whitelouis
Active member
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2011
- Messages
- 27
- Reaction score
- 0
- Location
- Seattle, WA
- My Car
- 1972 Coupe w/ unmolested 1969 351W 4V, headers and a T5.
After seeing this thread: Underbody smoothing it seems to have gotten my interest and other members as well, so I thought rather than cluttering that thread, I'd start a new one.
Since the title got me thinking about the aerodynamic effects of smoothing out the underbody of these cars, I was wondering what difference would it make (at high speeds of course) to put an almost complete belly pan on one of these cars? My car is already lowered on stiffer springs and better shocks, I'm planning a front splitter and small rear spoiler (if they'll have a real functional value) and would love it if the front of the car didn't float so much in the 120+ range...
I'm thinking of something (probably a thin sheet of aluminum contoured and bolted in along the frame rails) that goes basically all the way from the front valance to the back valance, with a hole for the bottom of the diff and whatever other pieces stick down that low. I may go so far as to put some of those goofy little fins on the very back (on the bottom) if research proves that to be a valuable addition too. I've had my car up over 130 before but ended up backing off because I had 4 wheel manual drums and it was getting pretty serious lift up front. I have no doubt that the car can get to 140+ if I've got the cojones, and I'd love to see how fast it really WILL go on the 42 year old, un-rebuilt motor.
For those of you more knowledgeable than I, what do you think? I'm not doing this for mileage improvements, only for improved top speed and handling.
Since the title got me thinking about the aerodynamic effects of smoothing out the underbody of these cars, I was wondering what difference would it make (at high speeds of course) to put an almost complete belly pan on one of these cars? My car is already lowered on stiffer springs and better shocks, I'm planning a front splitter and small rear spoiler (if they'll have a real functional value) and would love it if the front of the car didn't float so much in the 120+ range...
I'm thinking of something (probably a thin sheet of aluminum contoured and bolted in along the frame rails) that goes basically all the way from the front valance to the back valance, with a hole for the bottom of the diff and whatever other pieces stick down that low. I may go so far as to put some of those goofy little fins on the very back (on the bottom) if research proves that to be a valuable addition too. I've had my car up over 130 before but ended up backing off because I had 4 wheel manual drums and it was getting pretty serious lift up front. I have no doubt that the car can get to 140+ if I've got the cojones, and I'd love to see how fast it really WILL go on the 42 year old, un-rebuilt motor.
For those of you more knowledgeable than I, what do you think? I'm not doing this for mileage improvements, only for improved top speed and handling.