Half Doors and Wind Deflectors

[geordie40]

Hi all

I've read through some old posts on here regarding the above and I'm after some plans/photos of people's setups.

Also what's people's thoughts on using strong Neodymium magnets to hold the bottom of the half doors (thinking of just a vinyl piece of fabric with bar across top ) to the stainless panel as don't fancy putting press studs on the gold bodywork, the top of the door will be secured with the studs already there for the full doors.

[alanrichey]

Fitting wind deflectors was the best thing I ever did.   Ever since then I have not used the doors except when I am leaving the car out overnight when rain is forecast.   When I had both doors and top fitted I found it very claustrophobic, noisy and with very limited visibility.   Without the doors the environment is transformed and no different to driving without the top.  Obviously if the rain is horizontal you will get wet, but so far that has not happened to me.

It took 2 attempts, as you can see from the picture the first ones did not go down far enough and the wind still came into the cockpit.   So I made some longer ones.  I haven't bothered to shape them to fit the car profile, but probably should have done.

I just mounted them on the same hinges as the doors, using scrap pieces of stainless steel.  In that way I can still put the doors on when required.

Edited March 3, 2020 by alanrichey

[geordie40]

Thanks Alan, meant to get some photos of yours at stoneligh, I took photos of the ones Andy made but forgot yours.

Just thinking of things to do and getting a shopping list sorted whilst laid up with broken wrists

[nelmo]

I have the opposite experience of wind deflectors - did very little for me. Possibly they weren't big enough (pic here: https://zerolifebuild.blogspot.com/2017/09/weve-got-bleeder.html ) but they hardly made any difference. Half hood and doors are awesome, IMO.

My doors stretch all the way back to the rollbar and I have a couple of neodymium magnets to hold them against the rollbar and it works pretty well BUT then the natural airflow pushes them against the rollbar anyway, so they really just help with cross-winds. I think you'd need quite a few of them if you want to use them on a half-door and be aware they may mark the panel over time because they will move more than if you just used poppers.

[colinmoore]

I made some shaped elephant ears for my 2B. Can provide a template if anyone interested

[geordie40]

2 hours ago, colinmoore said:

I made some shaped elephant ears for my 2B. Can provide a template if anyone interested

If you could supply template that would be great and give me a starting point

[colinmoore]

Wind deflectors, as fitted to my 2B. Made from 4mm plexiglass, which can be bent by heating gently with a soft pencil flamed blow torch, along the bend lines, both sides. Keep the torch moving, (if you heat too much in one place it will bubble and burn) and apply gentle force, when soft enough it will bend. If you havn't done this before, try it out on a scrap piece. As Alan has done before, I have used the same type of lift off hinges to fit these in place, I can therefore change from full doors to wind deflectors in seconds. Try to fit these as close to the bodywork as possible, to stop the airflow short cutting to the low pressure behind the windscreen, as this is what causes the turbulance, and bufferting. Don't forget that these are handed, so you will need to bend them in opposite directions to get a pair. I should add thet the tab at the top, is bent forewards to stop the deflectors moving , and should be adjusted to give a snug fit. The bend at the bottom should follow the join above the the side panel.

Edited March 4, 2020 by colinmoore

[geordie40]

Thx colin

[geordie40]

Half doors done 

[richyb66]

Nice job there. 

[nelmo]

Look great...