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Team AMG
01-14-2005, 10:37 PM
OK, even though I have become a dedicated Ford team the work on the Corvette C5-R continues, now code named "Godzilla".

Here we see the front from a 3/4 view, there has been extensive smoothing and molding, all of the door lines, hood lines, etc. have been molded in and the body panels have been epoxied in place. The mirrors have been removed and the holes filled in. A hood duct has been added, this is designed to draw air out from under the front of the car, creating a sort of vacuum effect and helping the car stick to the track on fast straights. A roof scoop has also been added, although at this point it's non-functional, it may be opened after some wind tunnel testing.

http://www.xmodsource.com/forums/album_thumbnail.php?pic_id=552

The back 3/4 view shows more of the same extensive molding, the license plate slot has been filled and the tail lights will also be flush once the rest of the body is complete. Tail lights will be red colored epoxy filling the holes to the level of the rest of the rear end. The stock rear end has the lower part of the panel cut away, this is to reduce induced drag and allow the addition of a working ground effects panel.

http://www.xmodsource.com/forums/album_thumbnail.php?pic_id=551

All of the smoothing will give the car a low aerodynamic signature, it's not known what type of benefit that this will give it in competetion but I have access to the small item wind tunnel at UCSF for testing once the car is done to find out. There won't be any rear wing, and the roof scoop is the only thing that breaks up an otherwise aerodynamic shape, only the low mounted ground effects will add to any needed downforce. Opening the scoop will allow motor cooling but also induce some drag, a fair trade off for the enduro races this is being designed for.

The inside of the body has been machined with a dremel tool to remove as much extra weight as possible, about 35 grams of weight has been saved by doing this, which is about twice what the added molding putty weighs.

As the project progresses it'll be updated here.

c-flo77
01-15-2005, 12:23 AM
**** dude, nice body work. :nod:
Hope ur paint and decals come out nice

Team AMG
01-15-2005, 12:30 AM
**** dude, nice body work. :nod:
Hope ur paint and decals come out nice

I haven't decided on a color yet, but it'll be a lighter color as the pigments in light colored paint weight less than dark paint does (old racers trick). So maybe white with red or yellow. The AMG Team colors are yellow and white so that may be it.

Since I don't have any real racing locally I may "sponsor" the body to a racer who would agree to race under AMG sponsorship, and maybe get some publicity. It's been a long process to build the thing and it may be a "one-off" production.

jpringlephoto
01-15-2005, 01:35 AM
Very Cool, Keep it up.

Team AMG
01-15-2005, 11:03 PM
Well, the first problems have cropped up with Godzilla, seems like I may have taken too much off the inside of the body. I am having to reinforce parts with JB Weld, particularly where the front and rear body caps mount. Some on track testing found weakness (by contact) in those areas, nothing to worry about. I've also decided to fill in the vents on the sides behind the front wheels, and the one one each side of the rocker panels. The rear end has been smoothed out and the flush tailights are about ready to be poured.

]http://www.xmodsource.com/forums/album_thumbnail.php?pic_id=556

The front scoop has been found to be rather ineffective so it'll remain plugged up, it looks nice anyway. The roof scoop is also somewhat ineffective, especially at speeds over 8 MPH, the air passes up over the windshield and over the scoop without entering it, even boundry layer air is so slight the benefits to opening it are minimal.

http://www.xmodsource.com/forums/album_thumbnail.php?pic_id=557

A decision for a rear wing was also made, a sort of high loop with a neutral pitch was decided, more for straight line stability than for traction.

http://www.xmodsource.com/forums/album_thumbnail.php?pic_id=555

Overall weight is still 3 1/2 ounces less than what I started with with the addition of the wing and JB Weld reinforcement.

More to come.

Team AMG
01-17-2005, 07:19 PM
The saga continues.

http://www.xmodsource.com/forums/album_thumbnail.php?pic_id=563

Godzilla is now in it's semi-gloss white primer, this is the paint it will carry to the wind tunnel in San Francisco on Wednesday. The car is so smooth it makes the semi-gloss look glossy, final sanding was made with 400 grit worn put sandpaper. In this view you can see the roof scoop and the hood scoop to great detail. The mirrors are from a 1/25th scale Civic tuner model, they're nicely streamlined and shouldn't cause too much drag. Also, the totally smooth rear end it also displayed.

Three wind tunnel readings will be taken, one will be Godzilla mounted on a LWB XMOD chassis, the second will be a base reading taken from a stock bodied 2004 Corvette XMOD with the stock appearing body panels, the last...will be a brick of the approximate size of Godzilla. The reason for this is to have two base readings and the reading from the customized car. I should have the results by Friday, final painting will begin over the weekend. I'm still kicking around a scheme, but I'm leaning towards a blue one the sides, and white on top scheme.

Team AMG
01-19-2005, 04:31 PM
Godzilla made the wind tunnel tests, I've been told that the difference between it and a base line Corvette was not substantial but there was a difference and that Godzilla had a lower CD rating. the readings will be returned with the body either tomorrow or Friday.

A paint scheme has been secured, the local NAPA dealership has agreed to pay for a brand new LWB XMOD to mount the body on for painting it in a Michael Waltrip scheme. Done deal as far as I'm concerned. More pics to follow, stay tuned.

al9spike
02-05-2005, 03:57 PM
Very nice. Good paint Job