Wind Wings for Side Curtain Spridgets

[twas_brillig]

I recently contacted Alan Cox ( Frogeye@cox.net ) and ordered a set of his wind wings for our bugeye and am quite happy with them. He's run into some health problems and advised that he hadn't been able to smooth the edges to the standard he preferred, but Jeff of Hardtop67 polished them up beautifully.

I can't really comment on how (or even if) much difference they make for comfort or buffeting as it's a bit late in the year here to do some experimenting, so I'll worry about that in the spring. I do very much like the 1950s aesthetic though!

Some aspects to be aware of:
- you need to use an Allen wrench to install (they clamp onto the flange on the windscreen that the side curtains butt up against) and remove
- they make it slightly more inconvenient to snap the tonneau cover in place
- they don't interfere with getting in and out, but the entrance/egress does feel a bit smaller

Doug

 

[Gerard]

I think you mean Alan Fisher...

I recently contacted Alan Cox ( Frogeye@cox.net )

Doug

 

[twas_brillig]

Sonofagun! Sonofagun! Sonafagun!! I'd even confirmed the proper surname for Alan and had bounced my draft note off him. Thanks for the correction, Gerard!
And I'd had a look in the threads and there was one regards wind wings that referenced Alan but it was several years ago, and there was a bit of wind wing discussion this past summer, so figured I'd confirm that he was still making them. And then I mess up his name! Sonofagun! DOug

 

[Gerard]

Doug, did you get my replies to the personal messages you sent me last week? I never heard anything back.

 

[59diamond]

I am curious where you get the hardware for the windwings as I have a set of windwings with no hardware to attach them to the flange

 

[twas_brillig]

Gerard - inbox shows nothing from yourself. I just sent you a PM with the home e-mail address
59diamond - I'll take a couple of pictures of the hinge setup that Alan uses - it's based on a bit of Lexan and an Allen headed machine screw.
Doug

 

[twas_brillig]

Gerard - whoops! I lied! Found your message. Doug

 

[twas_brillig]

Enclosed are two pictures showing the approach that Alan Fisher has taken. The piece holding the windwing itself appears to be U channel aluminum cut at an angle and through bolted the Lexan; the hinge is locknutted bolt, and the piece holding the wind wing to the screen is a piece of thicker lexan with a saw cut allowing it to be slid over the windscreen flange and with an allen headed machine screw clamping onto the windscreen. Doug

 

[59diamond]

That looks like it would work for me. How do I go about just ordering the hardware?

 

[twas_brillig]

I guess you could talk to Alan, or fabricate them yourself. I expect that there's something equivalent commercially available out there, but finding the pieces might take a bit of a search. Doug

 

[59diamond]

I have searched to no avail.

 

[Rut]

I have a set of Alan's wind wings to go on my Bugeye and they've been in my shop for the better part of two years. IMHO they leave a lot to be desired in quality and finish. I buffed out the edges and cleaned up the hinge mounts, but all the hardware needed replacing since no two screws and nuts were the same...just a hodge podge of parts. My TR4a came with set of Amco wind wings and one was cracked, but the quality was wonderful and I'll make another wing to replace the cracked one. I know I'm comparing a pro manufactured wing to a homemade one, but there's really no comparison.
Rut

 

[nomad]

Rut, I have a set of Amco wings that I bought on flea bay that were supposed to fit my BE. They don't and the quality is so good that I haven't had the heart to cut them to fit. They are designed for a car with cut down doors....I'm thinking T series MG or TR 2 or 3. The bottom of the wing is bent out a bit. If anyone knows what they fit I could sell them on to someone that could use them. They are like new.

Kurt.

 

[Rut]

Kurt,
Can you post a picture? I'll post a picture of my TR4a Amco wings with measurements and we can compare the fit. The TR4 and Bugeye wings should be pretty close.
Rut

 

[59diamond]

I have a real nice set of windwings on my car presently that i got off the internet from Philips Plastics in Phoenix Arizona about two years ago.
He made the wind wings and even engraved them with what ever you wanted on them. It was an interesting situation. The wind wings were excellent and the hardware he used was interesting. He would buy windwings made for and MGA that Moss sells just to get the hardware and then throw away the wind wings and use the hardware on the wind wings he made. I contacted him about six months ago to see if he would make a set for me as a spare and a set for Jim Gruber. He said he didn't make them anymore because the MGA wind wings he bought from Moss had gone up to much in cost fro him to make a profit, plus the guy that dis the engraving had retired. So he said he would make me two sets without any engraving and no hardware since I had been such a good customer and I would have to use my existing hardware or buy MGA wind wings to get the hardware. So as of now Jim and I have wind wings and no hardware. Alan Fisher is out of commission for about a month because of an operation but said he would make the hardware for Jim and me in a month or so. So that is where it stands.

 

[twas_brillig]

I kind of prefer to characterize Alan's as 'bespoke', rather than home-made. But they are home-made. I didn't have any wind wings, nor a pattern, so I'm more than content with the product. Jeff M did a great job of polishing the edges and the hardware has worked well enough over the last month.
There's a fair number of folks supplying windwings for a variety of applications, but the hardware is the problem. 59diamond confirms that the MGA hardware works; from looking at the Moss Motors catalogue their wind wings for the side curtain 'big' Healeys would probably also work. Now - can anyone find out/identify where Moss sources their hardware from, as it's gotta be commercially available.
The ones I got from Alan had matching hardware, but I would like to replace the allen head mounting screws with a thumb screw style so they could be easily dismounted.
I just measured the aluminum 'U' channel that Alan used (in case anyone wishes to fabricate their own mounts) and it's 5/8" wide, and a bit less than 1/16" thick. Doug

 

[Rut]

The Cobra folks do a lot of wind wings and you can get the hardware from several sources as well as a complete set.
Rut
https://www.finishlineaccessories.com/c-66-windshield.aspx

 

[59diamond]

I asked moss if i could just buy the hardware from them and they said no. The moss person said that the MGA Wind Wings came from China and that is all he knew and said that I would have to deal directly with China. Good luck with that. I looked at the Cobra website but I don't think they will work.

 

[nomad]

Kurt,
Can you post a picture? I'll post a picture of my TR4a Amco wings with measurements and we can compare the fit. The TR4 and Bugeye wings should be pretty close.
Rut

I haven't posted a pic in a long time and am swamped right now. Figure it out later for a different post.

Kurt

 

[Jim_Gruber]

The Finish Line Wings would require drilling a hole in the Windshield Pillar to mount. Bill is looking for a solution that could be installed with a Set Screw. I found a variety of types by googling Wind Winds and Hardware. The Caterham folks also have some interesting brackets but all would require drilling a mounting hole.