fenders

[Kinser Racing]

+1,000 /images/boards/smilies/thumb.gif

If you dont have fenders....your not going to win a race at NPWDRL,enough said!Now dont you top guys go & try to prove me wrong...back me up here

 

[Papa V Racing]

Good thread ... as I am at this point of building today.. My past experience with rockets rounding all edges is a must for speed, accuracy ect...

I have noticed most cars are square edge fenders .... I see one here and there with rounded edges and have not seen many that are rounded from top edge of fender to the bottom keeping a smooth and rounded..

Is this due to not being able to control air flow evenly?

Leaving the wheels open in this area after the fenders wouldn't that cause some drag as well... I was toying with an idea for another car to cover this area to allow air flow from the front of fender across the back of the wheel ..

Sorry just something I have not seen and being new not sure how many or if any post or questions have been discussed. As I am still researching threads from the past ...

I will be building an example after car is done to help show my question...

V

 

[txchemist]

Right now, it looks like jb07 is king of the fenders- smooth all the way
look at his cars over on NPWDRL

 

[Papa V Racing]

I have seen jb07 designs they look to be slim line and on one of the cars I think it is the third one has a different front fender all together.. His prep work to the wheels, axles I am sure his setup is above and beyond anything I am able to do at the moment..with setup is key...

His car design and another racers car I have seen up close is what made me think about this as I am shaping a body now ...

Now I am not fully into this yet so it may seem crazy but I like to look at every option when I build things and this is not going to knock off tons of time but when a race is down to the nats behind who knows.. This could also go the opposite direction and kill time if the fenders are not set up the same and force air to one side more than the other...

Here is the front view as this will still have to be shaped as this was not a finished fender when I added the piece of balsa to the inside. The shape on the inside of fender would be more tapered allow air flow to move away from the open part or exposed part of the wheel...

So I am putting this out here as I want to learn and to better myself as my first car is trying to be at April's race....

V

This is what my question in the wheel area that is open would it cause drag.. This is a temp piece of balsa tacked glue to fender and taped to the car to clarify my question... This has a slight tapper pushing air away from the open part of the wheel...

Inside shot this is my question as most everyone not running full body fenders has this area open...

Fenders are rough cut taped on & not finished as they need to be tapered down more...

 

[Chief]

Honestly I think the only way to have a definite answer is to run them down the track and chart the results. I have a friend that tells me ALL the time to set up the track!!! (not to mention any names???)

 

[ZZ Racing]

I have run fenders that close the wheel off but it makes it hard to remove the wheel without damage to the fenders or the wheel.

 

[Skippy Kicky]

I'm currently working on one with similar fenders and I've been worried for the day when I have to remove the wheels. In a previous thred someone mentioned fishing line. I think I'll try that.
Looking good V.

 

[rpenning1970]

How do you shape the fenders , mine currently are needing to be shaped and I worry i will mess it up. What is your process VDUTEL

 

[Papa V Racing]

rpenning1970

How do you shape the fenders , mine currently are needing to be shaped and I worry i will mess it up. What is your process VDUTEL

I use and hand sander Palm sander .. a dremel, and tons of hand sanding.. I read in one of the post on here where they used the wheel tube to help shape it and I did that as well .. I also used a Model Rocket Engine tube used to hold the body tube on the jig this got the smaller Dia on there ...

Maybe someone else can give you a more easier way to shape fenders... I did it by trial and error and some methods I used on rockets...

V

 

[Papa V Racing]

Ok Gents after two hours in my basement tonight and a shower .. lol here is the new set of scratch built front fenders ...

Thanks for all the ideas and pictures to look at for the past three months ... There is allot of finishing work to do still but this is the shape...

The Wheels in my head go round and round

 

[Crewzin]

Skippy if it helps you, I have been putting a slot in all my axle heads.. It makes install and take off way easy, Just wiggle the screwdriver back and forth with a little pressure the wheels come right off.

 

[Skippy Kicky]

I will do that. Thanks for the good tip.

 

[aircooled]

I've done the same thing works great.

 

[GravityX]

I've used this method and it works like a charm every time.

Skippy if it helps you, I have been putting a slot in all my axle heads.. It makes install and take off way easy, Just wiggle the screwdriver back and forth with a little pressure the wheels come right off.

Nice work there PapaV! A little bit of sweat equity turned out some good looking fenders!

Ok Gents after two hours in my basement tonight and a shower .. lol here is the new set of scratch built front fenders ...

Thanks for all the ideas and pictures to look at for the past three months ... There is allot of finishing work to do still but this is the shape...

The Wheels in my head go round and round

 

[Obsessedderbydad]

PapaV what's that slot on the rear fender for?

 

[Quicktimederby]

It looks like he cut the fenders from a BSA block with the grove in it.

 

[Papa V Racing]

Quicktime - I had a Pinecar block so I cut one down that was damaged so why not use it.... I cut new ones last night ... Once I had shaped the old one they ended up a bit small & fragile. Here is a pic of the old one to the top right, the new one not finished on the car and the next one to cut still above the left front ..

 

[Kinser Racing]

Papa V, now you just need new wheels. Everyone knows that orange wheels are slower.

 

[Kinser Racing]

I use my belt sander until they're almost perfectly where I want them. I only catch a finger nail or two, and barely get a finger tip or two also, during the process. /images/boards/smilies/smile.gif

How do you shape the fenders , mine currently are needing to be shaped and I worry i will mess it up. What is your process VDUTEL

 

[Quicktimederby]

Nothing wrong with making them out of old blocks that's how I make most of mine! The pinecar kits are funny I cringe when a boy shows you with one. They usually have a hard time making it down the track.

Quicktime - I had a Pinecar block so I cut one down that was damaged so why not use it.... I cut new ones last night ... Once I had shaped the old one they ended up a bit small & fragile. Here is a pic of the old one to the top right, the new one not finished on the car and the next one to cut still above the left front ..