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J17KNX
Original Poster
19 posts
17 months
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Good morning all, Enjoying the good weather last night I took my Caterham out for a wee blast. Unfortunately my passenger side front cycle wing ripped off at speed, bounced over the bonnet (Still contacted by the indicator wire) and then flew over my head  It was a horrible experience!! The bonnet isn’t too bad, one small dent and some scratches but the cycle wing is gubbed. I didn’t build the car and was surprised to see it was just glued on! Is this right? I have ordered a replacement wing but what is the best way to fit it? Thanks!
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Crossflow Kid
4,631 posts
60 months
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Entirely normal for them to be bonded on, using marine grade Sikaflex.
Chances are the actual paint on the wing stay lifted and peeled away, thus letting the wing go.
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Eugene7
360 posts
63 months
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Yep, totally agree.
Normal fixing, but you need to remove the powder coating from the wing stay first, or this separation can/will happen.
Check the other wing!
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one eyed mick
572 posts
30 months
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Riv nuts and 5mm button head s/s cap heads [ok I'm old school ]
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DCL
325 posts
48 months
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I'm 'old school' too - 5mm stainless steel cap nut with a half grommet under the head. The rivet nut sound like a good idea although I drilled all the way through and used a SS nylock.
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Crossflow Kid
4,631 posts
60 months
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Crossflow Kid said: Chances are the actual paint on the wing stay lifted  Oops, I meant powder coat. I had new school bonded-on cycle wings until one went AWOL, now I'm old school nuts'n'bolts too.
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elan_fan
86 posts
56 months
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I'm all for collective wisdom, but bonding on the wings is where me and the collective part ways. Bonding is supposed to be a method of fixing whereby the wings won't spider crack but it's such an ugly bodge. I'm a button head screw, grommet and nyloc man also (all in stainless of course)
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downsman
293 posts
25 months
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I went for bolts too, I never thrust glue alone if I can bolt, rivet or weld the object  Just as an aside, I have seen several 7s with major crazing around bonded on cycle wings, so the glue doesn't cure that problem either.
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Eugene7
360 posts
63 months
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I've never heard of bonding being used to stop staring... It's only ever been used to stop having ugly bolts messing up the wing lines, as far as I know - that's why I use it And I've never, ever had a problem with the wings coming lose - after many thousands of miles - over 200K now
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VHPD
295 posts
17 months
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downsman said: Just as an aside, I have seen several 7s with major crazing around bonded on cycle wings, so the glue doesn't cure that problem either. The trick is to make a 'tube' of mastic around the mounts so that the metal does not touch the wing itself. I had a problem with the powder coat peeling at one time but once I resolved that they have held so far at speeds over 185mph.
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Crossflow Kid
4,631 posts
60 months
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VHPD said: they have held so far at speeds over 185mph. Was that with Elvis driving?
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VHPD
295 posts
17 months
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Crossflow Kid said: VHPD said: they have held so far at speeds over 185mph. Was that with Elvis driving? Have been meaning to get the speedo calibrated 
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pikeyboy
1,796 posts
83 months
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Mine are bonded on with sikaflex from screwfix. When I went off at oulton and bounced off the amco at circa 80mph the GRP wing broke around the sikaflex bond. Admitedly at the time this was the least of my worries abut it shows how bloody strong it is. Nuts and bolts look ugly and are a great initiation point for star cracks IMHO.
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Tango7
575 posts
95 months
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I've always bonded my cycle wings on and never had a problem. The only ones I've seen come off are where the sikaflex has been stuck on powdercoat that has rusted and flaked off. The way to fix the wings on is by encapsulating the wing stay in a tube of sikaflex as suggested above.
Clean the wing stay and contact area of the cycle wing throughly. Lay a thick bead of sikaflex on the wing stay mounts and also place a thick pad of sikaflex on the cycle wing surface. Position the wing on the wing stay. With the wheel in place, I run a luggage strap around the wheel and cycle wing with a little bit of tension to hold the wing firmly in place. Leave this untouched at least overnight if its warm or even longer if cold.
Remove the strap and wheel and then apply more sikaflex to the pad on the cycle wing and smeared thickly to encase the underside of the wing stay. Allow this to dry for a few hours (the longer the better) and the wing should be very firmly attached to the stay. Even if the powdercoat is flaky under the surface, as the sikaflex is now wrapped around the wing stay, the wing won't come off.
HTH
T
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Crossflow Kid
4,631 posts
60 months
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 boy said: Mine are bonded on with sikaflex from screwfix. When I went off at oulton and bounced off the amco at circa 80mph the GRP wing broke around the sikaflex bond. Admitedly at the time this was the least of my worries abut it shows how bloody strong it is. Nuts and bolts look ugly and are a great initiation point for star cracks IMHO. All the Sikaflex in the world won't prevent cruddy powder coat coming adrift, and that's usually what gives.
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pikeyboy
1,796 posts
83 months
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Crossflow Kid said: All the Sikaflex in the world won't prevent cruddy powder coat coming adrift, and that's usually what gives. This is true, hence why most people remove it and bond straight to the metal
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cambuscat
95 posts
40 months
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Bond 4 Big Heads onto the wing then attach to the stay with cableties.
David
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downsman
293 posts
25 months
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However good the glue is, I have to ask, when was the last time anyone heard of a bolted on wing coming off?
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Cock Womble 7
29,908 posts
99 months
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Well, if you lot will insist on having those silly cycle wings, what do you expect?
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Dave J
600 posts
135 months
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if bonding make sure that you have enough clearance around the tyre /wing for tracking gauges to fit as it will otherwise be impossible to get your tracking alignment done.
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