F1 wings for a two-seat go-kart

I'm rebuilding a two-seat Thunder Kart for River. He loves Formula 1 and he loves Red Bull, so a plain go-kart was never going to be enough. It needs wings.

The rules I set

• Cheap. I already had quarter-inch plywood and half-inch PVC pipe.
• No welding and no drilling into the frame. Everything clamps on with U-bolt conduit clamps and comes off again.
• Room for my knees. It's a two-seater and I ride along, so the front wing has to stay open on the sides.

Front wing

A flat center section 18 inches wide sits over the front axle. Two outer sections, 8 inches each, angle down about 15 degrees, with tapered end plates standing up at the tips. The open sides that clear my knees end up making it look more like a real F1 nose, not less.

Rear wing

This is the showpiece. It has two elements, like the real thing: a main plane 22 inches wide and a smaller flap about an inch and a half above it. They sit on two PVC uprights that lean forward like swan necks, between tall end plates that taper from back to front.

Sidepods

Flat plywood panels along each side with a scoop shape at the front. They do nothing for airflow. They do a great deal for looking fast while parked.

The finish

Everything gets sanded, then finished in matte black paint and carbon fiber heat shrink wrap. A heat gun pulls the wrap tight, and from a few feet away it reads as carbon fiber.

The bill

About $50 in new parts: clamps, a little more pipe, fittings, brackets, sandpaper and two cans of paint. The plywood, the pipe and the wrap were already in the garage.

Does any of this make it faster

No. At go-kart speeds a plywood wing is a decoration. But a kid who sees his kart with a rear wing on it doesn't need a wind tunnel to know it's faster. I'll post pictures as the build comes together.