Black plastic stuff

teamliviD · Post by **teamliviD** » Fri May 16, 2008 5:19 pm

theres this black plastic stuff that people buy that comes in flat sheets, wrinkled on one side and smooth on the other. some people have used it to make gauge plates where the radio goes, other have used it for the retro fit hid headlight swaps. you can heat it up and "mold" it in shapes you want.

if you know what im talking about, what is called and where can i buy it.

aperson · Post by **aperson** » Fri May 16, 2008 11:06 pm

Kydex or something along those lines

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Sat May 17, 2008 2:37 am

I've never heard of Kydex being used for anything but gun holsters, but it fits the description.

Toast · Post by **Toast** » Sat May 17, 2008 8:35 am

Swordfish2Cowboy wrote:I've never heard of Kydex being used for anything but gun holsters, but it fits the description.

It's probably Kydex or another thermoplastic, maybe Delrin, I'm not sure, but Kydex sounds to be the one. Both of these are more or less industrial use. I would look online at Grainger or McMaster-Carr.

teamliviD · Post by **teamliviD** » Sat May 17, 2008 2:24 pm

im looking to make something like this but much better.....

is "kydex" the stuff this is made from you think??

theTeejmiester · Post by **theTeejmiester** » Sat May 17, 2008 3:17 pm

sheet ABS would also work.lots of companys make it with grain on one side and it is molded quite often with the audio crowd
http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=335&
dont know if it was u want but its an idea

teamliviD · Post by **teamliviD** » Sat May 17, 2008 8:56 pm

yeah, ABS plastic, thats what I was thinking about....but I kept thinking AVS....thanks for the help. Now I just need to find some big enough.

01neon01 · Post by **01neon01** » Sat May 17, 2008 9:13 pm

teamliviD wrote:im looking to make something like this but much better.....

is "kydex" the stuff this is made from you think??

noob question. but what exactly is the purpose of that? / what does it do?

aperson · Post by **aperson** » Sat May 17, 2008 10:14 pm

The open rear bumper will scoop air and act like a parachute, creating an area of high pressure under the rear of the car at speed, what the sheet is for is to close that parachute off so that the air just goes out the back.

01neon01 · Post by **01neon01** » Sat May 17, 2008 10:22 pm

oh ok that makes sense.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sat May 17, 2008 10:28 pm

Of course the exhaust will need re-engineered, or heat sheilds installed aroun where it goes through. Sweet idea tho!

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Sun May 18, 2008 2:27 am

If you'll notice, there isn't an exhaust in that picture.

Post by **occasional demons** » Sun May 18, 2008 10:25 am

Swordfish2Cowboy wrote:If you'll notice, there isn't an exhaust in that picture.

Um, that's why I wrote that. Just stated it incase the rear exit wanted to be retained. Some venting holes would need to be added to expell heat build up, too. It might reduce the effectiveness of the design, but tho you can't really tell from the pic it appears that the front is open anways so a few holes would help let air out. while the pic don't show it it is assumed that it has a side exit exhaust before the tire. That doesn't leave many options if a quieter exhaust is desired. I guess a better option would be aluminium sheet for a rear exhaust setup, or metal inserts where the pipe(S) come out. cutting a hole in the rear fascia for a passenger side exit is an option too. But like it has been said before, sheeting the whole underside would get the best benefits.

teamliviD · Post by **teamliviD** » Sun May 18, 2008 12:29 pm

i have a side exit, so ill be fine. the pic i posted is kinda plan, ill be adding defusers(sp) to it. i should be ordering mats in a few days.

Post by **Diablo0** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:51 am

http://www.ramseyfamilyracing.com/srt4/ ... ffuser.php

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Mon May 19, 2008 4:34 pm

that's a good looking piece, but it looks too low to be used on a car with a drop. I'm gonna have to get in touch with them and see what the deal is.

Post by **racer12306** » Mon May 19, 2008 5:14 pm

IIRC kydex is some serious stuff. Has a flammability of 94-5V (very high)

Sheet ABS would be more than sufficient.

teamliviD · Post by **teamliviD** » Mon May 19, 2008 6:38 pm

Diablo0 wrote:http://www.ramseyfamilyracing.com/srt4/ ... ffuser.php

thats $500!!! I can make mine for way less and it will work the same.

thanks for the link though.

Post by **Diablo0** » Mon May 19, 2008 6:44 pm

Yeah, the 1LapSRT has it on here and he seems to like it...

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Mon May 19, 2008 9:46 pm

racer12306 wrote:IIRC kydex is some serious stuff. Has a flammability of 94-5V (very high)

Sheet ABS would be more than sufficient.

Depends. You could mold it around an exhaust and it would stand up. Well, maybe. The guy I know who makes holsters says he basically uses a toaster oven to heat the stuff up.

Post by **racer12306** » Mon May 19, 2008 9:58 pm

A flammability rating is based on a piece of material being exposed to a specific heat flame at a specific distance for a specific time. Depending on the rating it is trying to achieve, the material can melt, but it can't catch fire.

aperson · Post by **aperson** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:12 pm

So some kydex mixed with aluminum heat shield should yield some decent results right? Or should I just go with aluminum throughout?

kevo · Post by **kevo** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:22 pm

aperson wrote:So some kydex mixed with aluminum heat shield should yield some decent results right? Or should I just go with aluminum throughout?

no disrespect to anyone but i have been laughing at the price tag of that thing since i saw it earlier today. Personally, i would rather make one out of aluminum. It can be fabricated cheap and easily. If you want to add your own fins, you can easily make them out of sheet aluminum and rivet them to your fabbed to the base of the difusser. Infact, this seems to be exactly what RFR is doing here.

edit: have a look at this other one they have. You can clearly see that all they are doing is riveting slices of angled aluminum to the base.

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:27 pm

Well they've got to make money somehow. Nowadays that usually means screwing over people. Sometimes prices are legit because of the time spent machining the first one up to spec, or materials used, or whatever. But $500? LOL

Also, I wonder if you can modify one to fit flush with a lip kit. I haven't put my rear on yet so I don't know if there's an overhang like there is in the front.

Post by **occasional demons** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:33 pm

The voices kept telling them: if you make it, people will buy it!
The corn stalks rustle in the backround...

Swordfish2Cowboy · Post by **Swordfish2Cowboy** » Mon May 19, 2008 10:44 pm

If you make it inexpensive, with little markup, and there's a demand for your product, and it's quality, people should buy it. In theory anyway. Honestly you've just got to have good advertising.

Wenuden · Post by **Wenuden** » Tue May 20, 2008 9:39 am

I doubt there's huge demand for a rear diffuser....

OverDrive418 · Post by **OverDrive418** » Mon May 26, 2008 11:58 am

Best bet for now...ABS.
1) it's cheap, if you make a boo-boo throw it out and make another
2) easy to work with/mold/cut
3) heat isn't an issue with your side-exit exhaust so sheilding is not needed
4) relatively light and stiff
5) can sport it around for a test and if you want to upgrade materials later you've got the prototype to work from.

Cool, idea, good luck!

(I've used a fiberglass sheet too that worked pretty good on the front of a friends car, super light and because of the small area was pretty stiff. You might have to run some support strips for an area that big though.)