Ken Sailor Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 Larger, more effective wind deflectors then those that Caterham sell can be made. I have photographs that go along with this and, as long as I’ve done this right, this should bring you to them: (see Al Shack's post below for a link to the photos) I’ve read all the posts about wind deflectors, pro/con, effectiveness or lack thereof, speed increase before the onset of discomfort, bending the bottoms of Caterhams deflectors so they stick out more, using aeroscreens instead of, etc., etc., etc. I didn’t want an aeroscreen. It rains here. It gets cold. It even snows. I don’t think they’re legal here in N.Y. anyway and I live about two miles away from a State Trooper headquarters so why tempt it. Better wind deflectors are easy to make. I made a pair a couple of days ago. The photos show what they look like. I had a set of Caterham’s wind deflectors so I had a starting point and could reuse the hinges from them. I taped bits of very stiff cardboard to them and drove my 7 until I found a shape and size that I was happy with. I then cut a final shape out of thin, easily bendable, cardboard that became the template for cutting the Plexiglas. One of the photos shows a one inch grid marked on the template which could be a starting point for anyone who wants to duplicate this. I have an older, lower windscreen, car so if you have a later model you’ll have to adjust accordingly. The final design sticks out about 1 ½” more than Caterhams, bends up toward the top of the windscreen and back along the side of the car. Cutting and polishing the Plexiglas: I wimped out and had it done by a pro. At first I followed his advice and, working with a piece of scrap, tried to do it myself. I cut the Plexiglass using the special scoring blade that’s available and snapping it and that worked okay for the straight cuts. I tried cutting the curves using a small (Black & Decker type) hand held jig saw and a fine toothed blade. The Plexi gets hot and even cooling it with water left me with an edge that would have required a lot of sanding and polishing to get it to look good. Hence the wimp out. I had it cut and the edges polished at a shop that normally cuts replacement window glass, shower doors, etc. When I showed them the 7 and explained what I was doing they became very enthusiastic and did a super job (spend your life cutting rectangular pieces of glass and anything else becomes interesting). Cost for two pieces of 3/16” Plexiglas (the same thickness as Caterhams), cut and polished was $60 including tax. Drilling the holes for the hinges: This is easier to do if it’s done before the deflectors are bent into shape. I had the original Caterham deflectors to use as a template to locate where the holes should go. Lacking them, I don’t think it would be all that difficult to locate the hinge holes. I don’t know where the hinges come from but I’d bet that somebody on Blatchat does. Drilling can be tricky since the Plexi can chip and I’d advise experimenting on some scrap first. A wood bit works best. It can be done with regular drill bits starting with a small size and redrilling with the next size up again and again. You have a 10% chance of getting away with it. Most likely you’ll get some small chipping or shattering. The pro showed me some drill bits that (along with the wood bits) he uses. These were normal drill bits that he had reground so that they were more pointy than normal. The wood drill bit worked for me. It seems to both cut and melt its way through the Plexiglas but leaves a clean hole. As I noted, try it on some scrap first. Drill the hinge holes slightly larger than the bolts. The drill bit ‘walks’ when you drill and the larger hole will provide for some adjustment. Put the hinges on next. When you attach the hinges, leave them slightly loose, put the deflector in place and then tighten the nuts. Easier to align everything this way. Also, mount the hinges so that the Plexi is on the car side of the hinge. This allows the deflector to rotate open 180 degrees without binding on the bolts that hold the hinges on the window stanchion. Bending the Plexiglas: Lots of methods in various Blatchat posts. Everything from dipping the Plexi in hot water, putting it in the oven, holding it over a toaster or in front of what you blokes call an electric fire. I used a heat gun; the kind used for stripping paint. Hold it about an inch away from the Plexi and move it back and forth along the bend line. For a long time it seems as though nothing is happening and then it starts to soften up and bends easily. Bend – heat – bend. Wear gloves – it gets hot. I clamped pieces of wood along the longest bend line so the edge wouldn’t get ‘wavy’ when I bent it. The other two bends were done without the wood. Heat – bend – put it on the car – take it off the car – heat – bend. Maybe cutting rectangular pieces of glass for a living isn’t that uninteresting after all. To keep the wind deflectors from rubbing my absolutely perfect, gleaming, highly polished, unscratched, unmarked 25 year old aluminum I stuck small, clear plastic, half round dots on the side skin where the deflector touched it. They come sticky backed (a UK product called Easy-fix Sticky feet) – bumper things similar to what keeps kitchen cabinet doors from slamming against the cabinet. The mirrors are those Spa ones that Demon sells. Very light weight; no danger of the Plexi cracking. Some vibration but okay. Too small to really see anything in anyway. And Bob’s your uncle. Ken Sailor Edited by - Ken Sailor on 7 Jul 2004 16:16:05 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alba 7 Posted July 5, 2004 Share Posted July 5, 2004 Ken, Sorry your link does nae work. It takes you to a screen asking for a user id and password ☹️ If you would like to share your details with us all, I'm sure we would be delighted to upload all sorts of junk to your web space!!!! 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Sailor Posted July 5, 2004 Author Share Posted July 5, 2004 The pictures are on AOL's 'You've got Pictures' page. If someone knows how to post a link I can e-mail the link to them so they could post it. Someone did this for me once before so it should work. Ken Sailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Sailor Posted July 5, 2004 Author Share Posted July 5, 2004 See Al Shack's post for a link to the photos Edited by - Ken Sailor on 7 Jul 2004 16:17:33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rowly Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Still not working you tease Owner of *thumbup*The Wombat L7OC member 27,000 so far Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiff Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 From your descriptionn this sounds similar to some I made up a couple of years ago - though yors sound a lot more professional - they certainly worked - but the real breakthrough in reducing turbulence at speed came when I put half doors on as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Sailor Posted July 6, 2004 Author Share Posted July 6, 2004 I'm sorry the links not working. Can I e-mail the link to someone who knows how to make one of those "here" things? Ken Sailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlShack Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Ken - YHM Al Onwards and sideways ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlShack Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 Hurrah - they're here Well, hopefully anyway ... Onwards and sideways ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Simon Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 I still can't see the photos. -Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Sailor Posted July 7, 2004 Author Share Posted July 7, 2004 Don't understand what's going on Bob. I clicked on the "here" link that Al Shack set up to test it and went right to the page. Antone else having trouble? Ken Sailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snowman Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 Nope, works fine for me Brrrrrrrrr..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Simon Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 I discovered that AOL's "you've got pictures" only works with Windoze Explorer 6.0 or better... I'll have to try from another machine. -Bob -Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Sailor Posted July 7, 2004 Author Share Posted July 7, 2004 Bob: Some day I'll learn to make my own web page so I can avoid AOL pictures stuff entirely. I called AOL's tech help and all they said was thet "everybody has windows explorer" and that you needed to update your browser. Doesn't help much, does it? Ken Ken Sailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Scholtz Posted July 7, 2004 Share Posted July 7, 2004 I have to admit looking at them they are a little bigger than I imagined they would be. How well do they work? I was thinking of making the same type of thing only the size of the doors but from plexiglass to prevent the blind spot you get with the normal doors, and later possibly adding a clipon roof to make the car drivable in less than pleasant conditions. Birkin S3 Ford Kent 1600 Weber 40's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Sailor Posted July 7, 2004 Author Share Posted July 7, 2004 Michael They raise the 'discomfort level speed' up about 7 or 10 mph over the standard ones. Personal opinion - I think they look slightly ungainly even though they are semi-invisable. I felt that comfort was more important than looks. I also thought of making them more like the regular side screens but my car is an older model (1979) and has a wider central tunnel than the newer cars. That shifts my body slightly more toward the outside of the car and my elbow beyond the side panel by about 6" when I'm driving so I would have needed all kinds of funny bends in the Plexi to make it all work if they extended all the way back like the side screens do. Besides, wind in the hair is part of the fun of the Seven. I just want it to happen at 65/70mph instead of 40mph with no deflectors at all. Ken Sailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Simon Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Finally got to see the pictures! They are quite large in comparison with the CC bits. Of course, the CC deflectors do nothing more that provide a good place to mount mirrors... Has anyone tried a "bikini top" to limit cockpit airflow? I used one on a Jeep CJ with great success. It significantly limilted cockpit buffeting at motorway speeds. The bikini top is a single panel of cloth (hood material) that attaches to the top of the windscreen and pulls taut over the rollbar with straps. The area behind the rollbar is left open. The sides are left open as well. Since there are some design similarities between the Jeep and a Seven, (flat windscreen, no doors, railway boxcar-like aerodynamics) maybe this would work. The airflow rolling over and behind the windscreen seems to be the thing that pulls the air from the sides of the car into the cockpit. The sides of the bikini could have some relief cut into them for easier cockpit entry and a bit of style. -Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Sailor Posted July 8, 2004 Author Share Posted July 8, 2004 Bob: What you're discribing sounds like something that is already available for the Seven. People call them 'wimps'. If you do a search you'll probable find some links to photos of them and where they come from. I seem to remember that people said they work pretty well. Maybe what we really need is a plastic bubble like the Pope-mobile. Ken Sailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Simon Posted July 8, 2004 Share Posted July 8, 2004 Found a picture of whimps here Whimps are quite the opposite of what I'm attemping to describe. Whimps look like you gave a standard hood a buzz cut removing all the material from the center and back, leaving just the shoulder areas behind the side curtains. It looks as though they would only work when you use them in conjunction with the side curtains. The "bikini" I'm proposing is leaving only the top panel in the hood and use no side curtains and no rear window panel. Maybe a combination of half doors and deflectors could augment the bikini concept... -Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken Sailor Posted July 9, 2004 Author Share Posted July 9, 2004 I understand what you're thinking of now; I've seen these on Jeeps here in the States. Why not test it out? One or two layers of cardboard from a large carton, some pieces of wood to stiffen the edges and lots of silver tape to hold it onto the car. Ken Sailor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bob Simon Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 For those following this thread, this is what I have in mind here. I'm going to try out the idea with some scrap Dacron sail cloth I have in the garage. I have some of those pound-in snap dots to attach the leading edge to the windscreen frame. The back two corners could be gathered and tensioned with parachute cord to the hood stick mounts. If this all works; I saw this variation here that uses a mesh type material that lets sunlight through but not the weather. ...mesh bikini top...I REALLY like the sound of that I know a couple of people that work at Bestop. There's a good chance I might be able to bag some of the mesh material. -Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noddy Posted July 9, 2004 Share Posted July 9, 2004 I am pretty sure that someone posted pictures of their Se7en with a cut down hood that was fixed to the screen and the roll bar. cant remember what they called it, they are called Bimini tops on boats I think 🤔 R400 .......... I love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leif Eriksen Posted March 22, 2005 Share Posted March 22, 2005 Hi Ken! I'm planning making my own plexiglass wind deflectors, where's that famous link to your photos? Regards, Leif Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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