Ian Bunker Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I am thinking of changing from the long swept front wings over to cycle type front wings on my narrow. Any ingenious ideas on how best to concel the bolt holes on the body without it looking a reall dogs breakfast please? Many thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistol Pete Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 indicator repeater can go in one hole plus some stickers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 There may be an issue where the wing meets the bodywork in that the bodywork has not been exposed to sunlight and may be darker than the rest, depending on age and condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexander72 Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 Stickers or gaffer tape :-) or there are some good threads on how others have filled it with Gel Coat and sanded it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 FAQs are your friend! http://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic/36832-how-easy-is-it-to-change-from-swept-to-cycle-wings/ http://forum.wscc.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic/94381-fitting-front-cycle-wings/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenandmean Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I put small button head bolts in mine, if you can't hide it make a feature of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff101 Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 I've done it on mine. Some things to bear in mind: As you've said - you'll have a number of holes to fill. I used fibre glass matt / resin to bridge them from the back, sanded back then filled with new gelcoat. The holes will likely have crazed and pulled proud of the surrounding panel due the strain of holding on those enourmous wings. This means more sanding back and filling than just the bolt hole. Gel coat is horrible, messy stuff but easy enough with a bit of practice. I use a disposable pipette to squeeze it into the holes then sellotape over the top to keep it in place (needs to be covered from the air or it won't go off fully). Remember that two or three of these holes are into the cockpit area so if you have internal panels fitted, you'll have to carefully drill out the rivets and remove the panel to get at the back of the holes. On mine, the side panel was quite rippled after I removed the wings where the fixing bolts had pulled the panel out. Looks a right mess when you first take them off but leave in the sun on a few hot days and through the magic of fibreglass, it will mostly sort itself out (although mines not perfect). There will be a nice bright line where the wings covered the fibreglass (this will fade a bit in time but not totally). The gelcoat you fill with is unlikely to match fully. In the end, I bought some stripes of ebay. The chap is very helpful and made them a bit longer than advertised and got rid of the chequers that are on his listed ones at no extra cost (picture below). Edit: some more things I forgot: If you have cortina uprights and swept wings, the uprights probably won't have been modified to accept the Westfield cycle wing brackets. You can use Tiger ones though as they bolt onto the dust cover holes. I swapped to Westfield alloy uprights as someone was selling a set on here. You'll need some new headlight brackets. I ended up making my own with my mate's welding assistance as the narrow ones are hard to come by and some of them hit the wishbones on full upward deflection. If you use the braced type, you'll need a longer bolt for the suspension mount that they attach to with the spacer (Westfield can supply). Other folk on here have used the ones that just fix with the clamp alone with no issues but I didn't want to. As indicated on the FAQ, once you have cycle wings fitted, they will almost certainly hit either the bodywork or your headlights on full lock. Technically this is an MOT failure but I've got away with it so far. You can remedy this with lock stops but they tend to limit more of the lock than necessary so you get the turning circle of a bus. I've probably forgotten lots of other things but you're welcome to PM if you have any questions. The above makes it sound worse than it is. I'm glad I did it but it's one of those jobs that involves more work than you'd first think! Looks like this now: Before I fitted the stripes but after filling and much sanding, rubbing down etc (it was a bit more visible in reality). Gives you an idea what to expect - click on the picture for a bigger version. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted January 10, 2013 Share Posted January 10, 2013 if you can't hide it make a feature of it Just like builders, Their mistakes are called "features" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammy Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Don't take them off !! You'll never manage a 3 pt turn again ! An alternative is to get some alloy sections made up and replace the front bit of the tub where the wings bolted on - you can get cf for wide bodies. Could make them flared too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenandmean Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 Just like builders, Their mistakes are called "features" Oih I resemble that remark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Norman Verona Posted January 11, 2013 Share Posted January 11, 2013 G&M, but I've seen some wonderful features before now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BEN99W Posted January 12, 2013 Share Posted January 12, 2013 Or keep the swept wings. Far more attractive, less unsprung weight on the front wheels, better turning circle, fewer stones/water thrown at you by the front tyres ;-) (IMO) Ben 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geoff101 Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Less unsprung weight indeed but considering total weight for my narrow (measured): Pair of grp swept wings + brackets + fixings = 9kg Pair of carbon cycle wings + fixings + brackets = 2.25kg (1.6kg of which is the brackets!) Personally, I negated the increase in unsprung weight (and a lot more) by swapping to alloy uprights, hubs and wilwood calipers at the same time but then my M16s needed rebuild anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Colonial Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 I think it's really a question of personal preference. My feeling is that road-going narrow body cars look better with swept wings, much more stylish and classic, whereas wide body probably look better with cycle wings. But each to their own, pros and cons each way. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted January 13, 2013 Share Posted January 13, 2013 Personally, I'd like one of each! Car that is, not swept one side and cycle the other In the right colour/wheel style etc, I love the look of swept wings. One of our Cheshire, now Scottish area lads has a blue wide body car with swept wings, it really does look 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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