Maverick aerodynamics ?

How does the Maverick compare to the early Mustangs -Camaro's etc as far as aerodynamics? The two door Mav has a nice looking roof line, but theres more to it than that. Any info or links appreciated. Thanks.
My Way

 

thats a huge topic. overall its horrible. most cars of the era are horrible.
the front air dam on my car was made for the Silver State Classic Challenge. the first time the car ran it, at 115 mph it felt very light in the front end. also the back of the hood would lift at above 50 mph and at over a 100 it would vibrate then at over 115 the vibration was so bad, it wasnt comfortable to go any faster. when the air dam was put on for the second time it ran, we could see the hood suck down at 50 mph, the car felt very stable and planted all the way up to 140mph. the next problem was the rear end felt light in the turns. a rear wing and diffuser are planned to fix that.

the front of the car is leaning forward. this pushes air under the car. the air dam stops that and creates a low pressure under the car and a high pressure over the car creating downforce. the windshield seal along the top is a major turbulence area that disrupts air flow over the roof. if it was made to be flush this would significantly reduce drag and increase down force. same with the back window. if it was flush mounted the down force on the rear will increase. the bubble shape of the roof doesnt help. air flow will spill off the sides instead of flow to the rear of the car to create more down force.

the bottom of the car is another area of huge drag. ideally a belly pan that is completely flat and smooth going from the front of the car to the rear axle is best. then a diffuser going out the rear will give the best results but is not very feasible.

the sides of the car being rounded are not good. this helps air move under the car. side skirts with lips pointing out will help here. it will take the air flowing down the curve and prevent it from going under the car and the lip will create additional down force with no drag increase.

 

The "ballistic coefficient probably is a lot lower (numerically) than the Camaros and Stangs too as those cars are a good bit "longer" . Mine too feels "squirrelly" at high speeds too (above 100 mph) Seriously needs an air dam in front.

 

Thanks for the info-sorry for delayed response on my part.
Looking for straight line stability at possibly 140 MPH. Would some rake-lowering the front make it work. Adding things like a splitter or side rails puts the car in a different class.
Probably only going to get up around 130 with current engine, but really don't want to waste time and money.
The car is 71 Maverick 2 door with a well modified 250 CI six that we will take to the local drag strip to sort things out, but the goal is to get to Wilmington Ohio for the ECTA runs. Realize that getting into record speed territory (140+) is probably not going to happen, more like 130 if we can keep the car on the course??
Dave

 

Just some ideas from what I have read here and there... Close off as much of the front grill area as possible. Lower the car and add as much caster as you can get into it. Rake will help some. Raise the rear of the hood an inch to let air out of the engine bay. add vents to the hood if your class allows it. The engine bay on most older cars acts like a parachute being pushed into the winds. Start by limiting the amnt of air that gets in and then poking holes in it to got the air that gets in a way out.

 

The ECTA rules for production category--5E states--aerodynamically the cars are to be "stone stock" with stock body parts in the original relationship to each other. The radiator has to be as large or larger than stock with no air block. This is a standing start one mile course. Am new to the interpretation of the rules so??
A splitter air dam type device in front would solve a bunch, but that gets you into an altered class.
Dave

 

Unless you lower the car, the aerodynamics are terrible. The front will lift at high speeds (ask me how I know).
The air hitting the base of the windshield will make the wipers rise upward & start "flapping".

It does have a good roof-line, but the Mustangs (fastback) have a lower roof-line. I'd say the front grill area, the ride height, and lack of an air-dam are the biggest drawbacks.

 

Sounds like you could just lower the whole car and still be in compliance. Could also install a larger radiator but also use a fan shroud to cover it's backside (I mean, who'd complain about a fan shroud limiting the air into the engine bay ?????) Then again, just going a mile in a straight line, just tightening up the suspension should about cover any potential handling problems. Mine's only squirrely running at WOT over 110 or so on the open road. Some (most actually) of that's due to the road itself.

 

the rule is pretty black and white on aerodynamics. stone stock. that means anything that changes the aerodynamics of the car is not allowed. no grill blocking, no lowering or changing the rake of the car. now with that being said, suspect you can get creative in disguised aero mods. first things you can do is get the skiniest tires and wheels you can find. this is a common thing in land speed racing.
next i would look at blocking off the grill where its not overlapping the radiator. i would cover the back side of the grill with some sort of plastic or fiberglass that is worked and painted to appear like its stock. i would also see if you can block off the opening under the bumper as much as possible. i would move the turn signals forward and make them as flush as possible to the lower valance. this could be done with rubber striping like is found around modern cars light assemblies. you may be able to find bigger turn signals that will fill more of the space.
the under side of the car is a very dirty high drag area. if you can put inner front wheel wells in, that will lower drag. off the top of my head i would look at some from a fox mustang and see if they can be fit and trimmed to look stock for the car. fit the exhaust system into the tunnel as tight as possible. i doubt a full belly pan will pass any inspection but false floor pans that dont have any ridges going across the bottom of the car, just lengthwise. i would look into trying to seal the gap between the rear gas tank and rear valance.
the key to all of this is to make it look stock.
some mavericks didnt have passenger side mirrors. so if yours does ditch it. see if you can get away with taking off the windshield wipers, if not then put them on in a straight up position instead of down.
you may want to experiment with the hood seal at the back of hood along the top of the engine compartment. removing it may allow some pressure to escape.
when hood hinges start to wear out, the back of the hood starts to rise with speed. maybe you could modify some hood hinges to allow the back of the hood to rise.
look at the wing windows. i would try running them open. you may want to try making a plug to seal them while they are open. maybe some foam insulation.
another thing you could try is to collect as much of the air from front of the car and duct it into the carburetor. maybe even some brake coolers.
you could try filling the front facing section of the rain gutters and see if it is noticed.
any extra trim on the car will have extra drag.
mythbusters did an episode on aero drag on clean vs dirty cars. they had some awesome success putting a golfball like divot surface on a car. i suspect at least having the paint as smooth as possible will help. there are films that can be put on a car that are supposed to have surface that reduces drag.

i would also recommend an aluminum drive shaft. the reduced rotating mass will provide a significant gain at the speeds your looking at. any reduction in reciprocating mass will help. im pretty sure land speed racing rules require steel wheels so not much you can do there. you can get light weight brakes like wilwood or aerospace.

i know that the land speed guys here on the west coast will add ballast weight to get down force on the tires for traction. they race on dirt or salt. im not sure what surface you will be running on.

i know their are lots of crazy things here, but i guarantee you that the record holders have done every thing they can and not get caught to get those records.

 

GREAT-Appreciate all the info and enjoying it. Have been creatively interpreting rules for about 50 years of competing in dirt circle track. Early jalopy's were open to a lot of creativity. Raced the first convertible in our area in 1969. Next year they were outlawed. We won 11 A features that year on the two track association. Smokey Yunick was a hero to me.
Getting a bit mature for competing with the younger crowd plus the Dale Earnhardt bump and run attitude prevails over the respectful finesse and out maneuvering approach prevalent in earlier days. So now got the urge to go straight
Have 4 mavericks in the yard from a parts car to a 72 from the south west that should be restored instead of butchered . A 71 with bars frame connecters and fuel cell less motor and transmission that is the project car. Various engines transmissions and rear ends, and an engine on the stand getting a few mods.
Walking around the cars with the rules in mind and suggestions gotten here, am getting some ideas of what to do.
The rules from southern California Timing Association are about the same as the East Coast Timing Association, but run by separate different organizations. I have only been talking to ECTA because they are the closest by 1000 miles, and they measure from a standing start for a measured mile for ET and top end. This is considerably slower than the Bonneville flying mile with 2 miles to get up to speed-the measured mile-and 2 miles to shut down.
From what I can determine from conversations with an ECTA official, some lowering and or rake is allowed-not all springs are the same and car weights vary with different drive trains and safety equip. They didn't seem to want to tell me how that was measured? but stock panels in stock locations applies.
Cracking open the rear wing vents would help air around the last part of the gutter down sweep.
Don't see a seal as such at the rear of the hood on any of the cars I have, so adjustments to hood pins or hinge wear?
That little 4 1/2 in maverick rim a small 70 or 78 series tire can't be all bad for starters. Gotta have the right circumference for gearing.
And many other ideas too numerous and possibly not good to air.
Have two different under the bumper rounded nose panel. One with the bottom with 3 mounting holes and one with two more so like a spoiler or some thing to mount to-- did they have any kind of front spoiler?
Any way from what I can gather, non safety issues that aren't flagrant might be tolerated for a non record setting deal. They say they will find a class you can run in. Maverick streamliner??
Just got to get it together and safe and go--and learn.

My Way

 

Sounds like a cool idea.

I can say that I have been 135 mph in mine for just a minute and had the same experience as Bryant. I have no added aerodynamic aids, just a slight rake. Hood starts lifting at around 100 mph, front end feels unstable, steering response is non-existent around 130 mph, and the hood started shaking so badly at 135 mph, I lifted. The powertrain was good for a little bit more but my nerves weren't.

 

Sounds like you might be better off making the car do 140 in reverse.

 

Hmmm.. well, I'll be dabbed. That's one thing that I actually haven't seen done with a Maverick or Comet yet. Reverse rake the chassis and it might just work.

Maybe put the engine in the trunk and turn the seats around to see where you're going? Or just put the engine in the trunk and mount a backup camera.

PS. Bryant gives some very good advice here too. Caution with the rear hood opening though as any leaks or mechanical failures will scare the bejesus out of you with temporary blindness. Tough to stick your head out a window to see where you're going at that speed. Even tougher to get the harness off to be able to do it.

 

Definitely change the steering setup as well.