Cycle Wings

[starter]

Currently looking for my first Westfield or similar. For me cycle wings are a must.Question is how difficult/expensive would it be to convert from flared wings to cycle if I found a car that was OK in most other respects- don't want to start a debate on cycle v flared - each to is own etc

Any help appreciated

Mike

[damianc]

Pretty straightforward aside from filling/painting the holes left by the flared wings (getting a colour match may be tricky)

[AshJackson]

For the inept, how much would it cost to have a conversion done by the factory/terra nightingales/other proffessionals?

Anyone had this done? I'd hate to ruin my new wonder-car by attempting this myself and getting it horribly wrong!

[Mark Stanton]

Simply ring them up and ask for a quote to undertake the work, perhaps you should try:

Westfield, Nightingale Autocraft and Plays Kool Motorsport - all of them have experience and are well recognised for their work.  

[chrisbin]

Comments I've received have been that while physically the conversion is straight forward, its what to do with the bolt holes..? Suggestions I've received are

leave the bolts in....?

mask the holes....with what?

or fill and spray.....but not advisable apparently

I've come to conclusion that its not practical proposition really.

[SteveF]

Did this conversion on mine last year - pretty straight forward really - the key point as mentioned before is making a neat job of filling the holes. I contacted the factory & got them to send me some Gelcoat (coloured polyester resin) which should be a good colourmatch for the original body - provided its not too old and UV bleached.

Other points worth noting are that there are various cycle wing brackets about - Westfields own require modifying to fit standard cortina uprights (or modify the uprights), whereas some others (Dax / Stuart Taylor? ) dont. Also Westfields own vycle wings are expensive - and there are cheaper alternatives about - Robin Hood / Locost and others. Finally - you'll need to put collets on the steering rack to stop the wings hitting the body when at full lock (restricts the lock).

Finally, finally - the job cost me about £120 to do by myself, and probably in the region of 20-30 hours labour - getting the gelcoat right is a bit of an art - which I had to learn from experience - I've posted a few notes on this topic since.

Cheers

Steve