Homemade Splitters

[tonemaker]

Hello All,

I've been lurking here at SVT for about a year now and I've learned a lot from all you guys so thanks for all the free info. Hopefully I've put it to good use. This is my first post since this is the first time I've ever had something I thought was worthwhile to offer.

So... Last Father's day I got a gift certificate to American Muscle and after a lot of "Kid in a candy store" kind of contemplation I decided on the GT/CS front facia for my year old 2012 GT. Since that facia has a flat bottom and I've seen some Laguna Seca's at the local Sunday car shows, I figured that I could make a front splitter for my little darling. There was no way I could spend another $800+ for the Ford version.

So I got a sheet of 1/4" Celtec (expanded pvc) and started sawing and shaping and drilling. I made the brackets that attach some re-worked McMaster Carr rod ends and connectors and then attached them to the splitter and with backing plates to the facia.

After completing the front I had some more material so I decided to add side splitters to the rocker moldings. That portion only took about 3 1/2 hours to complete from start to finish.

Here is the result:

Not sure about the red stripe on the edge yet.....

 

[roberthamm]

Wow they look really good man!! Lets see pics of the whole car! and a write up on creating the font spillter would be awesome how did you get the edges smoothed?

 

[tonemaker]

After bandsawing the basic shape it was very easy to use a sanding block to smooth everything out. Then a deburring tool to put a tiny round-over on the top and bottom edges. This material, like most plastics, was very easy to round out with a deburring tool. They are very cheap too.

 

[roberthamm]

After bandsawing the basic shape it was very easy to use a sanding block to smooth everything out. Then a deburring tool to put a tiny round-over on the top and bottom edges. This material, like most plastics, was very easy to round out with a deburring tool. They are very cheap too.

Man I am so doing this. Were did you buy your plastic?

 

[03 DSG Snake]

Man I am so doing this. Were did you buy your plastic?

+1



Where in SoCal are you at?

 

[Scuba-Matt]

Looks great, I wonder how well it will hold up.

 

[Ultrakla$$ic]

So I got a sheet of 1/4" Celtec (expanded pvc)

Where do you get this stuff? I've never heard of it and do you buy it in large sheets?

 

[tonemaker]

The material I used is expanded PVC. It goes under a lot of trade names like: Celtec, Sintra and others. Its mainly used in the signage and display business. I'm pretty sure it will hold up well but only time will tell. Ford uses ABS sheets for their version but I think this stuff will work fine. This material can be purchased from many plastic suppliers on the Internet. I got it from Calsak plastics in Gardena, CA, since I'm in Van Nuys. It comes in 4x8 sheets. You need a piece about 72" x 24" to be safe. The side splitters were made from 5 1/2" x 72" pieces.

The brackets I made from T-section aluminum extrusion. Just chop it, drill holes and then do some rounding and shaping.

 

[CPRsm]

Where do you get this stuff? I've never heard of it and do you buy it in large sheets?

Noooo, go drive it. No more projects for you! LOL

 

[Grant808]

Great DIY job. Thanks for sharing.

 

[five.slow]

As long as it holds up to wind on the highway I say sweet. Can we get pics of how you mounted the side splitter? That's what I'm interested in most.

 

[91svtcoupe]

Ive been wanting to try this on my coupe.........thanks for the right up.

 

[ed209]

ok, so how much to make me one?

 

[tonemaker]

As long as it holds up to wind on the highway I say sweet. Can we get pics of how you mounted the side splitter? That's what I'm interested in most.

Pics would be tough but I can explain (I think). It was really a lot easier that I thought it would be.

First I cut 2 strips, 72" x 5 1/2" long. Then I removed the rocker panels. They are installed using plastic push pins and clips. First I removed the two pins at the front wheel well. Then using a small pry bar that I modified slightly, I pulled out the 6 (I think 6) plastic pins that go up from the bottom of the panel into the body. Then you pull up on the rocker panel and hopefully it will slide off the six white clips that hold it onto the body from the side. Or you'll just pull them out with the rocker panel.

Then, I placed the new strip of material on the underside of the rocker panel and clamped it in place. Then using a laminate trimmer (a small, hand-held router) with a bearing - trim bit, I ran the bearing along the edge of the rocker panel and routed all the cutouts for the plastic push pins. This way my piece exactly matched the bottom side of the rocker panel. This was actually much easier than explaining it (kind of like writing some instructions for tying your shoes would be).

Then I cut the appropriate angles on the front edge and the back edge using a chop saw. I used a deburring tool to take the corners off the top and bottom edges of the splitter and using a block, I sanded the edges smooth and I rounded the corners too.

Then, I just drilled a bunch of holes through the bottom of both panels for some 10-32 x 1/2" stainless flat-head screws. (McMaster- Carr #96640A144) The screws just passed through these holes. I then countersunk the screw holes on the bottom of the splitter and installed the screws from bottom side through the rocker. Some nylon-insert locking nuts on the screws finished the connection. (McMaster-Carr #93298A109)

Then I put the rockers with the new splitters back on the car by taking all the white plastic side clips out of the holes in the body, putting on the rocker and just pressing them and the rocker panel back on the body. There is also one large plastic pin in the front side of the rocker panel. Push it in the hole first. Then the underside plastic pins just push up into the bottom holes and the two small pins in the front wheel well. Just push them all in, lift your sore butt off the ground, stand back and admire your work. (That's what I did,anyway).

 

[DerekDTP!]

sub'd

 

[turka]

Looks good. To the other people looking to do this - just Make sure you don't use ABS plastic or something similar because it will get wavy when its warm outside since it's a very soft plastic.

 

[carrew]

I would like to see a GoPro video from a car in front of you at speeds of 70 mph. Interested to see how much distortion happens. Even with the supports and being mounted to the flexible bumper cover. It might distort and create more drag. Cobra R splitter had additional core support components that attached it to the the chassis of the car so it would not flex and distort.

 

[ViciousJay]

Now this is talent!!!! OP when would you like to make me a set for my 13??? :beer:

 

[tonemaker]

I would like to see a GoPro video from a car in front of you at speeds of 70 mph. Interested to see how much distortion happens. Even with the supports and being mounted to the flexible bumper cover. It might distort and create more drag. Cobra R splitter had additional core support components that attached it to the the chassis of the car so it would not flex and distort.

I would like to see the same video too. It is not mounted to the bumper cover though. Its mounted to the lower facia and to spread out the force I made aluminum backing plates so the facia would not distort. I believe that this one is stiffer than the Laguna Seca version but since my gigantic 200 MPH wind tunnel is down, I'll wing it (no pun intended). I can feel no difference in the car but I've only had it up to about 90 with the splitter. If further stiffness is required one could easily glue some stiffeners to the underside but that would reduce the clearance. But, let's face it..for me...it just looks really cool. I would like to see a video of any possible distortion at speed though.

 

[seank]

So you are still directing the increased aero load to the flexible plastic facia? Can you post some pics of where you are mounting the upper ends of the turn buckles? If you really want to transmit the downforce I think you should be directing the load to something that is unable to be deflected.