Winter Project - Better Weather Protection?

[fry61]

See your point about looks if side windys fitted; being old & a tad less supple I was thinking most about the very acute junctions where you need to look right back over your shoulder.

[richyb66]

I had a sit in the car last night to have a better look at the all round vision and it's actually not that bad. To the right the side vision and slightly over the shoulder is OK, hardly any worse than my daily driver. Over the left shoulder the solid part of the quarter panel does cause some obstruction but it's mostly in the area of the passenger seat and the roll bar so I think it should be OK.

 

I had a look at the interior mirror and I think I can get it where I need it if I mount the stalk part of the mirror horizontally rather that vertically. If that doesn't work I'll shout one up from CBS like Bob suggested.

 

Biggest issue currently is getting in and out. With the seat slid back and no door on, I can get in and out OK but once the door is fitted and I've got the hot exhaust to avoid, I think I'll need to get another removeable steering wheel and work on my technique. I can live with a few issues getting in and out though, just as long as stay dry when I'm in the car.

[fry61]

"Biggest issue is getting in & out" Engine crane in tow? Its what my daughters have in mind for us.

[Guest peter2b2002]

i've fitted a quick release stearing wheel to my 2B mutch easer to get in and out

peter2b

[richyb66]

i've fitted a quick release stearing wheel to my 2B mutch easer to get in and out

peter2b

 

I had a quick release boss fitted before but the quality wasn't that good and I wasn't convinced it was robust enough so I removed it but I'm going to look at getting another one which is hopefully more up to the job.

[richyb66]

The air scoop for the roof is designed to fit a slightly curved panel whereas my roof is flat to the bottom surface was sanded flat on a big sheet of abrasive paper. Next, 2 lengths of M5 threaded bar were bonded to the back of the scop with body filler.

 

 

2 holes were drilled through the roof so the scoop could be positioned. The rectangular hole in the roof skin can be seen inside the scoop.

 

 

On the inside, the scoop is pulled down onto the roof with some M5 nuts.

 

 

To keep bugs out of the car, some fine mesh was glued to the scoop opening. The inside and outside was then sprayed with satin black paint. The small groove in the back edge of the scoop will allow some air to bleed out and hopefully drive out any water that finds it’s way inside.

 

 

Inside the roof, the trim panel is marked out and drilled for a double map reading light (Peugeot 306) and 2 closeable, directable air vents.

 

 

The aluminium surrounds for the rear window were screwed on with M4 countersunk cap screws and the painted satin black.

 

 

[richardm6994]

Richy, I honestly can't say just how impressed with this project!!!

 

Can't be long now before we see the finished article

[fry61]

Does the inlet to the scoop face forwards? What provision is there to stop rain driving in?

[richyb66]

Does the inlet to the scoop face forwards? What provision is there to stop rain driving in?

 

Yes the scoop faces forwards. I'm going to fit a punched louvred panel inside the scoop (louvres open at the back like on a 2B bonnet) and I'm hoping that this, together with the fine mesh on the scoop and the forward rake of the roof surface should be sufficient to keep the majority of the rain out. If it isn't, I'll add an extra filling of open cell foam.

[richyb66]

With the roof ready for covering it was ready to get stuck in with the vinyl and glue. I bought 5 metres of black vinyl material which is around 1.5 metres wide which should be enough to cover the roof and the doors when I finally get round to making them. I was careful to get material that had a degree of stretch to it as I knew that I’d have to form it around the curved rear corners of the roof.

 

The size of the roof means that it will need to be covered in 3 pieces – 2 sides and then a wide band along the centre of the roof. The joins between the pieces will align with the corners of the rear window and then run parallel forwards along the roof. I hope to use some self adhesive rubber strip around 15mm wide to cover the joins.

 

The first side is being covered here. It became immediately apparent that this wasn’t going to be an easy job, the spray adhesive that I was using didn’t give much scope for re-positioning and the vinyl needed considerable stretching to get rid of the creases. Also, I’m blessed with just 2 hands when in fact this particular job needs at least 3.

 

 

I persevered anyway and although the results were quite good, I wasn’t entirely happy so I just considered this a test piece for some practice and peeled the vinyl back off and removed the adhesive residue with thinners.

 

For my second attempt, I employed an assistant, that way I could apply the glue over smaller areas at a time whilst holding the vinyl well clear of the roof. Then I physically stretched the vinyl where needed while my assistant rubbed it down onto the roof to remove any bubbles and creases.

 

Here’s the front corner of the roof.

 

 

and the rear quarter (a bit out of focus but it’s basically black vinyl with just a couple of marks in it).

 

 

The small marks look like this but I can reduce them somewhat by gently warming the vinyl with a hot air gun and working the creases out.

 

 

The glue over spray on the bare ally will be removed with thinners. Hopefully I’ll get the other side cover later this week and possibly the main panel in the centre of the roof.

 

[Guest Nic Burton]

What a fantasic post.... looking forward to seeing finished article!

[richyb66]

Righty ho, I’ve been trying to crack on and get everything finished before the end of April (when my tax is due again – not actually turned a wheel in over 5 months!).

 

On with covering the second side of the roof. I’d sort of got the technique and started with a roughly cut piece of vinyl that was stuck down starting at the front of the roof. The metal weights just hold the loose vinyl in place and stop it slipping off.

 

 

At the back of the roof the vinyl need stretching in the centre area to remove some of the slack that’s evident in this picture. Clothes pegs are handy to hold the vinyl in place while I see how it looks. The remaining part of fitting is the same as the previous side but with less cursing and less scrap vinyl.

 

 

With the two tricky sides covered, I fancied something a bit easier so I made a start on the inside. Firstly I covered the sides of the centre roof duct with vinyl - grey this time, so as to make the inside a bit lighter. On the far side of the photo you can just see where I have also covered the inside of the cantrail section above the door opening.

 

 

The remaining areas of the roof were then covered with charcoal grey carpet. This looks neat and should reduce the noise (marginally). It’s pretty quick and easy to fit with spray adhesive and the only tricky bits were in the curved corners of the roof where I did get a few creases as the carpet doesn’t stretch that well. Here’s most of it covered – you can see the witness of the stiffeners and the joining pieces under the carpet but once it’s overhead, I don’t think it’ll be that noticeable.

 

 

Here’s the inside finished – the centre roof console piece is also covered in grey vinyl and the map light and air vents are fitted.

 

 

Closer up.

 

[richyb66]

The centre piece of vinyl for the roof was fitted next. I firstly cut 5mm off each side piece so that the main joins were 5mm outboard of the rear window opening – this would make the joins easier to cover over. The centre piece then butts up to the side pieces but there are a few gaps here and there which can be seen where the bright aluminium is showing through. I’m not too bothered about these, as they will be covered over later. There are also some small gaps inside the rear window opening where the joins are in the vinyl – again these aren’t a concern.

 

 

Here’s a close up of the rear window corner.

 

 

and the opposite side where black PU sealer has been used to seal the joins in the vinyl. There’s a good change water will get in here and collect so I wanted the joints properly sealed. The main roof finisher is also fitted here – a length of 17mm x 3mm black self-adhesive rubber that goes all the way from the front of the roof to the back.

 

 

Here’s the rear window seal fitted and some chromed plastic edge trim has been used along the bottom edge of the roof to finish it off. The wiring is for the map light and the interior light in the boot area.

 

 

The roof vent hole had this louvred panel rivetted over it – the front of the roof is at the bottom of the picture. Hopefully this will keep the majority of the rain out.

 

 

Then the roof scoop goes over the top.

 

 

Decent progress over the last few weeks and a big push now to finish the roof and make the doors.

[Guest MarkB]

im still amazed by the attention to detail.... roll on the next episode!

[Guest david_l_perry]

That really looks a top job....