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DIY Aluminum Front Splitter

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
yeah if it was just me, i would go to home depot, buy spraypaint primer/ final/ clear if your not going matte, then diy. it will be about 12$ vs 150$


I'm on the fence as true aluminum prep can be tedious and the true primer is about $25/can. I talked to a local powdercoating shop and said they'd throw it in a lineup of other items getting flat black and it could turn out to be pretty inexpensive since they don't have to strip it of anything (prior color/coating/grease).


All around pictures.
Not just overhead ones.
Let's see ground clearance and wear marks after a month.


Absolutely. I plan to fully document the cutting, drilling, mounting, head banging and throwing of various tools in frustration.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Cool project, was thinking of making an HDPE one myself. Will be following along!
I'd have loved to do HDPE, but aluminum was easier to source. My tech is out for two weeks, so I'll resume then!
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Update
Plan to head to buddy's garage this sat to cut and drill the aluminum. Been a heck of a time trying to schedule around all the holidays, but looks like I've got some time to do some more steps. Pics coming
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Had a pretty good afternoon yesterday with this project. it made me realize that dealing with aluminum is not as easy as I expected. I was able to get the cut out and bracing pieces cut out but have yet to smooth and grind the edges or drill the holes so this will be a multi-step process before powder coating.

Bonus shot of my buddy's project truck
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nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
Awesome! Looking good!

Any chance you'd ever make a CAD file or something like that available? That people could print a 1:1 template from? Not sure how you'd even do that, or if you'd even want to. But figuring out the correct "shape" is the prohibiting factor for me. With it being winter half the year and with a 1 yr old running around I'm not really in a hurry to take the bumper off my DD. ?

Either way, excited to see how it turns out for you.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
^
Once I get it fully fitted and happy with it, before powder coating, I'll see if I could get it scanned in somehow.
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Drilled and sanded, ready for test fit
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victorofhavoc

Autocross Champion
Location
Kansas City
Has anyone yet fabbed a functional front splitter? Generally speaking I know they're all "functional" to an extent, but I mean a track focused splitter that mounts to the body and not plastics/bumpers, blocks off the air passage for a proper dam, and has at least 3" in depth?

I keep thinking about fabbing one up out of alumalite, but I'm also unsure if the stock design is pretty good (certainly is for cooling) and just needs more forward mass from canards...?
 

swcrow

Autocross Champion
Location
Virginia
Car(s)
7.5 GTI
Has anyone yet fabbed a functional front splitter? Generally speaking I know they're all "functional" to an extent, but I mean a track focused splitter that mounts to the body and not plastics/bumpers, blocks off the air passage for a proper dam, and has at least 3" in depth?

I keep thinking about fabbing one up out of alumalite, but I'm also unsure if the stock design is pretty good (certainly is for cooling) and just needs more forward mass from canards...?

GTI_Jake was looking at doing something similar... Mounting to the body. Easier said than done though
 
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