Brief Description: Windshield Mounting & Bezel Fabrication - Part 01
Next to the sliding part of the RV-8 canopy, mounting the windshield and making a well-fitting bezel for it is the hardest and most frustrating part of the whole project. The plans call for making the windshield bezel out of a series of fiberglass lay-ups over the top after mounting the Plexiglass to the roll bar. I have yet to see one of these that looks very good. On Ruby 1.0, I custom fabricated a sheet metal bezel out of .032 2024 and was very pleased with the look and utility of it. The only draw back was the fact that I had to make it in two pieces because I didn't have wide enough material on hand at the time to make it one contiguous piece. On Ruby 2.0, I planned ahead and ordered a sheet of aluminum that was wide enough to make the bezel in one piece. As it turns out, getting a good fit when doing it in a single piece is exponentially more difficult because of all the odd bends and bevels that have to be covered and the material laid flat on.
Since there isn't a huge build-up of fiberglass on the top of the windscreen, I hand to make little custom length spacers that go under the Plexiglass all the way around to assure that the top of the windshield matches the top of the sliding part of the canopy exactly. Maybe 1/32" higher to make sure that there isn't any interference when the canopy is opened and closed.
I took three tries to get a set of spacers that yielded a fit I was happy with, and three bezel paper dolls that fit like I liked. Once I had the pattern, I transferred it to the giant sheet of aluminum and then rough-cut it out with the Dremel tool and a #409 cutoff wheels. From there, it was into the vice for some filing with a giant, flat file. The bezel came out nearly perfect. It also fit amazing well considering all of the curvatures that had to be accommodated.
Cont. Next Log...
Custom spacers for mounting windscreen to roll bar.
Custom spacers for mounting windscreen to roll bar.
Custom spacers for mounting windscreen to roll bar.
