i don't check out clubgp ever so no, I wasn't up to date on his hood. Thanks for the link, i'll have to check it out.

If you are really going to do wood, I would try looking up what old wood roller-coasters did to the wood. That stuff withstands the pressures of the coaster and the heat, the cold, the rain and snow. They must pre-treat the wood with something.

I must agree with Herc tho, you may spend all this money on using wood just to have it blow out after your first pass or less, then you've wasted all the money on the wood, the time on cutting it, drilling, assembling everything and the night of racing. Then you'd have to spend the money on using some other material.

What if the wood did blow out? What damage would those splinters cause?

I would love to see a cheap, mid 12 second car but I don't think that using wood for the spacer should be where you save the money, it may turn out to be more expensive in the long run.

Wooden coasters are a completely different beast. Your not trying to get an airtight seal between wood and metal.

If dense wood was a viable option don't you think it would have been used long before any phenolic materials were used?

I agree that phenolic is a much better material, but wood carb spacers are still used today.

Im going to try it, if it doesnt work, then i will try something else. If it does, then its gonna be pretty cool

but do wood carb spacers have to withstand 15 psi and the heat that comes along with it?

dont do it trust me just machine a piece and it wont look silly
...no offence my 2 cents

he's looking for cheap, machining a piece of aluminum definitely won't be cheap. the aluminum itself will be pricey.

you can paint the wood black or w/e u want, you won't notice it. And I don't think he'll care what it looks like.

i'd love to see the wood work, i'm just afraid it might be more of a headache after all is said and done.