Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

[amalgamated users from prior forum]

Message originally posted by: Mike Leech
Can anyone tell me how far the windscreen glass fits within the frame on my Roadster? I am fitting a pair of wind deflectors and want to drill a 5mm hole through the existing press stud holes which presently use small self tappers. Obviously, I don't want to risk striking the glass and cracking the 'screen. Many thanks.

[macdonald.dm]

Re: Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

Hi Mike.

I'd have thought it could vary between cars, and even between the two sides of the same car! Can you push a piece of wire into the existing holes to see how far they go before they touch the screen edge?

How will your wind deflectors attach to the 5mm holes you intend to drill? If it's with larger screws/ bolts, bear in mind that they will only have purchase in the actual aluminium of the frame itself, so any part of the screw that passes BEYOND the inside surface of the frame has no further advantage - and could just cause damage. Therefore, why not cut the screws to length so that they JUST pass beyond the inside of the frame by a mill or so?

[b_caswell]

Re: Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

The frame in cross section is like the letter B- with the glasss sitting in the middle . So if you measure from the glass face to the frame face the centre of those two points is hollow.Where the glass sits in the channel there is only about 3mm of metal.

[amalgamated users from prior forum]

Re: Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

Message originally posted by: Mike Leech.
thanks Donnie & Ben. Still undecided what to do.
Ben - if I understand you correctly I presume that if I were to drill on a centre line of the face of the face of the frame I WOULD miss the edge of the glass? Sincerely, many thanks, Mike.

[stephenhimsworth]

Re: Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

Hi Mike I think I can throw a bit of light on this for you, when we made the frames we would mill along the entire length of each peice of steel before it was bent to shape, the milled slot on earlier cars was 10mmwide x 12mmdeep and on later cars sierra base onwards was 12mmwide x 12mmdeep, on this basis if the material is 38mm x 25mm then deduct the 12mm and this leaves 13mm of mat`l available each side, reduce that to 10mm for peice of mind and i think that shoud do you. As an afterthought why not tap out to 5 or 6mm rather than use selftappers, `cos the the frame is made from good quality bright steel and will test even the best s/tapping screws. Hope this helps, and remember "think twice and drill once". Steve Himsworth

[amalgamated users from prior forum]

Re: Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

Message originally posted by: Mike Leech
Many thanks Steve (Himsworth) for the valuable and most helpful info. I had planned to tap a thread and not use self tappers - it was just a matter of making sure I missed the glass! Now I have your data I will go ahead. Thanks again. Sincerely, Mike Leech.

[b_caswell]

Re: Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

Thats interesting welcome onboard Steve ...the frame on my 1985 kit is hollow in as I described earlier see drawing (I hope) Obviously as things progressed other ways were found in producing things.

[b_caswell]

Re: Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

well I think its like that, it was 20 years ago.

[neilryland]

Re: Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

Ben, mine is of a similar era (1985), it's of solid construction like Steve desribed.

[kdn17]

Re: Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

Are you fitting your wind deflectors on the front of the frame. If you fit them on the back of the frame you can still use the hood by simply pulling them in and the hood side screens fits over them. (Good to hear from you Steve - I trust life is treating you well)

[b_caswell]

Re: Windscreen frame on a Roadster.

Hi Neil,
Your probably right with some thought, just that I remember snapping the tap when I did mine and managed to punch the remains through but it was the bottom one so may have been below the solid bit.