BIG Wing and a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT

Looky here, I'm living up to my goals of giving you guys quicker updates!  But in reality, don't get used to it.  

So, we still need to tidy up some things with the big intercooler install.  I'll have to admit, I rushed myself a bit here.  The clock is starting to tick with my impending track day May 13.  The list is shortening, at what feels like a glacial pace... until now.

First, we need to block off the passenger bay side vent.  Some aluminum would be best, but free galvanized sheet metal from work is... well, free.  Let's fill in this very out of focus hole. 

Trace the old rubber gasket.  

Then we'll cut it out, and add holes.  (you only need the big holes I found out)

Toss some paint on.

And bolt it in.  The blurier, the better.

With that done, we need to get this SPAL fan mounted to the intercooler.

So, I picked up some various bits and ends of 12 gauge strapping.  And started building what I had in my head.  

After some hasty tacking and welding at way too hot of a setting... we had a somewhat crappy fan bracket built.

Yes, it's hideous.  Yes, it needs trimming and paint.  Yes, it works!  

Painted and mounted.  Again, it's ugly.  Again, it works.  I'll rebuild it, eventually.  The fan is wired into the fusebox, and the switch is wired as a ground.  It puts out some serious air through the vent between the tail lights while being much quieter than my old fan, I'm super happy with how it functions.  Eventually, I'd like to shroud the area between the intercooler and exhaust vent while adding some aviation hose to the front of the cooler to force fresh air through.

With those "chores" taken care of, it's time for why you really gave into the clickbait link I posted on social media.  

Holy crap that's a big airfoil.  It's actually 1750mm wide.  Pretty much as wide as the entire care with the flares on!  

Why did I go with a monster wing?  I did love the look of the autopista spoiler with the flap extension, but, it was heavy.  20-25 pounds heavy, in the rear of the car, where I want no weight.  Along with the weight, the front of the car has a very wide... "prominence" we'll call it.  Even with the big flares in the rear, the whole car didn't really flow well visually.  This will help!  

Also, I know I'm not at the limit of grip with this car yet, so a wing really isn't needed...but I plan to be there soon-ish, with better driving.  So, I'll be ready to add more downforce when it's warranted.  The wing is likely too tall for a twisted style airfoil as well (learn up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmaKmz9cqRY), but I can change that with some homemade uprights I plan to design later this spring, probably lower the wing to ~ 275mm (10.8").  It's currently 370mm tall.

You know I can't leave off the shelf parts alone, I definitely can't install a universal part without cutting it up and modifying.

Where to mount this sucker.  Well, I went through all the options before settling on what the wing was designed for in the first place, the trunklid.  

Chassis mount - a few years ago I thought these were totally badass, but they're a bit too over-the-top for me recently.  Plus, I just hacked out the space between the tail lights for the intercooler, which is the best spot for a chassis mount to attach.

Wide mount - probably the best purely aero way to mount the wing would be wide- out past the trunk lid on the rear quarter panels.  After looking into it extensively, everyone who's done this on a SW20 has to remove the whole wing to open their trunk!  Or mount the trunk via hoodpins.  Not ideal for anyone really, especially a guy with his intercooler and other engine vitals in there.

So, to the trunk lid we go!  As far back as possible on the OEM lid.

More speedholes in an already VERY fast trunk lid (because of all the other holes, get it?)

As you can see I've 3m taped all the OEM holes up.  I have plans to fix it a bit more long term, for a later episode.

The lower brackets are stout, and a bit too utilitarian for me.  Let's trim them a bit and round the front corners.

Not to mount the brackets and uprights.

Uprights in, and modified slightly.  I drilled new holes in the lower part of them to lean the uprights back a bit more.  This helped lower the wing a bit, and move it rearward.

The end plates that came with the wing were a little too "hotboi drifter" for me.  (Cue the Teriyaki Boyz music) 

I picked up some carbon panels to make my own.

Simple, bigger, better?

I got the wing mounted up, and it was a beautiful spring day here in the PNW, which is a VERY rare occurrence.  So I went for a little rip up one of my favorite roads.  Which leads into the other BIG announcement for all you avid readers.  STICKERS!

Ok, I never thought I would get this site as detailed and expansive as it is.  Many people had asked and I thought about it for awhile, and decided to see if you guys would want to help support this site, and the time put into it.  If you don't care, I understand.  If you think it's really badass and want to rep Apex Attack on your own car, then I'm honored!

The wing is massive, ridiculous, and in your face.  I think I like it?  It's growing on me.  Definitely looks more racecar now, and I do feel slightly stupid driving it on public roads at the speed limit (to stay out of trouble of course).  With the intercooler and fan just barely visible through the vent, it all feels very functional.

Oh yeah, the sticker!  This is half of one pack I plan to post for sale.  The "MidNight" pack.  Paying homage to everyones favorite illegal Japanese racing club, the MidNight pack will be two stickers, one in silver and black with the "All Fun" addage, and another in gold and black with "No Ego."

That wing really ties the room, er front end, together. 

I got a new windshield too, since I destroyed the last one when I spaced out on latching the hood down.

The direct sunlight really shows the wear and tear on my front end... track days ain't easy.  I kind of dig the character, but a refresh will likely happen!

We've also designed a more traditional bumper sticker, in black and gold with the addage "No Ego, All Fun."  It looks great in a dusty, dirty interior, imagine it in your clean one!  The sticker packs will be available RIGHT HERE ON THIS VERY WEBPAGE/DOMAIN/SITE/MYSPACE this FRIDAY!!!  4/27/18!!!1! ERMAGAHD

I'm very excited about the sticker release, I hope you guys are too.  Again, I'd be honored if you felt the stickers and design work cool enough to grace your automobile of choice (minivans welcome).  I will be blowing up social media about it, so be prepared for more spam during the following weeks.

Here's a few more pics from the beautiful drive.  

Stay tuned for a few more updates soon, we gotta build that rollbar!  Oh yeah, come buy some stickers Friday!