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Posted by: groot Jul 10 2006, 10:48 AM

Well, here it is. This part will be for sale shortly. The first two are already earmarked. One for Chris Foley and one for me. I bought the tooling, so if anyone's interested in getting one of these, let me know.

Chris, sorry, but your part will be finished like this part shown in clear gelcoat.... no extra charge. Actually, I think this picture is of your part. But, you will not have the splitter, as you requested.

Prices are not solid yet.


Attached image(s)

Posted by: nebreitling Jul 10 2006, 10:54 AM

very nice looking!!!!!!!

Posted by: Jeroen Jul 10 2006, 11:28 AM

darn... that's one nice front end!

does the spoiler match GT-flares?

Posted by: jhadler Jul 10 2006, 11:29 AM

Wow!!! and Wow!!!

Looks really great!!

It looks like it's CF? Is that right? What's the size of the opening?

Would there by any chance be a spoiler only option anytime? And how much -might- it cost?

-Josh2

Posted by: Aaron Cox Jul 10 2006, 11:31 AM

WOW. speachless. i bet it cost a pretty penny to make

Posted by: groot Jul 10 2006, 12:29 PM

I wasn't happy with the options that are out there, so I decided to make my own (with the help of Prototype Composites).

Yes, it's Carbon, with some Kevlar woven in for good measure. And, yes, it's very hard to get carbon these days.

Brake duct openings are 2.5". No chance of air dam only options. I made the original plug from a commonly available fiberglass air dam, combined with a fiberglass bumper, and Prototype Composites made the splitter to meet SCCA rules for production. If you're interested in the air dam only, they are out there and available in fiberglass from Pelican and Performance Products.

It is not designed to fit the GT flares, but it might work with them. The part wraps up under the bottom of the stock fenders in the front.

I've been asked about a fiberglass part, too. I need to figure out what that would cost. I'm not sure what the raw carbon (clear gel coated part) costs.... they told me not to ask. They're hooking Chris and I up with the raw parts.

A carbon part, without the splitter, in gelcoat is $550. This is more than I originally thought, but the carbon supplies are being sucked up by the military contractors. The splitter is an additional $280..... designed to take a beating and it replaceable for you curbhoppers out there.

Oh, yeah..... 6 pounds without the splitter.... and strong enough to punt a Miata (that's for Chris).

Posted by: ChrisNPDrider Jul 10 2006, 12:48 PM

Gut: "I want one!"
Checkbook: "You can't have one"
Brain: "Start saving your money!"

Posted by: Joe Ricard Jul 10 2006, 02:00 PM

I'm down for punting Miata's
But the Red Neck Racer isn't worthy of CF so how about just glass.
Cones raise hell with front ends too.

Posted by: trekkor Jul 10 2006, 05:20 PM

Excellant work


KT

Posted by: grantsfo Jul 10 2006, 06:52 PM

Thats very nice.

Posted by: Racer Chris Jul 10 2006, 07:21 PM

That's great Kevin!
I definitely prefer the look of the early bumper style.

Posted by: seanery Jul 10 2006, 07:27 PM

do you think the splitter will generate noticeable downforce on our cars?

Posted by: groot Jul 11 2006, 06:15 AM

We looked at the downforce issue and the hope is that it doesn't not generate downforce at least for my car. We're aiming to reduce drag by reducing flow underneath the car and clean up what's still there with the splitter.

But, we didn't do any tunnel testing, just consulted with some ALMS aero engineers and got their opinion on how to accomplish what we want.

My car works the rear tires much more than the front and front downforce will only make it oversteer more.

Posted by: Randal Jul 11 2006, 03:23 PM

QUOTE(groot @ Jul 11 2006, 05:15 AM)

Posted by: seanery Jul 11 2006, 04:48 PM

sweet, thanks for the info, I figured the splitter was downforce, not cleaning up the under car flow.

Those are sweet!

When I'm back on my feet I'll need 1 for bluecar...will the parts be available as needed or in one big run?

Posted by: Brett W Jul 12 2006, 02:04 AM

With an open car you can get better airflow over the back over the car and create more downforce. Anything you can do to increase the and then balance it out would be nice. Can you use any of the special edition rear spoilers on the car in production?

The nice thing about the 914 is the floor is relatively flat and if you put some special chassis stiffening under the floorboard you could create an interesting bit of aero benefit. The problem is that back bumper. All it does is catch air like one huge parachute. I have a way around that if you want to try it.

Posted by: groot Jul 12 2006, 06:55 AM

They will be made available, but each will be made to order. Not sure on the timing, but I'm estimating that we'd be able to start selling some in the next month or so.

Brett-I'm running a fiberglass 916 rear bumper now... modified to accomodate the exhaust. I'm about to pull everything off for paint, so if you've got any suggestions, let's talk about them.

Posted by: hars914 Jul 12 2006, 06:22 PM

I want one. I am in the process of doing the flares on the track car now.
I was unsure of how to handle the front. I found my answer.Let me know
when they will be available.

Posted by: SandyI Jul 13 2006, 11:25 AM

Beautiful work. I'd be interested in one as well. Thanks.

Posted by: BKLA Jul 13 2006, 01:01 PM

QUOTE(groot @ Jul 10 2006, 09:48 AM)

Posted by: brant Jul 13 2006, 10:14 PM

Kevin...

that is a work of art sir!

brant

Posted by: groot Jul 14 2006, 05:07 AM

Some more information about this part from it's creator......


Couple of things about Kevin and Chris' castings:

It's made of three layers: 6K, 11.4oz twill weave carbon, (absolutely impossible to get right now), 1/8" core material for infusion, and carbon/Kevlar hybrid twill, (yet even more impossible to find right now). The part pictured was vacuum infused, a procedure that is relatively new to the industry, and revolutionary in making very high quality castings with really good control over resin content, resulting in excellent strength to weight properties. Autoclaved prepreg carbon fiber would be the next step up from what you're getting.

Also, your two castings are clear gelcoated, causing us to pay very close attention to how the first layer of carbon twill is both cut and placed in the mold. Needless to say, this is tedious work.

It is this precise recipe that allows us to make a casting of this quality and have it come out at 6 pounds, while maintaining incredible overall strength. While I'm happy to duplicate this part for others, I would normally charge around $1100.00 for a part like this.

Now before that shocks anyone into submission, there are alternatives which are all far too many to list, but there are ways to get the price down to the $550 range. Please expect a part like that to be in an opaque gelcoat finish ready to paint, and made of carbon and mostly fiberglass, but will likely weigh closer to 9-10 pounds.

For others, it should be noted that Kevin ultimately owns this mold, and I would suspect that he would want to recover some of the cost of tooling for this piece.

Now, downforce:

What the splitter does is separate, or split the air in the front, forcing a greater volume of air to go over the car. This causes a net negative pressure underneath giving you downforce. Splitters are widely used because of their advantages in downforce when compared to the net drag they create. This can also be advantageous for anyone experiencing a push or understeer because of the new-found aerodynamic grip in the front end.

The carbon fiber splitter for Kevin's 914 weighs 4.6 pounds. The leading edge is reinforced with extra layers of carbon for you Miata punting types, and the bottom reinforced with an inner layer of Kevlar for you mad apexing rumble strip riding types........

Mike Cudahy
President, Prototype Composites

Posted by: URY914 Jul 14 2006, 06:37 AM

Very very nice Kevin. Don't you have to get SCCA approval before you fab something like this? So you don't get protested at your first race. If it is pre-approved they can win the protest, right?

Paul

Posted by: turboman808 Jul 16 2006, 07:10 PM

I am very interested in this part. I would prefer a fiberglass part though. Just have more experience fixing fiberglass and none with carbon.

Posted by: groot Jul 17 2006, 07:05 AM

Paul,

This part is SCCA legal for production. You're allowed to replace bumpers with a replica.

Turboman, see note above from the builder of this part regarding fiberglass. The $550 part is a mix of glass and carbon. BTW... fixing carbon is the same as fixing fiberglass.

Posted by: groot Jul 20 2006, 08:49 AM

I just talked to Mike. The first parts ship out today (one for me and one for Chris Foley).

He will be able to make additional parts in September. At that time, I will list this in the 914 Resources, Parts and Products Forum and be able to get some of these front ends out to you.

Posted by: guywan914 Aug 19 2006, 04:48 AM

Kevin, was at Chris's shop the other day and was in awe of the workmanship. I like the design as well. Put me down for one. Let me know on possible ship dates and final pricing.

Posted by: db9146 Aug 19 2006, 10:27 PM

I'm interested in just the splitter. Are those being sold separately?

Posted by: groot Aug 21 2006, 06:09 AM

The splitter will be sold separately and it doesn't have any tooling expense associated with it. Should run about $280 plus shipping.

All pieces should be ready to make next month. Mike and I are working on the details now.

Posted by: Brad Roberts Aug 21 2006, 03:20 PM

Looks great!

Did you ask them about the 75-76 style fiberglass bumper that "most" of the 914's in the past have run? Garretson did wind tunnel testing on it at Moffet field in Mountain View where they where located. This pretty quickly became the industry standard for 914 race cars because of its flow characteristics compared to the early bumper.

There was also an SCCA issue back in the day: you couldnt add holes to the front of the car, only use existing holes. The 75-76 replica bumper offered the fog light holes readily for brake ducting/oil cooler ducting (the other bumper does also obviously)

Damn. That looks nice.

Cant say that I have ever had any front end "lift" issues on any tracks on the west coast. Not in EP/FP cars at least.

B

Posted by: groot Aug 22 2006, 08:04 AM

Thanks, Brad.

We weren't looking to reduce lift, but to reduce drag.

I used this bumper because I had it and it allows a splitter because it has a slight overhang. This bumper was the fiberglass part that had the 2 openings for the fog lights, but Mike closed up the holes in case someone wanted leave them closed. I am opening at least one side for the fog light to get cooling air to the engine.... maybe the other side for oil cooling.

Posted by: groot Aug 22 2006, 01:29 PM

If anyone has more specific questions about the front clip or splitter (or other parts), they can contact Mike Cudahy at:

Prototype Composites
2010 West Bender Road
Glendale, WI 53209
(414) 354-5144

Posted by: groot Sep 21 2006, 05:51 AM

These parts are now for sale....

Details can be found here: http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=60885&st=0&gopid=777452&#entry777452

Posted by: jim_hoyland Jul 6 2018, 05:39 AM

Are these still available ?

Posted by: Racer Chris Jul 6 2018, 07:38 AM

QUOTE(jim_hoyland @ Jul 6 2018, 07:39 AM)

Posted by: HeinrichKlee Jul 6 2018, 04:09 PM

Very nice!

Posted by: cali914 Jul 9 2018, 08:26 AM

The carbon fiber lip really looks nice

Posted by: Cracker Jul 29 2018, 06:31 AM

Yes. I have two in storage PC made for me a couple years ago. One word of caution, they are not an exact fit and since its not fiberglass, it is more challenging getting a great fit. Nice piece but not for everyone...

Cracker