Prototype Cheap assed wind screen

Post by **Briano1234** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 1:18 pm

Finished the prototype had to buy more snaps....@ 39 degrees I was plenty warm with the heater and a sweat shirt

very rough, but very doable... only drilled 6 itty bitty holes for the snaps
and for the finished product I am going to use smoke vinyl, or blue.

CalAltaDubber · Post by **CalAltaDubber** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 2:17 pm

Cool, How long do you think before we see the finished product?

Post by **Briano1234** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 2:29 pm

couple o week's I spose, I have to think on it for a bit, then rebuild it. I will however take pics as it is assembled.

Post by **Calimus** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 2:59 pm

Looks prety good so far. Be interesting to see what you sew up.

J-Dub · Post by **J-Dub** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:36 pm

Looks good the only problem i could see is it getting caught by the wind and ripped off. The windscreens have little holes to let air pass through them.

lowredcabrio · Post by **lowredcabrio** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:51 pm

looks pretty cool.

when will these be up for mass production?

Post by **Briano1234** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:14 am

J-Dub wrote:Looks good the only problem i could see is it getting caught by the wind and ripped off. The windscreens have little holes to let air pass through them.

nope, it dont....I ran it at 70mph, no worries..

Post by **Briano1234** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:16 am

Calimus wrote:Looks prety good so far. Be interesting to see what you sew up.

The only thing i sewed was the velcro to hold it to the parcel shelf ....

Post by **Briano1234** » Thu Nov 10, 2005 12:18 am

lowredcabrio wrote:looks pretty cool. when will these be up for mass production?

That is why I do things ands post the pics. for DIY'ers. I have to make a template to cut the vinyl then all will be well up for grabs.

gull · Post by **gull** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:58 pm

I just completed my own version of a cheap-assed wind blocker. It's not quite as sophisticated as Briano's design, but it works pretty well. Here are some pics:

The fabric is 100% polyester chiffon, from the local Jo-Ann Fabrics. It was on sale for $5 per yard, then marked down an additional 50%. I used a little over a yard. (I actually bought four yards, because I wanted extra in case I screwed up.

) Other materials used:

(1) 3/8" diameter, 36" dowel
(1) 1/4" diameter, 48" dowel
(1) 42-60" adjustable shower curtain rod
(3) 10" mini-bungees
Black spray paint (for the dowels)
Thread, etc.

My sewing skills had atrophied considerably since I was in 4-H, but i got the thing together. One nice thing about polyester is you don't have to hem the edges to keep them from fraying; you can just singe them with a lighter and the threads will melt together. I did a rough drawing before I started; I'm including it here in case someone wants measurements to build something similar. If you're short you might want to subtract a couple of inches from the length -- I built in the assumption that the seatbacks would press against the fabric and stretch it a bit.

So how does it work? Pretty darn well. My ponytail no longer comes around and hits me in the face. The dominant wind direction is now upwards, not forwards. The car is now comfortable on the freeway with temperatures in the mid-50s, whereas before I would have wanted it to be at least 65F out before driving at speed.

A disadvantage compared to Briano's design is you can't access the back seat from the front seats with the wind blocker in place. Also, the fabric creates some wind noise, although it's not nearly as loud as the battering about the ears you get from the turbulence without it. The view out the back is dimmed and blurred a little, but you can still see what's back there.