wind deflector advice please

[lotos]

I've been looking at these on ebay...



Cheap and look pretty good, too. I want to know how far they go down when "retracted".. here's a Miata install of this.

[Paul.P]

Randy, several of us have fitted the Miata, & with a small amount of work ( bending of the brkts ) you can leave them in, even with the hood up.

[lotos]

I really don't want to leave it in all the time - I want the option to sort of retract/lower it when not needed.. Can you lower yours at all?

[Paul.P]

I really don't want to leave it in all the time - I want the option to sort of retract/lower it when not needed.. Can you lower yours at all?

Yea, the windblocker has a sort of prong either side that just pushes into a tube that is bolted onto the car body, so if you want the hood up you can just lift it out the holders ( tubes ) & drop it down onto the centre column. I know this sounds a bit amateurish, but it works quite well.

[tweetdriver63]

Just curious about this, but how much is that windblocker? When I click the link you (Randy) posted for the Miata pictures, the text commentary that comes up has a guy raving about how great it is, specially for $40. Did he just get a steal on one on ebay or something? The ones I've seen on ebay like it, sell for like 145 GBP. At that price, this one, for the Chevy SSR looks pretty nice. It looks like it would be easy to adapt to the Elan also.

[Paul.P]

Did he just get a steal on one on ebay or something? The ones I've seen on ebay like it, sell for like 145 GBP.

Chris, we payed £120 each, think we got a few quid knocked off because we bought 2. I would imagine there's loads of them out there that could be adapted to fit, & yes, they do make a big difference, especially at the higher speeds.

[tweetdriver63]

I found it on ebay finally, and sure enough, $39.95 + about $12 shipping (US). That's pretty amazing. I sent them a message explaining that most Elan owners use a Miata windblock that they've adapted, and asked them if they'd be interested in developing a kit to adapt their's for us. We'll see what they say. They're in Nevada, so they might need somebody to take their car to them so they can measure/fit for it.

[lotos]

every pic I posted is also a link to the matching ebay auction

[tweetdriver63]

:poke: every pic I posted is also a link to the matching ebay auction

Oh. I should have known somebody who used to run those websites you did would do something like that. If only I'd known I could just click on a pic.

[lotos]

It isn't obvious they're links now that I look at them. (All my hard work... The forum software should put a little color border around them but it doesn't for some reason.

I'd love to see a pic of the windscreen down if you could take one, Paul.P

[rival]

The eBay adverts say: "Because of a licensing agreement with a UK manufacturer, we cannot ship items to the UK."

Two of the three are available from a European site (www.raceland.com). More expensive than the US prices of course

[HJ2]

Is it me or am i the only one missing the clear (Perspex or lexan) alternatives here?

On my former car (BMW Z3) I started out with a mesh between the seats. In my opinion it worked pretty well, was light and easy to store if not needed BUT: The mesh obstructed the view in the mirror (everything looked darkened) And the top band was exactly in the middle of the rear view mirror wich was, ehrmm.. annoying actually!

I then swapped for a thin perspex version wich was excellent! It looked much better in my opinion, and didn't have any of the disadvantages mentioned. Since the view was good, and it did'nt interfere with the hood operation, I never dismounted the thing again (here's my BMW by the way...)
[img]s%20windscherm_small.jpg[/img]


Is this availble for the Elan then? Or do i have to spend a weekend in the toolshop?

I now have a big black ugly mother... that has all the disadvantages, but is sooooo comfy

[theelanman]

what you need is one of the frames youve posted above but with perspex.......
either that or the roll hoops and screen fitted......

[HJ2]

Hoops sounds just fabulous, but not for my wallet....
And perspex in an ugly black frame?... This is not the way to go from the looks point of view...

[theelanman]

sounds like youve got yourself a project
before you know it it'll be a group buy

[HJ2]

You haven't heard the price yet
I've got all winter to design and engineer the bloody thing. First i've got some new hoses tot fix and a wastegate to port

[tweetdriver63]

You can also make a frameless version. Seems like I saw something like that once. Actually, there's no reason it couldn't be semi-frameless, with a frame at the bottom and sides, but none across the top.

There are those acrylic ones with the fancy lighing effects that make the edges and the etched logo in the middle light up in whatever color you want. A cool Lotus logo in the middle, lit up in the car's color would be nice, if not a bit cheesy.

[chrisP]

Hi HJ2
I made a perspex version ages ago, its bolted to the softtop cover and works quite well - I couldn't make it too tall as it would get in the way of using the soft top
Regards
Chris

[rival]

Chris,

That looks great. Can you share some more information about how you made it e.g. rough dimensions, thickness of perspex (presumably from a DIY store?). I'd be keen to see a photo of where you've actually bolted it to the softtop cover.

Think I've identified my next project...

Cheers,

James

[HJ2]

Chris P, that looks Crisp!
This is defenately an option as well.