Faring Project For Excalibur
 

Well after four long months I finally received my aluminum fairing from a local fab shop. I have to say, although to took over twice as long to complete as the projected due date I think it turned out nicely!

I did not scale down or crop the front portion of the fairing like most people do, I kept mine exactly the same size as the original windshield. Mainly because I do not have a raised deck, my windshield meets right from the flat deck itself, I thought if I cropped the fairing it would look a little goofy. :crazy:

Anyway, by the first of next week it should be done being powder coated and ready for installation. I will post final pics then.

One winter project almost complete, by this time next month should have all of the Gaffrigs gauges, throttles, panels installed.


Spencer
WHITE-DIAMONDS

pic #2
 

another pic

pic #3
 

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pic #4
 

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Looks great!!

awesome! w-d...that looks real nice!

Lines and proportion look great. I would suggest a center brace though....................Roger1

Roger, its got corner and center braceing, you can kinda see it in photo #2. It is very, very strong.

White,
I'm planning on doing a similar fairing for a Magnum, I'm going to cut out wood patterns and have a fabricator cut and weld it. What gauge aluminum did you use? I hope you dont mind me asking, How much did it cost? It looks great!
Thanks in advance!
BOB G.

Bob, I used 3/16" aluminum, the entire front panel is made out of 5052 a bit softer type aluminum, reason being when they tried to make the bottom edge which is a very hard curve, the metal would split. The sides are same thickness just a bit stronger type aluminum.

To tell you the truth, I got a total of four quotes from different fab shops, I went from the big very well known shops to one that does this sort of work one project at a time, a one man show if you will. Anyway, the prices ranged from $900 - $1600 and after talking to Sean "thunderboat alley" on the forum, that price range was about what he paid on his old cig. So I thought I was in the right ballpark, until one of those four quotes was only $303.00!! Yes, $303.00!!! Now, don't get me wrong, this was not some shop in the back yard of some guys house. This was a very well known local company that does laser processing and metal forming and all type of fab work.

I swear the second that estimate came through my fax and I saw the $303.00 price I called the salesman immediately and said "you've got the job".

I mean the freakin aluminum stock cost more than $300 bucks!!

After this fairing project they told me to not tell anyone where I had it made becuase they do not want to make another one......especially for only $300 bucks!!

So Bob, unless you can get as lucky as I did, a real fair price is right about $1000 to get this project done correctly and professionally. It is much more difficult than I thought going into it, you would be surprised that it does not take much error to make this fairing project a nightmare if you are not very careful!!

Best of luck!

White,
Thanks for your help/suggestions! Looking forward to seeing photos of completed project.
BOB G.

looks great man . . .did you have any luck finding the seal you were looking for.

Looks good. What are you going to put under it btwn the faring and the boat?

Are you going to put something inside or is that the finished look?

As you may know I have been doing the same thing myself with Chart and it has been a strugle so if you got it done for that much then you are LUCKY!!!! :D:D

Jon

Glassdave, yes I did.....as most people know their are tons of BLACK seals/weatherstrip/molding but next to none that is WHITE. I finally found, of all obvious places Lowe's, a WHITE extreme temperature weatherstrip. It is 5/16" thick and 19/32" wide and comes in 10' lengths. It has an adhesive back and remains flexable from -40F to 140F. I think it will be the perfect seal to put between the faring and boat. For one to eaz up the tension where their might be a bit more gap and two to act as a sealant to keep the water out of the cockpit. Crazy enough the crap is made right here in Oklahoma!!

For anyone else that might need it:
M-D Building Products, Inc.
Oklahoma City, Ok 73118
Consumer Hotline:
1-800-348-3571
www.mdteam.com

or just go to your local Lowes.

:D

Jon, yep that will be the finished look as far as before the powder coat. The finish is as clean on the inside as out, the only areas that look a little "fabricated" are the front three corners where they welded extra braceing. It is just a few spot welds down a flat metal strip in each of the three corners. I think it will all look very finished and clean looking inside and out once the powder coat is applied.

Good luck to you and Chart, I have been keeping up with your progress. I think your faring will look nice once complete. Best of luck to you two!

Spencer

It mite be a little late to ask, but will you be able to see over that thing when you sit down? I only ask because I made that mistake on a 30 Scarab a few years ago. Looks like they did a nice job though. When I had mine made in 99 it cost about $400.00.

yep, not by much though, being 6' 2" does help......but being that I very rarely ever sit while I am driving, it really was not too much of a concern. But anyone out there planning on doing this same project, that is a very good point Madcow brought up! Not good to drive blind.:crazy: