StratTuner
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learning....sharing the failures with the success...
The four hex bolts that hold in the stock windshield are seated in rubber gromets. The gromets (if that's the correct word!) have a small o-ring lip around the bottom, and when you push them into the holes, the lip goes out the back and holds the gromet in place.
The gromets couldn't tolerate the outward pressure the lexan exerted. Remember that bending the lexan to curve gives it increased rigidity, but it means that the lexan is constantly pulling on the rubber gromet since the shield wants to UN bend.
That amount of force is enough to pull the gromet out of its hole...and I found it out when I took the cover off my baby yesterday morning. Both left side gromets gave in to the constant lexan pull and came out of their holes. It's a good thing that didn't happen on the freeway!
My solution was to bend the lexan shield so that it would no longer pull at the gromets. Just like the OEM shield, my DIY is now creased down the center so that it doesn't pull on the gromets. It mounts in place just like the OEM shield.
Creasing the shield don the center provided two benefits:
1) it stopped the shield from pulling the gromets out!!!
2) it increased the shields rigdity... It doesn't bounce like it used to and bends almost not at all in the wind.
(freeway testing will come this weekend)
How did I bend the Lexan? I did a lot of reading on the internet, and learned from that. Here's what I did...I...
I had read how heating it too fast would cause it to bubble, so I was careful to keep the heat gun moving along the lexan bend in small overlapping strokes two inches or so abouve the surface. I concentrated on the bottom side since that's where the bend needs to be most. (that's where the screws/gromets are.)
Doing it this way slowly over 20 minutes with an average heat gun (not a flame throwing monster) produced a permanent bend WITH NO BUBBLES!! Wow...
I will get pictures on the next entry...
Next time I do this, I'll figure out a more elegant way to bend the lexan that doesn't involve several heavy objects and my left arm! Also, I reflect that the crease doesn't need to go all the way to the top... I could have creased just the first 1/2 or 3/4.... leaving the top half as is....and got good rigidity while still solving the gromet-pull problem.
Disclaimer: Making a windshield is my own choice, and my experiences are purely informational. You are responsible for any modifications you make. I am not.
The four hex bolts that hold in the stock windshield are seated in rubber gromets. The gromets (if that's the correct word!) have a small o-ring lip around the bottom, and when you push them into the holes, the lip goes out the back and holds the gromet in place.
The gromets couldn't tolerate the outward pressure the lexan exerted. Remember that bending the lexan to curve gives it increased rigidity, but it means that the lexan is constantly pulling on the rubber gromet since the shield wants to UN bend.
That amount of force is enough to pull the gromet out of its hole...and I found it out when I took the cover off my baby yesterday morning. Both left side gromets gave in to the constant lexan pull and came out of their holes. It's a good thing that didn't happen on the freeway!
My solution was to bend the lexan shield so that it would no longer pull at the gromets. Just like the OEM shield, my DIY is now creased down the center so that it doesn't pull on the gromets. It mounts in place just like the OEM shield.
Creasing the shield don the center provided two benefits:
1) it stopped the shield from pulling the gromets out!!!
2) it increased the shields rigdity... It doesn't bounce like it used to and bends almost not at all in the wind.
(freeway testing will come this weekend)
How did I bend the Lexan? I did a lot of reading on the internet, and learned from that. Here's what I did...I...
- bought a $22 heat gun from Home Depot (Wagner HT1000).
- placed the flat lexan windshield on the edge of a table...the edge running along the vertical center of the lexan.
- put something really heavy on the side of the lexan on the table to hold it down
- sat in a chair and bent the lexan down and held that bend with my left arm
- used my right hand to hold the heat gun 2 inches or so above the bend
(heat gun has only two settings: low and high... I used high) - move the heat gun up and down the bend in small, overlapping, strokes to heat it SLOWLY
- did that for about 20 minutes...(first time! I had no idea how long it would take)
- let go and checked my work now and then to see if it was holding the bend
- got encouraged when I could see that it was!
I had read how heating it too fast would cause it to bubble, so I was careful to keep the heat gun moving along the lexan bend in small overlapping strokes two inches or so abouve the surface. I concentrated on the bottom side since that's where the bend needs to be most. (that's where the screws/gromets are.)
Doing it this way slowly over 20 minutes with an average heat gun (not a flame throwing monster) produced a permanent bend WITH NO BUBBLES!! Wow...
I will get pictures on the next entry...
Next time I do this, I'll figure out a more elegant way to bend the lexan that doesn't involve several heavy objects and my left arm! Also, I reflect that the crease doesn't need to go all the way to the top... I could have creased just the first 1/2 or 3/4.... leaving the top half as is....and got good rigidity while still solving the gromet-pull problem.
Disclaimer: Making a windshield is my own choice, and my experiences are purely informational. You are responsible for any modifications you make. I am not.
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