Pleasantville Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Which are best: stainless steel or carbon fibre? Are they all drill and pop-rivet on, or is there a self adhesive version (the thought of drilling holes scares me!). Or is it just as good to let the damage occur and look hard with a well used Caterham - and then replace the bits when they have worn right through!? Recommendations, please? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Area Representative Nick Chan Posted March 14, 2004 Area Representative Share Posted March 14, 2004 I think that carbon or stainless steel is a matter of your own taste and whether you have a black pack car or not? The stainless ones do get tarnished over time with lots of small stone chips and start to look a bit dull whereas the CF ones should look unmarked all the time. AFAIK you either have to use rivets or small self tapping screws. Due to the bend and weight of them, they do not suit being stuck on. Fitting is easy and best carried out on the car, the only real tricky bit is drilling the two holes that are top and bottom and closest to the body work. I would probably loosen the wing off or remove it to be able to get the chuck in without catching the body or black plastic trim strip. You could leave your car without them and perhaps go down the Armourfend route or, thinking about it, there is some CF sticky sheet that I believe looks very effective and does a good job and Demon Tweeks sells it. Perhaps give DaveK a call. Either way, I would protect the rear arches as they will start to look a bit tatty if you leave them uncovered. HTH Nick Yellow HPC - A 2.0 VX - 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nifty Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Uncovered they will look like they've been shotblasted within 5 miles on any road in Norfolk. I'd always cover with proper stone protectors. Keep off the straight and narrow 😬 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mick Day Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 Millwood Motors (01453 544321) do some very nice shaped C/F wing protectors which wrap around the wing. They are such a good close fit they could be stuck on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frying Pan Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 I've got the CF protectors on my car (part of the black pack), and fitting them was very easy. I did it with the wings off the car. First thing I did was to stick (double sided tape) the edge piping to the three outer edges of the preotector. Tthe edge next to the body doesn't need it, as there is piping between the wing and the ali skin. I then drilled through the pre drilled holes in the protectors to pierce the rubber. Placed the protector on the wing, and carefully drilled through the wing in one corner. Rivetted the protector to the wing, using a 'rivet backing washer' (Thanks Grubbster ) to give the rivet a firm base. Once the first rivet was in, drilled the next and rivetted, and so on, working towards the opposite corner. Make sure the drill bit is very sharp, and you shouldn't have any dramas Guy See some pictures of the build here. Collected on March 1st! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bare Posted March 14, 2004 Share Posted March 14, 2004 IF actually protecting the Fenders is yer concern then do as the TwinCam Lotus Series 3 did.. Ribbed rubber Pieces ..Floor mat material? glued on .. Worked a treat..cheap easy etc.. just doesn't appeal to Magpies :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drB Posted March 15, 2004 Share Posted March 15, 2004 when i was looking to by my 7, one of the cars I looked at had home made CF wing protectors, basically just a sheet of CF cut to size and glued onto the wing, the finish around the edge probably wasn't quite as nice as the real item but it still looked good and probably cost a lot less! ouch! ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normalbloke.29 Posted March 15, 2004 Share Posted March 15, 2004 Rubbermat? Way too heavy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steveh7 Posted March 15, 2004 Share Posted March 15, 2004 i've got stainless and if I new what I know now would of gone CF. The stainless look pretty shot basted already....don't even mention the salt effect on them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrighty Posted March 15, 2004 Share Posted March 15, 2004 Since swapping from Michelin Pileups to AO21rs the protectors on my car have noticeably taken on a shotblasted look. Shows how sticky the tyres get tho' 1997 X Flow BRG/Ali - Noisier than neighbours W*******d!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scooby dooby doo Posted March 15, 2004 Share Posted March 15, 2004 It seems that carbon is the only material for a wing that makes much sense - GRP gets shot blasted inside and out and dies after 10-20k miles, the paint is stripped on the outside and the GRP collapses and loses strength around the rear. You could paint, fit a protector, then armourfend around the edges and put rubber matting on the inside. But the cost is then not that far off a bare carbon wing.. HOOPY R706KGU Hoopylight R Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UFO Posted March 15, 2004 Share Posted March 15, 2004 I used this.. http://www.motrax.co.uk/Index_pages/accessories/flexicacut.htm looks excellent, v flexible, cut with scissors, 3M adhesive backed. An A3 sheet will do each side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k80rum Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 That stuff from Motrax looks ideal - question is, does it stand up to the punishment? How long have you had it on the car UFO? And what the heck is it? I'm presuming it's not the max-power fraternity Foliatec-type stuff? Is it really pucka Carbon (or Kevlar or Titanium) as Motrax suggest? Looks like a good alternative to the skateboard-grip type stuff which would have otherwise been my contender.. My protectors need replacing too so am rather interested in this motrax stuff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alias Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Rob Walker saved me a large amount of cash in this respect. You can buy a Carbon Fibre effect stick on sheet from Motorcycle shops. It weighs less than CF, but stops the shotblasting effect. It probably isn't quite as effective as the steel or CF guards against the larger stones, but I've been running it on my car for the last year and haven't had any probs with it. One car - 1400 Supersport with 6 gears and clamshell wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alias Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Oops, should have read the entire post. The one above refers to the Motrax stuff. Yes - it does stand up to the punishment. No it isn't pukka CF or Kevlar - more like a very stiff sellotape One car - 1400 Supersport with 6 gears and clamshell wings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevesvc Posted March 16, 2004 Share Posted March 16, 2004 Carbon effect wing protectors from sVc £20 inc vat + delivery Pre-drilled holes by CAM, so if you have to replace them the holes will always be in the same place. regards Steve @ sVc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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