Splitter fabrication, sheetmetal trimming

This weekend I finally trimmed away the sheet metal fenders to allow for more tire clearance. The trim is pretty modest for now, after the Kevlar fenders are on I'll go back and remove more material. I didn't want to remove too much and not have enough room to mount the flares.


I also began fabricating the front splitter. The construction is a composite aluminum panel...a polymer honeycomb structure skinned with aluminum. The weight is similar to .040 aluminum, but about 50 times stronger. It's pretty cool stuff, amazing strong for the weight. I did consider carbon fiber, but I was worried about destroying it on a speed bump or something. The composite aluminum is simple to duplicate and I can have a couple extra in case I break one.

The splitter isn't pinned to the bumper yet, I still have to make some supports to tie it to the chassis. If this thing actually works, it should generate about 160-200lbs of down force...so I better attach it to the frame properly. Attachment to the bumper cover alone would cause too much distortion for the surface to be effective.