Damaged clamshells!

[jonnysupersprint]

I took part in an autotest on grass last Monday and noticed that my front wheels sounded to be rubbing on the clamshells more than usual. Only when I got the car home did I notice that I had damaged the leading edge of both clamshells down to the fibreglass strands!

 

I should be most grateful for the folowing advice:-

 

1. Is this contact between wheel and clamshell normal on full lock?

2. Is there something more sinister afoot e.g. new front shocks or springs needed?

3. Being honest I do prefer cycle wings and if I were ever to fit them, noe might be the best time. How expensive and tricky is the conversion?

4. Do cycle wings remedy this problem?

 

Thanks in anticipation for your knowledgeable replies!

 

Supersprint 1700 Xflow

[Dave H]

Don't change to cycle wings, you'll spoil the car.

The tyres shouldn't touch the wings, sounds like you need to uprate the springs on the front a little, or increase the gap between the wing and the tyre. You and slacken the support off at the front, and adjust it slightly, to give and extra half inch or so. Also inserting a spacer at the top of the support bar on the bolt that hols the wing on (you may need to change the bolt to a longer one).

What size wheels/tyres are you running? dropping down a size could make enough difference. I had a similar problem when I switched from 185/60's to 185/70's, along with changing froma Xflow to Zetec. New shocks and springs on their way to rectify the problem.

 

Dave H

[Robin C]

Johnathon,

 

I used to have a similar problem when I has 16" wheels - What size do you have? I tried adjusting the ride height as I have adjustable spring seats but this compromised the handling. I have just changed my wheels to 13" with 185/60 tyres for all the reasons often discussed in Blatchat. Since doing this I have not had the same problem - infact I have just lowered my wings to improve appearance.

 

Fitting cyle wings would remove the problem as the wings move with the wheels but what do you do with all the holes in the side panels?

[Graham Sewell]

There have been several remedies to this problem in the past. Often the root cause is that the front ride height has dropped and hence new springs or height adjustable dampers may help. Otherwise, the wing may be sagging, in which case grab the wing stay and lift gently until you get the clearance required. Mine used to foul when the car was on full lock and my springs were sagging, so I went the expensive route. THis also allows you to raise the car a crucial 1/2" extra to get over speed humps without catching the exhaust.

 

Cheers,

 

Graham

 

Low tech luddite - xflow and proud!

[ashaughnessy]

As suggested, lift the wing up at the front. Mine did this. There was some slackness in the front stay. I lifted the wing at the front and wedged a small washer between the wing stay and the side rail, to keep the wing higher. This raised the wing by quite a bit and the problem went away. I thought the washer would fall out but I noticed it recently, over ten years after wedging it in.

 

The cycle conversion is possible, as stated, but leaves holes down both sides of the car. The basic conversion is reasonably expensive, I seem to recall, because the new wing stays, headlamp brackets, and whatever it is you need, are quite a lot considering their simplicity. I think it was a few hundred quid, but you'd need to check.

You can get the sides reskinned to get rid of the holes but this costs a couple of thousand.

 

Clamshells look better anyway.

Anthony

[I.Mupferit]

A very common problem this, I have seen many others with the same thing.

Mine did it from new, when wearing Michelins on 13" wheels so I simply bent the tubular wing stays slightly upwards to resolve. Then when I later changed to Yoko AO 32R tyres, I could straighten them again as the Yokos are lower profile and so don't foul the wings.

The first time I heard the graunching, was on the test drive after completing the build and it sounded VERY alarming until I discovered the cause.

Don't get rid of the clamshells whatever you do!

 

Brent