Marcquito

Custom hand-made steel rear bonnet.

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We're going to pop some molds off of the final product just for fun - fiberglass, of course, in case i want super light weight later. This one is slightly heavy, but no more than when it had the glass in it. Not only that, but I have a few friends that I could 'gift' them to. Why not, right? Maybe some of you guys would like some molds?

The modification is ONLY done to the rear deck as you can see. Going back stock would be as easy as removing the rear hatch and swapping it with another OEM version.

Any thoughts? What does everyone think of the look so far? The look can still be slightly modified or improved. And as always, your advice is welcome.

RKD in OKC

Looks neat. My first question is why did you put that wing right in the middle of your rear view mirror? If you were going to the trouble of custom build, why not put some of the air vane things on the rear lip of the roof just above the window to reduce drag and move the wing back to the rear. Guess I am more into function over custom look.

Mike Frye

The first pic looks cool, the the other two it looks like it's a little high or something.

Not my cup of tea, but I like the original thinking that went into it. I'm thinking it might look cool a little flatter, like the look of a mid-engine kind of thing.

heinrich

If you simplified it a lot ... got rid of the wing ... filling in the top part, so that there's only a single window, that would look snazzy and make it a lot better-looking. I would definitely be interested in a fiberglass part if you'd be so kind As I say, I think that adding wings etc there just detracts from the beautiful lines. Agreed the first pic looks great, I'd stick with that simplicity. Basically I'd lose the wing.

Marcquito

The wing...? Is it that strange black thing in the center of the 'window' of the first pic? I just noticed that... but that's not part of the design. That's just something hanging in the interior I'm guessing or some type of illusion. While sitting in the car, the rear "window" is pretty clear to see through without any distractions.

I also agree with you on function moreover look. Can you give me any examples of rear vane things? Can you go in a bit further detail? We are adding a strosek spoiler at the end of the project if that helps at all.

It was flat at one point, but just looked a bit strange.

Marcquito

Exactly. That roof section is incomplete.

::edit:: Wait! Maybe that's what the other dude up there ^ thought was a 'wing'. Oh nooo. Sorry I forgot to mention in the original post. That roof section hasn't been fabbed up yet. Just imagine that filled in!

heinrich

Yes. In that case I was right the first time and I like it ... would love a fiber unit I like that it is totally removable and return to stock is simple. Nice work.

RKD in OKC

Carl's car has these things called airtabs just above the window...

Here is the thread page with picturesl

Marcquito

Are you serious? Would you really like a carbon fiber unit? I don't see why not! We have all of the stuff here to do it. Sometime this week the roof section should be filled in and a bit of body filler... etc.etc... I guess when the project is a bit closer to completion we'll really start to see how great this will look.

ew928

Do you have any shots from driver's seat view looking at the central rear-view mirror.
How much view of traffic/flashing red/blue lights is there from the new gun-port rear hatch?


Not sure how vortex generators will spill the air from the roof over your new hatch.
Will need some yarn taped on rear hatch for some aero testing to tell.

heinrich

Marc, you were talking about fibreglass ... and CF is of course a far better idea than either FG or Steel. It may be too $$$ to make the CF units, in which case I'd not be up for it .... Either way I would really like that unit on my car, but not in steel form. Too heavy, no weight savings, not worth it.

Marcquito

We'll see where this goes. I'm definitely going to pop a mold from this unit. Once that is done, we'll see how light-weight we can make the final product.

Keep in mind- this is only in the 'prototype' stage. Once we're happy with the look, we'll work on a 2nd and 3rd for weight savings.

Marcquito

heinrich,

I understand what you're saying. Weight savings is definitely a necessity, especially when it comes to fab work like this. I won't lie, this thing is pretty heavy as it sits, but I am curious on how much heavier it is versus the stock deck with the glass. Can anyone supply the weight numbers for me for the original rear decklid?
We DO have some carbon fiber sheets laying around the shop, so we can replicate with the CF pretty soon. My Father is pretty skilled at laying carbon fiber; tonight when I spoke with him, he said he was up for helping me mold up a reproduction of the steel version and making a 100% carbon fiber version. Since we run a business here, we can also get carbon fiber sheets at a decent price (so he says, but we'll see when the time comes) I would personally like a carbon fiber version for this car. Not for the looks (I would end up painting it), but again for the weight savings.

I'll post pictures as we go. Who knows- this fun little project may be a damn good alternative to that Jacquemond rear deck.

RicerSchnitzzle

Reminds me of the J-mond rear sport hatch only with out the $1700 price tag. Nice.

heinrich

Marc, what will you do for the window?