Thread: Electrathon - A Different Kind of "Hotrod"

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For the race last week, I hurriedly made a couple of simple brackets from 1/16" x 1" aluminum to hold the rear view mirrors (required by the rules). Unfortunately, the brackets were too short and using the mirrors required me to raise my head up and lean to the side to see them... Instead of just making longer brackets and sticking the mirrors further out into the airstream, I decided it would be nice to make something a little more aerodynamic.

I began by making a pattern from poster board. Once again, I made the pattern more than once before I was satisfied with the shape and fit... Next, I transferred the shape to a piece of aluminum. I traced the pattern once, then flipped it over for the second piece so they would be exactly opposite each other (one for each side).

To form the flanges on what would become the bottom of the mirror nacelles, I used a piece of hard wood with a straight edge and a rubber mallet.

I formed the shape of the aluminum pretty much by bare hands. The stuff bends pretty easily, so I just kept working it until I got the shape I wanted. When I was satisfied with the shape and had them as identical as I could get them with "calibrated eyeball", I made new mirror brackets form 1/16" x 1" flat aluminum. I replaced the old short brackets with the new longer ones (2" longer) and then installed the new nacelles in front of them.