Aeroscreen fitting

[r300chris]

Hi all recently purchased secondhand fibreglass aeroscreen, attempting to fit to car, but alignment is poor, there is 6 to 8 mm gap between scuttle and aero, car is metric chassis. part number of aero is as per caterham web site.

has anyone else had similar issues and any remedies to get a better fit.  Current scuttle attachment poppers don’t align either.

Regards Chris

[Phil G]

Hi Chris,

In my experience they fit where they touch....!

Does it fit the scuttle contour before you tighten the bolts or is it a bad fit from the off?

I had to enlarge the holes and put it under pressure then tighten the bolts to come anywhere near an acceptable gap. Even that was poor so I lines the leading edge with a 'U' shaped rubber strip (like the IVA wing rubber). I never did like the CC popper arrangement, and unless you are after 'quick-release' ability, I would recommend screwing directly to the scuttle utilising the redundant popper self-tapper holes.

Cheer Phil

[r300chris]

Phil, yes real bad fit, even trying what you said re pulling down leaves a big gap.

i do want it quick change as would like to have both screens when I take it to distant trackdays.

good idea re rubber, will try that.  I take it you screwed through the aero directly to the scuttle

Thanks for help chris

 

[Phil G]

Hi Chris,

Yes, I removed the redundant male poppers and utilised the holes which, on mine, went straight through to the scuttle tube. I then put the male poppers on top and screwed down - effectively sandwiching the mirror mounting pad - to enable me to continue using a tonneau (does that make sense?).

What I didn't mention was that the aero I screwed directly to the scuttle was an RiF version which had a flush mirror mounting pad, whereas the CC version is slightly stepped to accommodate the poppers IIRC. Down side of using self tappers is they will eventually wear the holes. I believe some have sucsessfully used rivnuts to avoid this happening.

The rubber piped edging used on the rear wings works equally as well and can be easily glued to the underside of the aero.

Not the best photo but you can see the male popper studs which retain the mirror pad.

P.S.

Memories keep percolating to the surface...!

I used the same aero on two cars and the first fitted like a glove. The second, however, had a gap of approx. 3mm on the passenger side. I subsequently discovered that it was the scuttle being distorted by the wiper spigot nut pulling it out of shape - release this and it would spring back into a perfect contour.....never did fix it.

Upon reflection, the piped edging is the better option as it has plenty of rubber to facilitate gluing and the piping masks larger gaps.

[r300chris]

Hi phil, thanks for the additional info and photo, do You mean wiper spigot nuts ?

as you say cc aero has two female poppers underneath which raises it up, currently the scuttle poppers and aero ones are in different places when positioned correctly, i removed the screws and they seem to miss the scuttle tube so are too far forward, I don’t really want to put additional holes into the car, I also didn’t  want to drill additional holes into the aero, but that may be the best option.

 I have made a spacer bracket between the two but this make the gap issue worse. 

I’ll have another look.

chris

 

[John Vine]

My R400D composite aero (from CC, with the kit) has always fitted poorly.  I used self-adhesive draught excluder strip (like this) to fill the gap.  Works well enough for trackdays and on the road.

JV

[r300chris]

Hi John, thanks for info, looks ideal

chris

[Paul McKenzie]

Build up the gap with bonnet foam, then use the wing rubber to finish it neatly- I have the RiF one fitted this way

[Phil G]

Chris - yes wiper spigot

Caterham Sevens....no two alike as they say!

[r300chris]

Thanks for responses, gives me some good ideas to fix issue, final question have you put foam rubber just along edge area on the inside or filled whole area that should in theory touch the scuttle ? 

Chris

[John Vine]

I stuck a single strip of draught excluder all the way across, just inside the leading edge.

JV

[Paul McKenzie]

Foam filled the whole area

[nic.day]

I just put mine on (bad gap to) and drove it!!! within a few seconds I could not care a less!!!!!! LOL

[r300chris]

Had another look at it yesterday, loosened off wiper spigots no difference, still awful fit, I will have to remove scuttle poppers and screw through aero to scuttle, then use foam / edge strip as suggested

chris