wind Deflecters, anyone built their own??
 

Need some for my Sonic and can't find what I want. The "Wind-Aways" are close but I don't want to have to mess w/the nuts to install/remove.
I'm thinking more of hinged unit's where I cold lay them flat on the windshield when not in use and also would allow my mooring cover to fit.
I did a search of this site and there is tons of threads on the subject but still not seeing what I wanted.

Any pix's, idea's, experiences would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

Gary

I had the Wind-Aways for my old Nordic, I thought they were good. It really wasn't a big deal to get them on or off. The nice thing was after a run I could remove them and didn't have any hardware attached to my wind screen. Some of the permanent mounts look horrible since they're always there and some you have to drill into your windscreen or fairing.

I like them too.
 

Can hardly build them my self Vs their cost but my boat has an old school windshield w/a box aluminum frame around it's perimeter and then a second box rail along the top to act as a handle.
The other thing is storage. When I restored this thing I went way above/beyond to gain and retain as much storage space as possible.
I fight like hell before giving any of it up ;) (since we weekend on it)
I know the deflectors don't take up much space but in this small of a boat they'll get beat up + the risk of losing hardware.
I plan to spend some time this week putzing with it and see what makes sense.
Funny too, I must be getting old. Old boat had open exhaust and this one does not. At cruise, the only thing you can hear is the wind and I'm still *****ing :cartman:
Course it would be nice to be able to hear the stereo underway also.

I too would like to find a place to buy some clear wind screens. I now have two of the smoked ones, and except for the most sunny days, it's hard to sit in my bolsters and see straight ahead. I have the wrap around rail and no windshield so I really need these things. I like the hardware on the my current ones, because they will stay up even at 80.

Just ordered the plexi glass to build my own. Really liked the wind aways but don't think they're big enough for what I want and I'm going to try and hinge mine so I can just lay them flat and leave them mounted to the windshield when not needed.
Am having flashbacks about them breaking lose and smacking someone in the face though. Back in my kneel down racing days I built my own clear windshields and had one shatter and it spent most of that race shredding my face. My friends say that explains a lot though ;)

....Ran across these....

http://www.finneys.com/images/winflaps/wflp1.png

http://www.finneys.com/windflaps.html


Doug

I like them.
 

My windshield frames are square though so those mounts won't work. Also, I'm making mine 24" long and looking at 9" tall.
My boat is small enough that you don't sit very deep in the cockpit so you have a lot of exposure to the wind as is.
Funny, I had an identical rig to this one and the wind was never an issue. I had open exhaust on those motors too so it was obnoxious.
I guess keeping the motors quiet on this one was such a nice surprise that you then realize that wind noise is all you have. May actually be able to hear the stereo @ speed for the first time ever ;)

I LOVED them on my Checkmate.. Couldn't hear the engine or stereo without 'em...

Not to mention the 40 degree wind in the face when I lived in Wisconsin....

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p...g?t=1274182359

Do the Wind Aways fold down when not in use or adjust for "fine tuning?"

No.
 

They rigid mount w/thumb screws. They do have two different style mounting brackets though so you have a choice of two angles depending on windshield angle.
One of my *****es is having to remove/install them every time you use them and then store them w/o getting them all scratched up. Most mooring covers will not fit w/them on.

I love the ones on the newer Sunsations. I wish I knew where to get that style mount.

Any..
 

pix's you could share??? I have the plexiglass but the design is still in my head.

Thanks for the info. It wasn't clear on their site.

Is there another alternative to the Wind Aways that adjust? I've looked and searched with no luck.


Do you have some Wind Aways you want to get rid of? :D

Thanks to a member on this board I just ordered hinges for mine. Should be perfect for what I am doing. I'll post pix's when they're done/installed.

Here's my versions installed. Adjustable friction hinges and 9" X 24" deflectors.
I really like how they came out. Haven't run the boat yet to see if the hinges are strong enough to hold them in the up position but I've got some tricks up my sleeve if not. I used 4 hinges per deflector too so I should be fine. W/them folded down you don't even notice them on the boat. The shot in the up position is an optical illusion. They don't look near that big. They are the same height as the Wind Aways.
In the down position you don't even notice them from the cockpit.

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...deflectors.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...eflectors4.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...eflectors3.jpg

Where did you find these parts at, to build these? Did you have the wind screens cut and then buy the hinges locally?

If these do give you problems staying up, while underway, what kind of tricks do you have planned to hold them up?

MSC Industrail Supply.
 

Go to mscdirect.com
I think I've got $100. in everything. I bought one 1/4" piece of plexiglass 24" square and 8 friction hinges.
Used a regular circular saw (table saw is better but my neighbor has mine) to cut it down to two 9" X 24" pieces w/4 hinges on each.
The plastic cuts about like plywood as long as keep it stable while cutting. I cleaned the edges up w/a long board and various grits of sand paper and radioused the corners w/a sanding disc on/my 4" grinder.
I bought grommets locally to use as bushings in the bolt holes in the plexi to help prevent cracking.
The hinges have an adjuster screw for tension. If they won't stay put at the highest setting I'll disassemble the hinges and then scuff the pins to add friction to them. Sorta teeth.

They make two different size hinges as well. Me being the skin flint, I of course bought the cheap ones. If they don't work the other version are twice the size (and money) so we'll see

http://www1.mscdirect.com/cgi/NNSRIT...-SearchResults

How did you know which to choose? Acrylic, Plexiglass or Polycarbonate? Looks like you can get polycarbonate up to 1" thick.

they really look good btw.

Polycarbonate because...
 

as already stated, I'm a skin flint and it's cheap ;) I think the cheap acyrilc from Home depot would work fine also. It's not really going to be under any load to speak of and 90% of issues w/a project like this is poor mounting. You ever see the old boat windshields all cracked at the mounting holes?? the cheap boats are flexing at the deck/windshield joint but the rest is from poor installation.
And thanks.

Twin, thanks for all the info! :cool:


I would much rather have something I can fold down. I still don't want them to be permanent, though (mostly because of my cockpit cover). So I'm going to have to find something that clamps on my windscreen like the Wind Aways, but that has a hinge.

The search continues. :P

when we first put them on, at around 100, they sometimes did come back down,

but I know this sounds funny, but, if you open up the hinge, and put a couple pieces of sand or like bead blast grit, anything really into the hinge, where the tension screw goes through, it makes it harder for them to move, after that, we never had a problem, and we did put them up and down at times.

Awesome tip!
 

Thanks. And thanks for the tip on where to source the hinges too. I may not have problems since my turd won't quite run a 100 :cartman:

Tightened the screws all the way and they're now good to about 60 and at that point, wind in the face ain't a bad thing. Used it yesterday and loved them. One design update would be placement. Based on the rake and angle of my windshield you only get full effect if you stay towards sides of cockpit.
I love the things otherwise though. Especially like that you can just lay them down when not in use.
First time I got to let my modded motors eat too. They are happy puppies ;)
Cut 3/8" off the back of the hubs (removing the lip) on my Bravo 1"s to combat the mid range porpoise and help carry the bow. Drastic improvement on porpoising and slight on carrying the bow.
I'm really lucky to have had an identical rig that ran as good as it did or I'd be satisfied where I'm at.
Was very busy/choppy yesterday and had the wife on board. Saw 69.3 @ 6600 which is horrible slip #'s. Think I may have had a bit of down tab too based on conditions. Probably had a low 70's in it w/more room/decent water. The bad is that it took almost full up trim to get it (hence the slip #'s) and it still wasn't flying the bow like it should.
I always felt like I could have blown the old boat over if not on my A game. No way on this one. I think I have a combination of the low bow lift nature of the Bravo 1's and the stern lifting habits of the extended torpedo's on the Lightning lower's I built for this boat.
I'm going to switch to stock lowers and re-test it over the 4th w/the same wheels. If I don't see a drastic improvement, the Bravo's will be for sale ;)
Did get a chance to play in 2' - 3's in the Atlantic yesterday after getting enough beers in the wife to think it was fun. It was BIG fun and I had forgotten how much fun driving/working in the slop, in a light Vee bottom is!

Also, a special thanks to Ryan Beckley (on the board) for the guidance on the graphics for the side of the hull. Kinda thought I knew what I wanted then Ryan edumacated me ;)

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...xs/inlet60.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...xs/inlet59.jpg

http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/l...inlet61pt2.jpg

:lolhit:

My old man taught me......
 

(40 yrs ago), if the 1st mate ain't happy, ain't nobody happy.
W/no alcohol in her it doesn't take much (boat speed) to get slugged in the shoulder.
Add alcohol and the happy factor goes way up :thankyouthankyou:
Just sayin....

great job on the wind deflectors, very impressive !! Just curious and excuse me if this is a stupid suggestion but I am just thinking out loud here....... Is it possible to mimic the old style deflectors on the Cigarette's that would come up by themselves when the wind would push them up. if you did that you coud leave very little tension on the hinge so it would go up easy with the wind holding it in place. The problem to solve would be to have some sort of stop to only let them raise to the ideal angle you need for them to block the wind.......... just a thought, you did one hell of a job and they look great.....

Thanks...
 

for the compliment. I've not seen the versions your talking about but mine sometimes do that already. Would be fairly easy to adjust hinge tension to get them to pop up but I'm not sure I want them to.
You're right about the stops too. I expected that to be a hurdle to get over I wasn't able to get the hinges to hold them in position.

I hear you, sometimes you do want the wind in your face........that's what it's all about. As far as the Cig I was speaking of, a friend of mine had a mid to late 90's TG and the wind deflectors were sort of hidden in the deck. I would imagine they were pretty heavy, When you hit a good speed you would see and hear them just come right up to do there job......then as you slowed down they would drop back down out of view. Pretty neat pieces I must say. I always assumed they were stock on Cig's back then. I know someone on OSO now owns the boat I am speaking. Or I'm sure someone has a pic of one. And I'm sure there was a way to lock them down. Enjoy your Sonic, that's a great looking boat you have.............I am partial to anything that is Sonic........