NS F355 Project (Page 36/73)
Bloozberry JAN 26, 06:09 PM
Excellent! Bear in mind that a fairly thick portion of the windshield forward edge is done in black fader tape. I'll have to go measure to see how far up from the base of the windshield it goes, but as I recall it's a good 4" - 5" or so. That means you can probably bridge the top edge of your curved piece with another flat, horizontal crescent shaped section all the way over to the OEM windshield flange.
Yarmouth Fiero JAN 26, 06:18 PM
Thanks Blooz. I never considered to have a second surface under the glass. I think before I do the final welding, I may attempt to bring home a windshield to confirm the shape and location is correct. I think the yellow template we made was a pretty close match though.
Yarmouth Fiero JAN 26, 06:27 PM
Here is a good picture of our windshields. You are right about the wide frit but its at the top.

My mistake. That was comparing a stock windshield against the template of our extended windshield.



Here is a picture of the extended windshield showing the wide frit along the bottom.

edit: remove photo of family member

[This message has been edited by Yarmouth Fiero (edited 02-23-2015).]

Yarmouth Fiero JAN 26, 06:48 PM
Just for clarification, I am planning to put a vertical 3/4" x 1/8" flatbar along the entire length of the edge of the windshield mounting surface. For the picture I just used a short piece of flatbar to hold the part at the correct angle.
Bloozberry JAN 26, 09:25 PM
I forgot to measure the "frit" (weird word...to me, that's just French fry in French.) Anyways, the point I was trying to make earlier is that we'll need something to support the leading edge of the extended dash board to. Leaving it hollow between the OEM windshield mount and your new mount may make that difficult. Your thoughts?
Yarmouth Fiero JAN 27, 05:40 AM
Yes, I agree about not leaving a void that could cause a problem later. After reading your post again last night I suddenly realized what you meant by " horizontal crescent shaped section". Perhaps I could fill in part of the area with a horizontal plate or a series of longitudinal flat bars to offer support to the dash. I do need to keep the center area open for access to wiper pivot mechanism. I'll proceed with the cowl covering plate and the lower windshield mounting surface and then come up with a suitable solution to the issue you pointed out. Perhaps an elegant solution will present itself by then.
355Fiero JAN 27, 01:52 PM
Graham;

Looking nice. Remember that by the time the screen in in place, you will be very hard pressed to get access into the front curved section of the extended screen/dash. Keeping an access panel available for fixing the wiper mechanisms is a good idea, however, getting at it from the top may well be problematic. The angle, room under the screen in that area is pretty limited. Put the plastic screen template you have in place or even the screen and see how much hand/arm room you have to do any work on the mechanism pivot with it all in place and see whether it still works out. I don't think it will once the screen is in place if I remember correctly.

One suggestion is to create a plate in the centre of the front firewall from the cockpit side similar to what you did for the passenger side pivot, or do the same in the front trunk wall of the cowl.

Cheers
Don
Yarmouth Fiero JAN 27, 02:21 PM
Thanks for the input Don. I know exactly what you mean. The glass is going to be very low and close to the dash. From inside, all I have to reach is the nut on the top of the center pivot sticking up. For actual access to the pivot, your suggestion is spot on. When I open the front of the firewall to make the new air intake that will line up with the front hood vent, I am hoping there is enough room to get my fingers inside the cowl area. If not, I'll have to do something from the back side of the front firewall, although its pretty crowded with dash controls and supply ducting.
Yarmouth Fiero FEB 09, 08:36 PM
Well, I'm still chipping away at the task of covering up the front cowl to accomodate the extended windshield. I went with a piece of 16 gauge 316 stainless steel since it won't be easy to paint the underside of the sheet once its welded in place and it will be exposed to the damp Nova Scotia salt air as it passes through the hvac system. It was alot of work making it fit just right over the curves and bumps of the front cowl area. I'll make an accurate drawing / template of the finished plate incase anyone else decides to modify their cowl too.









With the cowl covering plate laying in place, I laid the lower windshield flange on top to give an idea of how it will look. That is my second attempt at the flange and it still needs tweeking........ or replacing with a third attempt.



Next step will be to get it all fitting exactly how I want it and then tack it in place. I'm still thinking about testing the shape with one of my extended windshields before final welding. At the moment, they are hibernating at Blooz's place for the winter. Just gotta find the time to get it all done before the spring. Still lots of High School hockey season left. Here's my youngest, #9, who you've seen throughout this thread, cutting hard for the net. GO VIKINGS!

edit: remove photo of family member

[This message has been edited by Yarmouth Fiero (edited 02-23-2015).]

Bloozberry FEB 09, 09:55 PM
The cowl plate look good Graham... don't be throwing away any templates!