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I got tired of buying plastic phone holder for my Modifry mount, they either crapped out or made a lot of noise. So I 3D printed a magnetic type phone holder in a flexible material that slipped over the Modifry mount. Ignore the 2 cylinder pieces I made for a different purpose. I made the platform taller to keep the phone far from the stick shift. The mount held large magnets and I topped the cover with rubber anti-slip tape (similar to gun tape).
I don't have access to a 3D printer. Hoping someone can help out with printing some vortex generators, sized to fit the top of the windshield frame.
I have been experimenting with ways to cut down on in cabin top down turbulence. I sit very tall, so I'm way up in the turbulent air. I've already gotten the BYS seat rail. But even at this, I'm eye-level with the rearview mirror, which blocks a significant amount of my view out the windshield. So I'm higher up into the turbulent air than most.
I've experimented with adding a small L shaped spoiler to the top of the windshield frame (one of those flexible rubber things meant to be used as a non-functional roof or decklid spoiler). It actually worked pretty good, until I put the top up, and it caused so much flapping of the top I thought it was going to rip the top off the car. Apparently it decreased turbulence in one place, and increased it in another. I also experimented with a taller wind blocker between the roll bars. Didn't really help, since I'm so much higher than the rollbars.
So my next plan is to add vortex generators to the top of the windshield frame. I'm hoping these will reduce the turbulence. I've done some research, and it seems viable. But no way to know short of experimenting. It seems the most effective shape for the purpose is the delta shape below. These are available all over ebay and Amazon, but only in a size too large to fit. They were originally created for 18 wheeler trucks, to use along the back of the cab and back of the trailer, for improved fuel economy. Then they became popular to add as non-functional aero appearance mod for cars. They're typically installed backwards on cars, because people assume they should look like shark fins, narrow side forward. But to create a vortex, the fat side should face forward.
The 3D printer file is sized to around the size used on the trucks, which are like 4.5" long. For the S windshield frame, they would need to be no more than around 1.5" long. So I'd like to take this file, shrink it down to around that size, then print out maybe 10 of them, and do the experiment.
If it works, it would probably also improve highway fuel economy, both top down and top up, though have a greater % of increase top down. But the real purpose is to improve top down cabin turbulence. So if it works, there would probably be a market for making them to the needed size.
Can anyone help out with this project? No idea what the cost of something like this would be.
07-23-2018, 09:49 PM
