Thanks for the pics and comments, Justin, and MiataV8, I'll check out that 'Vette. [EDIT: I Google Imaged <80s corvette> and I see what you mean re the horizontal line.]
Driven5 wrote:
Add in the cooling air flow requirements of more powerful cars, and decently sized vents could be a bit of a necessity.
Not an issue here, I assure you. The cooling air--what little sneaks through that paperback-book-sized hole in the nose--sneaks out past the tires.
Driven5 wrote:
I'm not sure I follow how this will help weatherproof the car...
The problem is when the wheel well is split horizontally, it is an incredible pain in the pita to seal the top half to the bottom. On a wet road, the front tires hurl spectacular quantities of water and dreck at the seal with spectacular force, and it gets into the pontoons. The solution is a single piece wheel well liner that extends down below, or else overlaps, the pontoon...a liner which either has to be attached to the body, or the nose. MiataV8 pointed out the problems with putting it on the nose, but I'm already so shy of tire and wheel space that I can't add it to the body, so I'm probably going to have to live with the head-bump risk. I'll try to come up with a drawing and do another post that explains the problem better.
Driven5 wrote:
...but I do think that the wheel well opening needs to continue all the way around to look right. But this doesn't need to be much more than a relatively narrow strip of bodywork that mimics the wheel well opening, kind of like on the left side of the Ferrari 500TRC or Bentley Speed 8.
I agree that the opening has to continue around to look right, and it looks wrong with the stupid square notch it has now. And I see what you mean re it doesn't take much to mimic the wheel well opening. Love the Ferrari 500TRC, particularly the left side (and there aren't many cars where one side is more pleasing to the eye than the other). The Bentley treatment won't work for me because I pull my nose forward an inch and then lift-and-pivot it up-and-forward, but it's a slick look for a modern sports racer.