Possible Contest

[FieroBUZZ]

   Alright!  How warped are Fiero people?

With the seats, I have 2 base frameworks.  These are fairly bulky, but have motors and rods, etc for adjusting the seats. 

Too big for the Fiero, they may have other uses which my demented brain hasn't seen yet.

*****  Trunk mounted to operate a faux-air brake which can be raised.  Could change a spoiler angle I guess, but that's not weird.

*****  Trunk mounted and used to lift the rear edge of the decklid, thus exposing an led readout on which you can type messages to tailgaters. (or hot girls).

Okay....... have at it.   

[Gizmo]

Oohhhhh now yer thinkin....functional wing....get some servo feedback, prog up a little pic....get and put speed input and brake into the equation and equals automatic self adjusting wing.  In proper location that is.  Doable and would be a neat mod for sure.

[MacPhail]

*****  Trunk mounted and used to lift the rear edge of the decklid, thus exposing an led readout on which you can type messages to tailgaters. (or hot girls).

Hmmm....should we run that one by your wife first? 

I have to admit that I've thought about the LED messaging thing myself.  Sometimes giving people the finger, laying on the horn, or yelling at the windshield just isn't enough.

I believe a similar device was one shown on Top Gear.

Cheers, Derek

[dguy]

Oohhhhh now yer thinkin....functional wing....get some servo feedback, prog up a little pic....get and put speed input and brake into the equation and equals automatic self adjusting wing.  In proper location that is.  Doable and would be a neat mod for sure.

As far as I know, some models of Porsche have this.  I think I've even seen it on the "sport" variant of the Beetle as well. 

...though somehow I don't think it's centered around power seat motors.   

[Kevin]

Hmmm...

[MacPhail]

How 'bout front console speakers (like the B&O's) or NAV system that lifts when activated?

Cheers, Derek

[aaron88]

  Alright!  How warped are Fiero people?

With the seats, I have 2 base frameworks.  These are fairly bulky, but have motors and rods, etc for adjusting the seats. 

Too big for the Fiero, they may have other uses which my demented brain hasn't seen yet.

*****  Trunk mounted to operate a faux-air brake which can be raised.  Could change a spoiler angle I guess, but that's not weird.

*****  Trunk mounted and used to lift the rear edge of the decklid, thus exposing an led readout on which you can type messages to tailgaters. (or hot girls).

Okay....... have at it.   

To the first.  I designed a pneumatic one.  Pops up as soon as you hit the brakes and slowly drops once released.  However the Fiero only makes use of the very outside edges of the spoiler which don’t offer enough surface area to make a significant difference.  The main purpose of the spoiler in the Fiero’s case is to smooth out the air falling off the back thus lowering the turbulence and increasing fuel mileage.  Therefore any attempt to modify and mechanicalise the spoiler without first getting it into the airflow is all for the bling (this is why my car doesn’t even have a spoiler anymore).

As for the second.  These are already commercially available.  Buy one and pop it in.


Aaron

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[MacPhail]

Aaron:  Can a spoiler be designed to provide lift in the back, or is it simply better to put someting on the front to provide downforce?

I was thinking that the engine weight would lift the front somewhat, allowing air to flow under the car and provide further lift.

Cheers, Derek

[dguy]

Aaron:  Can a spoiler be designed to provide lift in the back, or is it simply better to put someting on the front to provide downforce?

Yes it can be done... think airplane.  The shape of their wings generate lift, so all you'd have to do is design a similar wing and get it up in the airflow (i.e. at or above roof height in the Fiero's case).

Whether or not you'd want to generate lift at the back of the car, is another story though.  More lift = less traction.  If you're trying to balance out a light-feeling front end, look for ways to add downforce to the nose instead of lightening the tail to match.

[MacPhail]

Good point Don. 

Cheers, Derek

[aaron88]

Aaron:  Can a spoiler be designed to provide lift in the back, or is it simply better to put someting on the front to provide downforce?

Yes to the former and yes to the latter.

Aaron

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[dguy]

Okay....... have at it.   

Y'know I have this paintball gun sitting here....   

Use a spare headlight door & mechanism to create a "pop-up" section in the hood or decklid.  Mount a paintball gun in the headlight bucket instead of a bulb.

Use the seat motors to drive the old headlight adjustment screws, now you have left/right/up/down aiming.  For that stealth look, wire up the aiming motors through an innocent-looking power mirror switch.

Now add one surplus decklid release solenoid to pull the trigger remotely at the touch of a button.    

All you'd have to do is modify the gun's paintball feed, as it's normally gravity-fed from a somewhat bulky hopper above the barrel.



P.s.  ...and if you air bag the car's suspension, you can power the paintball gun from the air bag's compressor and never have to worry about the CO₂ cylinder running out.   

[MacPhail]

Don:  You've given this paintball gun idea WAY too much thought!

Scary!   

lol

Cheers, Derek

[Kitten]

Don:  You've given this paintball gun idea WAY too much thought!

Scary!   

lol

Cheers, Derek

Many a commute home from work has been spent discussing it 

[aaron88]

There is an easyer way, and that air compressor will probably not supply enough pressure, plus you need a camera for aiming.  And hope the cops don't see it...ever.  We should do it though.

Aaron

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