2005 Rules - Body Panels - Need clarification

[Black Horse]

As I read rule 7.4.4 ONLY Composite Hoods and Bumper Covers are allowed in AI

 

Rule 7.4.3 States that all other body panels must be of original OEM material.

 

I would assume this means that any composite/fiberglass fenders, fender flares (non-OEM), trunk lids, roof panels, etc. would be illegal.

 

Edit: I know this was broached on another thread about Fiberglass Hatch/Trunk I just wanted to make sure it was captured as an issue needing clarification.

[pederb]

You are assuming right

[Guest]

Peder, since the gauntlet of fender flares has been thrown down here in the OH/IN region why does it matter what material they are made from? I can make a set of flares using fiberglass/carbon/aramid in roughly a day but it would require much more time/energy/money/tooling to make a comperable set out of steel (OEM material) I don't understand the thought behind disallowing composite material.

 

Allowing alternate building material would speed up the fabrication process and reduce costs. Can you explain why you are against the composite flare for AI?

[pederb]

Because the rules say so

[Guest]

Because the rules say so

 

Peder, just to be clear on this are you saying that all fender flares that are to be put on an AI car have to be constructed out of Steel (OEM material for Fords) and that flares constructed out of fiberglass/carbon/aramid are not allowed in AI?

 

If this is the case I hope that the rule makers realized that this will drive up the cost of fender flares and the complexity of making a flare by a huge margin.

[racercosmo]

Brian, I think that maybe the rule is there to in some way discourage flares being made in such a manner.

 

 

I could be wrong, that's just what I think.

[RichardP]

I believe (and not everyone agrees) the fender flare rule as it is currently written is intended to mean that you can take the stock fender and roll it, beat it, hammer it, pound it, stretch it, or trim it to get the tire to clear. I don't believe it allows for material (of any type) to be added.

 

Clearly this has been breached. There are examples of fender flares out there where a significant amount of material was added with the justification that the material that was added was from another stock fender.

 

Here is the example that has been thrown out there:

 

I don't believe that this is a correct intrepretation of the rules. I also think this could lead to problems in the future. The flares in the picture are just basically a much bigger copy of the stock flares. They are well done, too. But if you write the rules to allow material to be added, how do you stop someone from creating "flares" that make the car look like it should be in the German Touring Car series or the Trans Am series? With a bit of work, you can make the fender flares be an effective part of the aerodynamic package.

 

It's difficult to write rules that allow the little stuff but prevent the big stuff. I'm interested to see where the rules go on this one.

 

Richard Pedersen

NASA TX AI #91

[white_2kgt]

here's a good one

 

 

--chad

[Guest]

Brian, I think that maybe the rule is there to in some way discourage flares being made in such a manner.

 

 

I could be wrong, that's just what I think.

 

I agree with you but we have crossed that threshold with Greg's car pictured above. They did a VERY nice job on the flares and they are steel but it would be easier and let costly to make them out of glass or carbon. I guess I don't understand why we are going to allow flares and not allow them to be made from material that would be easier and less expensive than steel.

 

BPT