Sideskirt construction??

[SL8Brick]

This is something I'm planning on doing after the new year. I'm considering using lawn edging, but I'm open to other ideas for materials. I'd like the skirts to be no more than 4" high to avoid tearing them off while going over speed bumps. Whatever material I choose, it must be somewhat flexible but rigid enough so it doesn't oscilate @ speed. The material must also be easily cut/trimmed so the ends can be shaped to fit(yes, asthetics are important to me ).
My Volvo has a nicely located 1" high pinch-weld that runs wheelarch to wheelarch...perfect for bolting the skirts onto. Do you think stainless steel hardware would be a good idea? Any other tips/tricks?

Thanx in advance,

SL8Brick

[brucepick]

I saw a VERY nice job done with vinyl gutter material. He doubled it up, nested two channels together for more strength and then primed and painted so it looked absolutely super. It's in turbobricks.com under "showroom". I think a search there might find it.

I considered this below - just didn't get around to it. Dunno if it would look good...

A strip of 2.7 mm. thick lauan plywood from Home Depot or similar.
Prime with oil base wood primer, then pickup bed liner black crinkle finish paint from Duplicolor. That stuff bonds very well but not to raw wood.

Make a mount base from furring strips, they are about 11/16" x 1-1/2".
Split that stock diagonally to make a triangular prism.
That to be mounted horizontally just below the lower molding trim on our 240's.

The angled wedge prism should make a near-vertical surface to mount the plywood strip on. Since the mount strip is about 4" above the lowest part of rocker panel you'd need 7"-8" width of plywood x ~5 feet for each side.

Of course you could mount directly to the 1" pinch weld with stainless sheet metal screws. Stainless fender washers under the screw heads to protect the thin plywood.

[Big Dave]

I have more conveyor belting that I intend to make side skirts of. My truck came with running boards and I removed them when I slammed the truck, so I have four very sturdy mounting holes in the bodywork already.

I intend to make an aluminum plate that attach to the body and the conveyor belt will attach to that plate and closely approach the ground.

The trick is to integrate side skirts with wheel skirts.

[ZugyNA]

Originally Posted by brucepick

A strip of 2.7 mm. thick lauan plywood from Home Depot or similar.Prime with oil base wood primer, then pickup bed liner black crinkle finish paint from Duplicolor. That stuff bonds very well but not to raw wood.

Unless you live in the desert...I seem delamination ahead. Plastic or rubber?

[brucepick]

Originally Posted by ZugyNA

Unless you live in the desert...I see delamination ahead. Plastic or rubber?

Yeah, one would think delam is in the cards. But my front air dam's been on for many months and is doing OK without any priming. The front face I made of lauan and primed with oil base primer; I see no deterioration at all. The finish paint on top of the primer is taking a beating but the pickup bed liner I suggested for side skirts is very tough stuff. And it's easy to spray on additional if needed. Should bond to primer very well.

My problem appears to be, I really like working with wood. Cheap to buy and easy to work with. Hard to argue with that.

[Big Dave]

What kind of glue do you use for your wood? PVA will delam. Resorcinol and urethane glues are impervious to water or water vapor. Keep sunlight and acetone off of urethane.

I like resorcinol for outdoor projects where strength and vibration resistance are important. Epoxy is strong but too stiff and sometimes brittle.

[brucepick]

I used Weldwood contact cement. So far so good. Bond appears solid. There's no stress pulling it apart but it is staying together through all kinds of weather.

I used it on the front panel which I assembled just before Labor Day weekend '07. It has two 1" wide strips of plywood running full length across the panel, left to right.

[Big Dave]

Contact cement is water-resistant. I wouldn't sweat delamination if the parts are not in direct sunlight or exposed to organic solvents. Under the front bumper should be A-OK.

[ZugyNA]

Originally Posted by brucepick

Yeah, one would think delam is in the cards. But my front air dam's been on for many months and is doing OK without any priming. The front face I made of lauan and primed with oil base primer; I see no deterioration at all. The finish paint on top of the primer is taking a beating but the pickup bed liner I suggested for side skirts is very tough stuff. And it's easy to spray on additional if needed. Should bond to primer very well.

My problem appears to be, I really like working with wood. Cheap to buy and easy to work with. Hard to argue with that.

I work with wood myself...and it is a preference. I usually use thinned poly varnish as a primer...since it will soak into the wood fibers and plasticize them.

Also fiberglass resin works very well as a paint to protect wood. Cover this with rubberized undercoating?

Good to know its hanging together...wouldn't have thought it "wood". < pun.