I gave the old car a bit of a wash & brush-up a week or so back, and noticed a little bit of rust bubbling where the windscreen support is bolted to the scuttle. Either I didn't seal everything properly after drilling the hole, or the windscreen frame has fretted its way through the paint. I'll find out when I take the screen off! (note: I have a steel scuttle, as in the original Locost book).

I'm not too worried about the rust as it's very minor and I still have a can of the yellow top coat in the garage (plus etch primer, filler primer, white primer), I reckon a rub-down and repaint is all that's required. I need to fill a few unwanted screw holes in the scuttle anyway, so this is an opportunity to fix both.

However, when I refit the screen I'd like to separate the screen's uprights from the scuttle somehow - anyone got any ideas? So far I've thought about thin nylon washers between the uprights and the scuttle, where the bolts go through.

Any other bright ideas?

make some gaskets thin rubber insertion or neoprene perhaps ?

I cut gaskets from thin neoprene, glued them to the inside of the screen brackets. Fitted the brackets to the scuttle with stainless bolts with a nylon washer, flat washer and nyloc nuts. Got the neoprene from Chew Magna

http://www.ebay.co.uk/usr/deon123cycle?_trksid=p2053788.m1543.l2754

With two surfaces bolted together there will be a capillary water gap of varying proportions that will fill, even
from just being exposed to the evening dew, and will take days in some cases to evaporate.
(Suggest parking car on a Mediterranean beach for a week or two.)


I think I'd be tempted to assemble with a bead of clear silicon sealer and then wipe off any surplus that squashes out.

I also have some thin white sheet PTFE if you wanted some "Penny washers" to space apart.



Obviously this might all be tosh as I don't understand this steel / paint / corrosion thing.


Paul G

quote:

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Originally posted by 907
Obviously this might all be tosh as I don't understand this steel / paint / corrosion thing.

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I used a sheet of self adhesive foam,shaped and stuck to the stanchions. It is available in 1.5mm-12mm thickness on eBay.
I used this seller eBay Item

You can just see it in this photo
Description

[Edited on 23-5-16 by 40inches]

Well - it looks like it really was the windscreen stanchions rubbing against the scuttle, probably due to vibrations (the scuttle does vibrate a bit!). This is the pre-cleaning view.



Really not as bad as it looks - a thorough rub-down and re-paint should sort it out (and I don't have to worry about a super-smooth finish, as it's under the stanchion). The base of the windscreen is also rubbing on the paintwork in some places, so I'll fix that while I'm at it.

I think some form of foam backing is what's required, as mentioned above.

Foam might adsorb water.

Just a thought.

quote:

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Originally posted by 907
Foam might adsorb water.

Just a thought.

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quote:

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Originally posted by 907
Foam might adsorb water.

Just a thought.

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This has turned into an escalating job!

It all started when I decided that I needed a better rear-view mirror, stuck on the top of the screen.
The old mirror sat on a stand screwed to the top of the scuttle, so I decided that I'd fill the holes in and re-paint just that bit.
Then I noticed the rust on each side where the windscreen's uprights had worn through the paint.
Stripped it all down and started to prepare for filling and painting.
Decided that the existing paint was a bit scratched in places, so dealt with that as well.

Now I've managed to get the filling and levelling done, the etch primer is on and rubbed down, and I've just sprayed the white primer on most of the scuttle. When I've rubbed that down I can get on with the top coat. Trouble is, I hate painting - I'm no expert and I'm never satisfied with the results... still, we'll see how it comes out...

I can't help with the painting David as I try to avoid it if possible. That's what sons are for.


However, on the subject of mirrors I can at least offer the following:-


For IVA I had a generic kit car interior mirror that was fine up to 10mph, hence it passed.
On the road I needed a non blur version, but found that having a screen that is far nearer vertical than your average tin top
meant that the ball & socket adjustment that most mirrors have ran out.

The MkII MX5 has a glued in mirror that has two balls so offers much more adjustment. ( See pic )
It looks huge in the photo but then my photography ranks alongside my painting.
It's actually 230mm wide and offers a good view, but more importantly, no vibes.


HTH
Paul G



Description

The escalations continue...

Finished the painting, rubbed everything down and I'm reasonably happy with the results. So I started to re-assemble...

• Went to refit the screen washer jets unit - wondered why I didn't have anything to push the tube onto. The spigot had broken off and was still in the end of the tube.
  
• Got a seemingly identical new washer jet unit - and found out that the required hole for the new unit was 3/8" instead of the current 1/4". Had to drill out the hole in my newly-painted scuttle.
  
• Waited a while for the paint I had to put on the now freshly-exposed steel to dry.
  
• Went to re-fit the plastic bits that hold the wiper boxes in place - the angled tube and nut - and found that one of the plastic bits was cracked. I now have to wait until I receive the new ones I've ordered from ebay.
  
• ...and I'm still waiting for some neoprene washers to arrive so I can re-fit my windscreen uprights.