Blocking the Wind

[65cobra1]

I've purchased a SPF from Dynamic in Reno, NV with additional work being done to it by R.E.D. (Also in Reno)

I expect to see the finished product within the next 60 days. (As a side comment, eveyone I've dealt with has kept their word, given me excellent advise and I'm happy with their service)

In late May, my wife and I are going to take a month or longer trip to Canada then down the East Coast to Louisiana and then back to the West Coast and home while visiting friends along the route.

We'd like to travel with the top down and some of that travel will be on interstates.

From our experience in street rods and classics, the wind hitting the back of ones head while driving most of the day gets tiring.

I thought that inserting Lexan inside the two roll hoops would possibly cut down the wind hitting the backs of our heads. R.E.D. has a friend in Reno with a Lexan factory that could do the job. It's up to me to decide.

My question is...Has anyone seen this type of installation or:
1) Will there be a ton of wind whistle?
3) Is the idea insufficient to accomplish the intended purpose?
4) Is it just a nutso idea and should I have another scotch and forget it?

I will appreciate your input
Ivan

[Toby]

65 cobra1,
Do a search on CC for this. About a year ago somebody built some wind blockers that mounted on the roll bar and really liked them.

Toby

[RedBarchetta]

Ivan, do some searches on fellow CC member Rob Frink. He has done this mod and says it works (and I think he has some pics in his gallery). Rob also manufactures some really, really cool portable billet collapsable jack stands (I keep a pair in my trunk, along with a small bottle jack).

Sounds like a fun journey! Pack ear plugs (I buy them in bulk from Home Cheapo...30 decibel reduction type). The wind wings help a lot, but you will still get buffeted to some degree.

-Dean #747

[Lowell W]

Ivan,

Not a bad idea, especially if you have the extra roll bar, which is also a good idea. I've noticed that if I put my arm up over the back of the cockpit, it cuts down on wind buffeting considerably and have thought about making some kind of a clear plastic shield, too. Seems to me I've seen such an installation but I can't recall where. It should be an easy installation and probably worth the time and trouble. If you do this, it would be great of you to post photos here.

Incidentally, my wife's Miata has a similar device which flips up with the top down and down out of the way with the top up.

Enjoy your car and your trip.

Lowell

edit: Jeez...both of you guys posted at the same time, a minute before I hit the button. Excellent suggestion: absolutely order a pair of Rob's jack stands and a scissors jack. The stands are too pretty to use but you'll be glad to have them if you have to do anything under the car when you're on the road.

[Buzzmobile]

I bet you could just slide the lexan between the seats and the back wall of the body in the cockpit and do just fine.

[wtm442]

Here is pic of Rob Frink's wind blocker

[65cobra1]

Steve...Rob Frink's wind blocker is a better idea than I had in mind. I'm going to send that pic to Steve in Reno and discuss it. (By the way, I ran a search using "Wind", "Frink", "Wind blockers", "Etc." and came up short...How did you bring up Frink?)

Lowell...I will definitely post the final install since it sounds like an idea thatll be useful.

Dean...Good idea re the ear plugs. We've ordered fitted 80db plugs so my wife and I could attempt to talk and listen to the XM especially on the longer trips through places like Texas (We have friends in Winnie)

Toby...I did the search (See above) and I guess I have more to learn about the search function...I'll keep working with it until it works better for me. By the way, we'll be seeing friends in Houma on our trip.

Buzzmobile...We considered sliding between the seats however we'll be packing the car cover and other goodies in that area plus we tried that idea on our '57 T-Bird and without some sort of attachment, it rattles a lot.

Thank you all for your useful input...I'll keep y'all posted.
Ivan

[imagine2frolic]

What about windscreens? That way you don't get the heat of the lexan on your neck when the sun is behind you. I use them for my cockpit on my cat. They breathe, and cut down the sun tremendously.

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by 65cobra1

How did you bring up Frink?

Ivan, do a "member search" under "rob frink". Under the R's he's about the 14th or 15th page in. You can then see where he posted last, then click on his camera icon to take you to his picture gallery. There are more pics of his windscreen there. You can also then PM or e-mail him. Great guy.

Regards,

-Dean

[Lowell W]

Here's Rob Frink's company's web site:

http://beaumontmetalworks.com/index.html

Lowell

[65cobra1]

...then click on his camera icon to take you to his picture gallery. There are more pics of his windscreen there. You can also then PM or e-mail him. Great guy. -Dean

Hi Dean, Thanks for the tip on finding Rob Frick...I did find him and all of the posts he sent however couldn't see a camera icon. Either I need better glasses or ??? I definitely want to see more pics of his wind blockers before I send him a PM.

Imagin2frolic, Re the windscreens idea...Could you give me a few more details?

Thanks to you both,
Ivan

[RedBarchetta]

Ivan,

Easy stuff. Just find a thread where Rob has posted and adjacent to his user ID you will see a little camera icon (we all have them). Click on the icon and it will automatically take you to that person's gallery. If there are no photos in the gallery, you will get a message/screen that says so. PM me if you still have trouble.

-Dean

[joey_hv]

I hate to be the devil's advocate here but, that is a looong, tiring drive, I know it sounds like a fun and novel idea to drive your Cobra cross country but
I just drove my Ford Explorer from Arizona to Louisiana and back and let me tell ya...next time I will visit orbitz.com. Louisiana is widely known for unpredictable rain coming out of nowhere, it is a 26 hr drive non-stop, major crosswinds through the Texas hill country, and rest areas and gas stations are few and far between.

Maybe you could trailer the Cobra, save miles on the engine and just drive it at and around the towns you will visit.

just my 2 cents, good luck to you and Godbless,

joey

[RedBarchetta]

joey, look up some threads from Hal Copple. He has two big brass ones that clank when he walks.

[65cobra1]

Dean, Thanks for helping me find the pics on Rob Frinks site. I'll contact him directly for details on design, etc.

Joey...I understand being leery about taking such a long trip. A couple of years ago, my wife and I made almost the same length trip in our '41 Chevy.

We had such a good time that we took a month-long trip in the '41 (Along with a buddy in their '57 Chevy) and explored the entire length of old Route 66.

We have a car hauler (We used it mostly when we had sand rails or wanted to take along the Tracker for grocery shopping while camping). However, after we whizzed by 72 years of age, my wife and I sat down and asked ourselves what was left on our list of things we still wanted to do. Since it's not feasible to go back to racing (We messed around racing for about 40 years and yes, we know, James Hylton looked pretty darn good at Daytona, but I'm not patient enough to beat on a race car all month long) we decided that it was time to quit procrastinating, get our Cobra then drive the dickens out of it while visiting many of our dear friends that are still healthy and vertical.

I think we'll be OK...We're adding the chip-resistant 3M "Stuff" along all of the leading edges and rear fenders, we'll check Olthoff site for windscreen tear-offs, we'll add some screening to both radiators, got a good motor for cruising, reasonable rear end ratio, got our ear plugs, a soft top to keep off most of the rain, a towel for the leaks and all of our credit cards are paid up! : What the heck! Why not!

The main reason we're going is in answer to the question that always floats to the surface during our family discussions..."If we didn't go for it, what neat experience will we be missing?"

Thank you all for your input. I truly 'preciate it.
Ivan

[CHANMADD]

A large portion of the wind comes in under the side windwings.I have been driving my car for 20 years and came up with a slightly different shape for the wings.I extended the bottoms and contoured them to the shape of the fender and it cuts the wind in the cockpit a lot.The only drawback is that they cannot be folded when you put the top up, but that only becomes an issue if you are travelling at 60 plus.

[Rick Parker]

There was someone on this site that designed and installed the very thing you are describing it was about 18 months to 2 yrs ago.

[rob frink]

...........

[RedBarchetta]

And to think we were trying to pull everyone's leg on this Rob Frink guy. Damn if he doesn't show up!

[65cobra1]

Rob,
Thanks for posting those pictures...All questions answered.

Assuming that your system is not proprietary, I'm going to send those photos to "My guy" in Reno for fabrication of the clamps and install of the plastic / Lexan.

Thanks for taking the time to post the pics...Really a big, big help!
Regards, Ivan