Fitting carbon wing protectors

[JAM]

I am reaching the final stages of my Caterham build and have got to the fitting of the carbon fibre wing protectors. According to the assembly guide the protectors should be fitted tight against the piping trim between the wing and the body. As the protectors have straight vertical edges, when they are bent to follow the curve of the wing the middle part of the protector seems to be a few mm from the piping (i.e. paint work visible) whilst the top and bottom are tight against it. I have tried pushing the top and bottom in as far in as possible, but I still see a gap in the middle. Any advice on how it’s done? This job has ‘potential botch’ written all over it.

 

JAM

 

Ps. I’ve been a long-term blatchat lurker and have made extensive use of the archives both here and at se7ens.net. I would have made quite a few botches by now had I not been rummaging. Thanks.

 

[murph7355]

Probably no help to you, but if you have cf wings too I wouldn't bother fitting them. No real need.

 

V7 will hopefully pop up v.soon though. I think he had trauma with his protectors and received plenty of feedback/advice after the fact.

 

C7 AJM

[V7 SLR]

Thanks for the intro Andy....

 

I had a MAJOR headache with these, and to this day have not seen how they should be fitted.

 

Whilst I was fitting them, I lined them up against the piping, and drilled the first hole. I popped a rivet in, and moved on to drilling the next hole and popped the rivet in. Then I noticed the edge between the two rivets wasn't flat against he wing surface, and this got worse the more holes I drilled and popped.

 

In the end I ditched the protectors and went with Skateboard Grip Tape. It looks pretty good, was easy to fit, and covers a much greater area. Email me and I'll attach a piccy.

[Nick Green]

I found the way to fit these protectors was as follows:

 

Get the fitting against the body right, by holding the protector in place, working out where cf needs removing on the inside edge and just cutting it with a pair of scissors. I've heard cf is supposed to blunt scissors, but mine are still alright.

 

Then I cut the piping to fit, cutting in notches when it goes round corners. The I sprayed some spray glue on the back edges of the protector, and stuck the piping on. The sticking isn't brilliant, but it was good enough to do the job. Worked nicely for fitting the wings too.

 

Then I attached the protector using masking tape; 2 or 3 pieces do the job. Then it was just a matter of drilling the hole and rivetting. I fitted them randomly, rather than starting at one end and working to the other. All done in an evening.

 

Having said that, gravel rash still appeared quickly so skate tape is probably as good as anything smile.gif

[EFA]

Ditch the piping and run a bead of silicon along the top edge of the protector to prevent grit ingress.

 

 

 

Arnie Webb

The Fat Bloke blush.gif in a Fast Reliable Vauxhall wink.gif

 

See the R500 eater here

See the Le Mans Trip Website here

[Gridgway]

as an alternative, fit it flat which will give some sticking out on the inside edge (next to the bodywork) and trim the excess v carefully with a dremel.

 

Graham