| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Stan the Man |
Posted - 29 Nov 2011 : 12:55:18
When we acquired "Hunky 'B'", a past argument with a bridge or tree had done for the windscreen side panel on the port side. The collision had also persuaded the bottom left-hand front windscreen panel joint to fail so the glass could wobble hither and thither even before a couple of lemonades. In place of the missing wide panel was a piece of wafer board roughly hewn with an axe to the approximate shape required. This fell off on our second trip out (the windscreen is hinged) but it did float so could be fished out!
Having cast around for a new windscreen and found a possible supplier of an aluminium-framed replacement, this supplier cried off when I mentioned the screen was hinged although why this should make a difference one can only guess. The price was around £500 as well which did seem a fair bit.
Whilst sitting in the sun on holiday, I wondered if a ply inner core, cut to the required shape and clad both sides with aluminium strip to form a channel to take the glazing would fit the bill. Recently, I've put that plan into effect and, having routed out two trapezium-shaped external plywood cores (the remaining side panel had a curved rear corner which I could not duplicate), and armed with the appropriate aluminium strip, rubber seals, laminated glass panels, stainless bolts and interscrews, plastuc edging strip and a tube of decent sealant, I assembled two new panels in line with my design idea. Before fitting the inner front aluminium strips, I drilled and tapped these for new brackets for the Brighton Latches which are used to tighten the front panels against the side panels.
Admittedly the new panels have not been fitted long but, given the fact that I gave the plywood cores a fair coating of primer and that the aluminium side strips are bolted through the core with a generous sealant film on the inner sides, I can not see my new creations failing anytime soon. The 3-core laminate of aluminium/plywood/aluminium had no flex whatsoever, although the resulting panels were a little on the weighty side - fortunately Norman were generous with the hinges in the eighties and these are well up to carrying the new panels.
An added benefit was that the intact starboard side panel was robbed of one of its copper corner brackets and this was used to rebuild the failed front windscreen corner. This turned out so well, I've now abandoned my plan of replacing the original front windscreen panels.
The cost worked out around £110 for both panels including all materials and I was fortunate in that a major aluminium supplier is located around 10 miles from where I live (Hertforshire) so I could save a fair bit on the postage for the 10 metres of anodised strip.
I do not know if its possible to embed an image in a topic but if anyone is interested to see how the new side panels turned out, post a reply with your email address ad I'll mail you a piccie and/or a list of where I got the various bits. |
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