Front Wings

[moe and ess]

Hi all what is the feeling about fitting fibre glass front wings as against steel wings on the 7s and has anybody fitted the g/f wings?

Regards Moe

[stevie-a]

If it is a DHC I would say defiantly not.

 

 

If it is a FHC I would say no.

[moe and ess]

Hi Moe,

 

Lots of racers use them. I wouldn't wish to use them on the road. Race cars have full cages which add a huge amount of strength to the tub, enabling the safe use of lightweight outer panelwork. The average road car relies on the steel outer panel as part of the crushable structure. If you're fitting a road car with a full cage, then of course it's a different story.

 

You've seen the remains of our red shell, so you know what I'm talking about !

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

[/qu

Thanks For the reply I had seen the f/g ones on rimmer site and thought about the delights of rust free front wings I think that is as far as it goes, just a thought, especially after the reminder of your red one, a cold shiver comes to mind!!!!!!

Thanks also to you Steve for your reply most emphatic no then!!!!

Cheers Moe

[moe and ess]

Hi Moe,

 

There's an old rule of thumb, which suggests that if a steel outer panel (of any description) is bolted on, then it can probably be replaced by a lighter weight material, as in alloy or fibreglass. At the risk of stating the obvious, judicious reinforcement may be prudent - a safety bar in a door, or under front or rear panels, a tubular stiffener to boot or bonnet, or a stiffening steel flange to sandwich the mating face of a f/g outer wing to a steel inner - for example. Originality will be compromised, of course, but the lightweight replacement can be functionally A1 OK.

 

On the other hand, if an outer panel is welded on, then in all likelihood replacement by a lightweight item will require some more fundamental work to replace structural strength and/or integrity.

 

In general terms, bolted panels imply only a limited contribution to overall structural strength and integrity, whereas welded panels imply rather more. That's only a generalisation, I realise that there are exceptions to every rule ! And no, I'm not including composite, honeycomb or carbon fibre materials in this discussion, we are only talking old TRs !

 

Cheers,

 

Alec

Hi Alec thanks for the very detailed information we will definitly be getting steel wings of that there is no doubt especially as it is for Ess's coupe.

We were suprised that rust came through on the front of the wing as the car had a bare metal respray about three years ago, so a winter project I think.

Cheers Moe