drhasegawa Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 After experiencing fracture of the front fender stay several times after exceeding 130,000 km mileage, which were treated with welding with a central core graft again and again, I make judgements that the welding is no longer the solution, since after the fracture point is treated with welding, the other area is suffering from the mechanical stress and a new rupture happens. My new approach is to replace the cycle fender with the clamshell fender of Caterham. After successfully acquired Caterham's clamshell-type fender on the net auction with reasonable price (circa 50,000 Yen including shipping cost), my Birkin entered the garage of Elite Motors (red arrows indicate the fractured cycle fender in image 104023s) and successfully installed, thanks to Meister Sakamoto (CEO), too), who showed me the installment of front (images 06 and 08) and middle(image 07) stays are MUST. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 It's a visual statement but you pull it off! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IamScotticus Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 Thsts a propper Crossflow. I have often wondered if the middle wing supports were necessary? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 You might weld a tab or add a bolt to those braces and paint them. I assume there is no framing behind the skin in that area. See photos for suggestions, traditional braces, and the traditional location. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MV8 Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 6 hours ago, IamScotticus said: Thsts a propper Crossflow. I have often wondered if the middle wing supports were necessary? Probably necessary to prevent stress cracking in the gel coat, long term. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christopher smith Posted September 22 Share Posted September 22 I always liked the look of Lotus clamshells as they were required by USA law early on as in the series 2. My series 1 was equipped with clamshells by a previous owner in the UK so I stuck with them. I used to race a Sunbeam Alpine against the 7 America model in SCCA F Production ( the one with the AH Sprite motor , the super 7 was in D back then) and admired that look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drhasegawa Posted September 23 Author Share Posted September 23 13 hours ago, MV8 said: You might weld a tab or add a bolt to those braces and paint them. I assume there is no framing behind the skin in that area. See photos for suggestions, traditional braces, and the traditional location. Thanx for your suggestion. I would add strong adhesive under the indicated point of the second stay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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