Making a rear wing made from wood?

[Darkness and Light]

I've been considering contacting a woodworker I know to have a rear wing made for my 240SX. Before anyone starts raging about using wood on a car, there are some distinct advantages I see.

There is almost certainly going to be a woodshop in your town and they will have the tools and equipment to cut and shape wood to your exact specifications. Using NASA airfoil formulas and CAD software you can very precisely design an effective rear wing and with CNC machines they can give you exactly what you want. Its unlikely I could personally achieve the same precision on a one-off project with fiberglass.

Once the initial design is made, additional components can be made quickly and economically. It is likely to be more precise and less labor intensive then carving foam and laying fiberglass or carbon fiber. The completed part could then be wrapped with fiberglass or carbon fiber to reinforce it and give a certain look.

I sometimes read comments with plywood splitters about how they are going to rot and fall apart at the first drop of rain. That seems absurd, waterproofed decks, wooden paddles, and canoes can last for decades if properly treated.

What does everyone think?

[hbpignosePA]

i think you phail hard



cardboard would be a better choice

[OutToWinPAHC]

What happens when it warps?

[TroubleBound]

[Darkness and Light]

Warping comes from moisture, I don't see a particular reason seasoned hardwood sealed from moisture with a fiberglass and resin wouldn't last for years. If necessary the pieces could all be made split in the middle with a metal backplate sandwiched inbetween.

[Darkness and Light]

Propellers, surfboards, boats, and fins have all been made in complex shapes and perform a similar function in worse weather conditions then the back of a car. I don't see why the craftsmanship has to be as bad as that car.

[TroubleBound]

Sounds like YOU have got your heart set on making it out of wood. I don't think that will bother anyone here because no one here will be driving your wooden car. So you should just do it and stop trying to convince people who build their car out of more automotive-oriented materials to see your way. Come back and show us your wooden wing and maybe a couple of the kids that think they can make their cars sweet with a home depot lip and 20 dollars worth of spray paint will have a way to make a cheap wing for their car.

[Darkness and Light]

Besides the comment on warping I haven't heard any real concerns besides WOOD LOL. Come up with a decent reason why this is a bad idea and I'll bow to your logic and go away.

[OutToWinPAHC]

Yeah but a spoiler in the sun, in the waether, under wind-stress? I cant see it working out too long, unless your constantly sealing your wing.

[TroubleBound]

Besides the comment on warping I haven't heard any real concerns besides WOOD LOL. Come up with a decent reason why this is a bad idea and I'll bow to your logic and go away.

No one is asking you to bow to anyones logic or even go away. I would love to see someone else mess up their 240 with some gay looking wood it only makes mine more cool =)I don't even like wings/spoilers. If my car was ever fast enough to lift off the ground i would get one. I was just politely informing you that i doubt anyone else will follow in your path of mutating carpentry into mechanics. It will be entertaining for us though i am sure so do continue, with pictures please.

It seems like it is either not going to look half as good as you are making it sound like it will, or you will spend just as much if not more than you would have for a real wing making it do so.

[OutToWinPAHC]

It will also probably be solid and heavy as hell.

[Darkness and Light]

I'm not exactly suggesting going down to Home Depot and buying exterior siding, I'm talking about having a fine cabinetry maker with 3D modeling software and CNC machinery shape the wing surface and end plates. Coated with fiberglass and paint how would you even be able to tell if the core was wood or foam anyway?

Wooden ships have to deal with sun, sea water, and impacting waves. Wooden propellers spin at extremely high speeds on ultralight aircraft. I can see the point you are making but I can't imagine that it is that completely unsuitable a material. In this case the wing would be coated with fiberglass cloth and resin, its as permanent a sealant as I could imagine.

[Darkness and Light]

Yeah it would be heavier, probably in the range of 20 lbs, especially after absorbing resin. Aircraft grade aluminum would be a better material but it would much more expensive and alot more expensive to have shaped. Flat or mildly cambered steel plate could probably work too for the wing surface.

[ZX88]

HAhaha you cant be serious. oh wait.

[Dill_XD]

Make a prototype out of wood and if if fits well and works, get a big block of plastic and put it on the CNC. Or hell send it out for someone to make a mold and make the wing. Its just the mental block from ricers making big wings out of plywood and using drywall screws and epoxy to hold it on.

[Nali]

Besides the comment on warping I haven't heard any real concerns besides WOOD LOL. Come up with a decent reason why this is a bad idea and I'll bow to your logic and go away.

Lets skip one step and just go away.Finish this wood spoiler of yours then come back, with proof in pictures.

Till then: "WOOD LOL"

[EnjoiNismo]

[Ter240sx]

if u wana do it, then do it.and show us pictures and tell us how it handles.and update us after that if there are any problems with the wing.no ones stopping you lol

[S13 KID]

Lmao the things people do sometimes

[zach-Ka]

Now that I have seen it in pictures it seems like a good idea. Do it and post pics....

[blacksrjdm]

OP, sir, if you would like to weigh down the back of you car and create weight rather then removing weight from your car like most of us, then feel free. Just know that in order to make it strong enough and durable enough to last. That plank on the back of your car is gonna weigh somewhere around 20-25 pounds. There is unfortunately not to many pieces you can remove to make up for that weight difference. That is unless maybe lexan rear window, or lexan rear quarter glass. Seems pretty pointless to me when you can buy a thousand different styles of wings that look terrible. Why build something that will look terrible when there are so many terribly ugle wings to buy out there. Although if you are going for the riciest thing you can do to a car? Follow the pontiac and K cars lead and rice it up. IMHO putting wood on a car other than to mount a speaker or amp in the car, is an absolutely stupid idea and there is no changing my mind there...

I call bluff, I want to see a finished product or complete fail. Fail has started with this thread. Complete fail will be executing this terrible idea.

[blacksrjdm]

That thing gives the car side-force. Down force goes right out the window to side-force.

[chaosli]

i say it should be good. wood is cheaper then alum after you made it and its good then you can make it out of alum

[sebazztard]

i cant believe this is a serious thread. wooden spoiler? ...lol

man

i think its time to sell my 240's and find a car less prone to people who think wooden spoilers belong on the hatch.

[thematz]

Words can not express my disappointment.

[Darkness and Light]

So what, I suppose this was also a waste of time and a rice-tastic?

http://forums.bimmerforums.com...06900

[Cody240]

Op you do what ever floats your boat lol but the only way your going to be able to not have rocks thrown at you on the street for that thing is if you just go and get one of the million rice specials out there and stick that on. Then you will only have to worry about ricer remarks at the gas station.

[OutToWinPAHC]

So what, I suppose this was also a waste of time and a rice-tastic?

http://forums.bimmerforums.com...06900

That's Uncle Hiters Euro rice.

[Darkness and Light]

In order for a wing to be effective it has to have large surface area and be up in the airstream. I don't see how you can have a functional wing and not have it called ricey because almost by definition rice cars are emulating race cars.

[OutToWinPAHC]

A race car with massive body roll

Edit and with the beveled edge and no pitch its lifting as much as it pushing down.