Nosecone appearance

[Tim Baxter]

Hi, just putting this out there..I have never really liked the look of my V8 nosecone grille area ( the colour matched gel instead of a separate mesh grille). I am considering painting the front area to give the "dipped in paint" look. There don't seem to be many westies around with this, so I wondered what you thought of it? I have mocked it up with black tape .....Any thoughts

[Quinten]

This is what I want to do as well.  Like you I dislike the V8 front and would prefer a meshed front instead.  A painted band would hide any alterations made to the front, and I like the look of that as well.

 

I'm currently experimenting with a peelable paint (full dip from matt-pack) on my rear arches and depending on the success of it I may do the front like you've marked as a 1st step.

[Martin Bell - (Bellyboy) East Anglia AO]

I quite like it. Its nice to be different

[Davemk1]

I did a small amount of damage to the leading edge of my nose cone many years ago and instead of trying to match the gel coat color on the repair I had it sprayed in the way you are thinking.

 

I think it looks pretty good.

 

dave

[Tim Baxter]

33 minutes ago, Davemk1 said:

I did a small amount of damage to the leading edge of my nose cone many years ago and instead of trying to match the gel coat color on the repair I had it sprayed in the way you are thinking.

 

I think it looks pretty good.

 

dave

Yes, it's looks great. Are they 8" wide front and back or staggered wheels? I assume they're 15" 

[Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman]

It's very, very popular on Caterhams, and really suits the nose shape. Westfields nose turn out to be remarkably hard to get looking as good due to the very subtly different shape and proportions. But absolutely, go for it! At the end of the day, if you can get a design that you like, that's all that's important.

[Davemk1]

7 hours ago, Tim Baxter said:

Yes, it's looks great. Are they 8" wide front and back or staggered wheels? I assume they're 15" 

I have two sets of wheels...the ones in the photo are my street wheels and they are 13" x 7" all around.

 

dave

[Andrzej]

@Tim Baxter not sure of that look... kind of pumped lips look to me...

Maybe cut those bars in nosecone and put there a mesh ?

 Or just paint all nosecone Black the same Black paint as wings?

Just alternative ideas to consider?

[BigSkyBrad]

Previous owner of mine had driven too far in to his garage and cracked one of the slats in our V8 nosecone, so I cut out all the slats and added some plastic 'audi' mesh.

[Flying Carrot Steve]

19 hours ago, Tim Baxter said:

Yes, it's looks great. Are they 8" wide front and back or staggered wheels? I assume they're 15" 

Look like 13's to me

[Flying Carrot Steve]

It's a noseband (I believe that's the correct name?) Caterhams have them all the time usually with a bonnet stripe. I'm thinking if getting mine done in carbon with a stripe along the bonnet and down the boot area. Can be done by wrapping although you could have the nosecone hydro-dipped. You can literally have anything you wanted as the colour/pattern, maybe some sharks teeth to scare Catering Vans when you steam up behind them 🤣

[Flying Carrot Steve]

3 hours ago, BigSkyBrad said:

Previous owner of mine had driven too far in to his garage and cracked one of the slats in our V8 nosecone, so I cut out all the slats and added some plastic 'audi' mesh.

A nice finish I reckon. B&Q sell mesh like this with various sizes and shapes of holes. Cut to size, paint and bond in. Very cheap change. 

[kenton]

There is another option....

 

[TableLeg]

On 13/02/2023 at 07:31, BigSkyBrad said:

Previous owner of mine had driven too far in to his garage and cracked one of the slats in our V8 nosecone, so I cut out all the slats and added some plastic 'audi' mesh.

I really wanted to do this, do you have any closer up images please?

 

[BigSkyBrad]

@TableLeg@Quinten

You have to take some brave-pills before cutting away the slats! As you've mentioned in your DM, the slats come right up to the leading edge, all that has to be cut away so that there is no 'return' on the leading edge. I masked out where I wanted to cut to, and did it with a dremel with cutting discs, and hand files. The thickness of the nosecone GRP is now the return. The fibreglass is tinted black same as the gelcoat, so the raw edge is also black - I just filed, sanded and polished it to sort of match the gelcoat next to it. Black shows all imperfections like dogs balls, but a blind man would be rapt to see it - you should get away with it better than me if your cars are another colour. For lighter colours, I would be inclined to give the inside of the nose cone a shot-coat of black rattle-can to make it all dark and mysterious behind the grill when all done (hide the sins).

 

The top edge was cut straight across, rather than follow the contour of the shallow shark-snout - this made mounting the grill easier. The grill is just bonded to the inside with black CT-1 adhesive sealant, with a couple of little bent alloy tabs to help it stay there. The crack in the gelcoat is from the original damage by the previous owner - not from cutting out the grill. It can't be seen til you lie on the ground with a camera flash and look up!