier bread winner. Still doing that today as they call the mid engine race car a 911 instead of a Cayman.

Let’s see the 914...

Street car, has a Ca license plate that says NICE 914. I sold the car to a friend that put the plate on her and then I bought the car back.

Let’s see the 914...

The third picture is of Team NARP's rig. (NARP, Not A Real Porsche).
Thanks for asking for the pictures.
Joe Sharp
Team NARP

 

[Corbarrad]

NARP because the 914 was originally a Volkswagen design? Is it a 4 cylinder, because those were all completely built at a VW factory?

In these days of badge engineering that might not seem a big deal, heck Porsche is a fully owned subsidiary of Volkswagen at this point (like Audi, Seat and Skoda by the way), but back then it kinda was.

The mid engine makes it kind of a pain in the butt to work on...

Excuse me for asking, but doesn't that fron end spoiler lack lateral stability? Looks like it would be prone to wobbling from side to side...

Edit: And that Is a nice 914 you got. Only two minor Nitpicks, at least one of which comes down purely to personal preference.
I know you've got that whole "CarError" thing going on but for a car from that era I would have preferred Fuchs Design wheels Or "Baby Fuchs" which is like the Fuchs design, only lobes to the star instead of five (And I think they were fitted to the 914 as an option).
The other is those side marker lights. They're mandatory in the US, I know plus Porsche hapharzadly slapped these on themselves when they prepared the car for the american market, but could they have used something a little more unobtrusive? Or move them a little further back... I don't know, they just don't sit right with me..

 

[buzzbomb]

You've proven it's legit. And pretty darn cool, to boot! The next obvious question is the obvious question from the obvious question guy: Why? I drive cars and I can change the oil and spark plugs and whatnot. I've owned motorcycles and even rebuilt one from the frame up. Why the heck would you put a foamboard scoop on a race car?

 

[Corbarrad]

You've proven it's legit. And pretty darn cool, to boot! The next obvious question is the obvious question from the obvious question guy: Why? I drive cars and I can change the oil and spark plugs and whatnot. I've owned motorcycles and even rebuilt one from the frame up. Why the heck would you put a foamboard scoop on a race car?

A lot of one-off Aerodynamic acessory parts are made from a foam core which is then laminated with glass or carbon fiber. It's just a quick and easy way to go about it.
And this is just a foamcore foam core I guess. (Excuse the bad pun...)
May be even lighter than full foam because of the voids inside.

 

[buzzbomb]

A lot of one-off Aerodynamic acessory parts are made from a foam core which is then laminated with glass or carbon fiber. It's just a quick and easy way to go about it.
And this is just a foamcore foam core I guess. (Excuse the bad pun...)
May be even lighter than full foam because of the voids inside.

I could see laminating that with fiberglass. That makes sense. Reinforcements at the connecting points and through the wing.... Then you get to play with designs on the real cheap. Yup. Kick butt!

 

[Joe Sharp]

NARP because the 914 was originally a Volkswagen design? Is it a 4 cylinder, because those were all completely built at a VW factory?

In these days of badge engineering that might not seem a big deal, heck Porsche is a fully owned subsidiary of Volkswagen at this point (like Audi, Seat and Skoda by the way), but back then it kinda was.

The mid engine makes it kind of a pain in the butt to work on...

Excuse me for asking, but doesn't that fron end spoiler lack lateral stability? Looks like it would be prone to wobbling from side to side...

You've proven it's legit. And pretty darn cool, to boot! The next obvious question is the obvious question from the obvious question guy: Why? I drive cars and I can change the oil and spark plugs and whatnot. I've owned motorcycles and even rebuilt one from the frame up. Why the heck would you put a foamboard scoop on a race car?

The scoop will be in fiberglass. The foam board is to make a plug with.

 

[Joe Sharp]

The scoop will be in fiberglass. The foam board is to make a plug with.

Porsche finished the design in the late '60's. Karmann (the Coach builder) built all the Karmann Ghia's, VW convertibles, 356's, 911's and the 914's. VW had them build something like 140,000 914-4's and Porsche ordered about 3,200 914-6's. Porsche built 11 916's. I have had 2 914-6's. Wonderful cars, nimble and quick.
This car is an autocross only car and should never see 100 mph. Autocross cars only get run for a minute at a time, so overheating is not much of a problem. It has over 100 laps on it and when last run it had some push in it. So I thought a little more weight up front would help. Which lead me to the front wing. I built the front wing before I found FT. It took me about 2 months to get the wing to where I could hang it on the car and see it. Making the rear wing from foam board should go really fast except my time is as bad as Elon's time, maybe worse.

 

[jthulin]

Race car, named Carerror, Because in 1970 at La Mans the Porsche team raced 911's in the GT class and were beaten by the Porsche distributor from France (Sunauto's number 40) by more than 20 minutes with a 914-6. I had Carerror in Carerra script on the side of the car. Most 911 owners never read the script and thought it said Carerra. They just seened to be pissed off because it was just there. Porsche supports the 911 as it is thier bread winner. Still doing that today as they call the mid engine race car a 911 instead of a Cayman.

Street car, has a Ca license plate that says NICE 914. I sold the car to a friend that put the plate on her and then I bought the car back.

The third picture is of Team NARP's rig. (NARP, Not A Real Porsche).
Thanks for asking for the pictures.
Joe Sharp
Team NARP

Thanks for sharing the pictures, I have always liked the styling of the 914, real Porsche or not.

 

[Joe Sharp]

Update, just finished doing the layout for the foam formers on the wing for the windmill. This is the same foil section that I am using on the car just not as long a wing. Just pratice for the race car. I would like to build a vertical windmill and use this foil section for it's power. The windmill will take about 8 foils to make it go. I am using this foil for practice for the race car.

 

[Grifflyer]

Looking nice!!!

 

[buzzbomb]

Update, just finished doing the layout for the foam formers on the wing for the windmill. This is the same foil section that I am using on the car just not as long a wing. Just pratice for the race car. I would like to build a vertical windmill and use this foil section for it's power. The windmill will take about 8 foils to make it go. I am using this foil for practice for the race car.

It still seems so crazy to me! I LIKE it, though!