caterham perspex wind deflectors

[doclip]

Can anyone please tell me if there is a clever and easy way of optimising the angle of the caterham perspex wind deflectors as i don't like using the doors .When they sit at their normal angle they don't really work well ,but when are set at a wider angle them seem to work much better -has anyone else found that .At their normal angle they only work up to about 50 mph .
I tried using clear duct tape on the outer surface of the deflector to attach to the windscreen surround -ie to widen the angle to better deflect the wind .However this looks a bit Heath Robinson and i suspect wont hold for long especially at higher speeds .I'm hoping some bright spark will have already come up with a simple solution .
Thanks

[Eugene7]

Use a hair dryer to enable you to bend them more...
A very common mod for those that use the deflectors.

[Guy Lowe]

Personally I think the best thing for them is to throw them in a skip, but to answer your question most people dip them in hot water as the heat will be applied more evenly than a hot air gun of hair dryer, then as Steve says, just bend them more.
Guy

Edited by Guy Lowe on Sunday 8th June 10:10

[doclip]

I used to have an MX5 so i'll dig out my my hair dryer and give it a whirl

[CanAm]

doclip said:

I used to have an MX5 so i'll dig out my my hair dryer and give it a whirl

[framerateuk]

I used hot water with mine but they wouldn't bend. A hair-dryer might prove more useful.

They're fine on a track when you've got a full helmet on, but I found them rubbish on the road. Eventually I'll go aero for trackdays, but the deflectors are a nice halfway-house for now.

[snapper seven]

I think the hot water has to be almost boiling and sit the deflectors in there for about 3 minutes. Then press it over the top of something like a kitchen worktop to get the shape.

It's something I plan to do with mine but not got round to yet. The above came from a club member who had done it, I think there needs to be quite a bit of bend to make it effective.

Cheers
SS

[Tango7]

Easy to assess how far the deflectors need to stick out from the windscreen by driving along and pushing them into the airflow. They need to be a long way past where they are as standard - think of where they sit on Corba replicas...! Easiest / fastest way to bend them is using a hot air gun for a few seconds. The pan method works but does take a bit of time and they cool down quickly. Use a stick on protector or a bit of insulation tape to stop any damage to your scuttle when in use

HTH

T

[doclip]

Thanks for all these suggestions -ended up using the boiling water treatment in the pan on Sunday and managed to bend the bottom bit into a C shape -problem then is that the pins are really tricky to fit into the windscreen attachment . I was wary of trying to bend them too much in case they snapped .
Do i need to try and bend the whole deflector into a U shape along its vertical axis to make it effective -to be honest im not quite sure what im trying to acheive here -what i do know is that when i push the deflector away from me towards the screen it works much better .
Then went to test drive them -which was on reflection a big mistake as i got rather wet and the car was covered in mud inside and out [ -anyway the deflectors still seem rather ineffective at say 70mph and above . The good thing about the deflectors is that it means i can attatch a mirror to my roll cage -the doors don't have the mirrors on them . While driving with the deflectors i needed a beenie hat and a cap on top to stop the draft .
So I think ill try it out as a suggested with an open helmet and shades on - although i guess that's going to a bit tiresome on a nice hot day -not that there are many of those in Scotingland .Also I think I'm going to feel rather self conscious driving with a helmet on public roads in a 7 -does anyone do that for road use ?

[doclip]

Also has anyone tried using the deflectors with the half hood and or half doors ie with full windscreen -do either of these that make any difference to the turbulence ? Im guessing prob not but thought id ask in case anyone has experience of this first hand