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Bryan
11-23-2008, 02:22 PM
I am hoping to get some answers on installing the glare shield on a model V. I have the windshield and cowl installed and the panel is in place and I am trying to install the glare shield and not having much luck. The problem I am having is that the angle of the glare shield to windshield does not match. The center does seem to match but as I go to the sides it gets worse. As I hold the glare shield up to the windshield the glare shield then is about 3 inches above the instrument panel. The second problem is that as I try to keep a clean line of the glare shield to the cowl line it is again moving the glare sheild well above the panel. There is enough pressure on this at this point that I do not feel good about pulling the glare shield down onto the panel as I am afraid this may break the windshield. Has anyone else had this problem and if so what does a guy do to fix it? I am about ready to cut the bent portion of the glare shield off and lay it up next to the windshield where it needs to go and try installing new fiberglass onto it. This just seems like a lot of work. I would appreciate pictures or any suggestions as I have been fighting with this for some time and have had several friends come over to help and we have not been able to come up with a solution. Thanks ahead of time for any advice. Bryan

Dave S
11-23-2008, 05:47 PM
Bryan,

My Kitfox is a series 7, not a model V; however, from looking at other model V's I am not sure there is a much difference in technique for fitting up the glareshield. Obviously my experience is limited to building a single aircraft; but, with that qualification on my comments, I'd like to offer a few thoughts to consider.

The order of business, according to the manual that came with my series 7 is: Fit Boot cowl, fit the windshield then fit the glareshield with the instrument panel in place.

The first note in the manual preceding the glare shield fitting is: "Due to the curvature of the glareshield, it can be difficult to do the initial trimming, particularly around the diagonal braces of the fuselage just behind the windshield". I agree wholeheartedly with that comment......

1) I noticed that John Mc Bean's airplane did not use a "Y" cutout around the braces as the manual showed - I cheated, I copied John's which has a wider cutout on the front of the glareshield and that makes the installation of the glareshield a whole lot easier - I figured a little airflow through the glareshield over the radios was a good thing anyway.

2) I found that the flange on the front third of the glareshield fit the profile of the windshield quite well, however, as a person follows around the sides towards the windshield posts, the glareshield flange became less parallel to the windshield - left a narrow but increasing triangular void.

3) Rather than trying to make the glareshield conform to the curvature of the windshield on the sides, I set the glareshield so that the front edge matched the line of the boot cowl and so the glareshield laid flat onto the profile of the instrument panel. That little increasing triangular space between the windshield and the glareshield along the sides was made up with a piece of closed cell foam profiled to fill the gap - the side bolts go through the whole business. The two front screws fit just fine; but I got longer screws to go in the other 4 holes. In my installation - the top of the glareshield was essentially level and parallel to the centerline of the fuselage.

3) For the windshield, based on the windshield instructions, a person absolutely does not want to tighten another panel (like the glareshield) to the windshield in a way that would put any deformation stress on the windshield - that may invite a need for a new windshield. I pretty much let the boot cowl and windshield fit well and provide the structure; then, regarded the glareshield as a non-structural filler panel - sort of set in place and bolted down, but not really holding anything. other than itself

4) The absolute last part of the glareshield I trimmed was the part overhanging the instrument panel.

I don't know if this helps any; however, I have to say that I shared a few private moments of being somewhat perplexed about the glareshield fit; and, at least you will know that others have had to work through this too.

I don't know if there was more than one glareshield sold or not - at least:o this is how it worked out on mine.

Sincerely,

Dave S
St Paul, MN
Kitfox 7

Bryan
11-23-2008, 08:04 PM
Dave thanks so much for the help. Your explanation is exactly like what I am going through. I do have one question for you. In the area where you put the longer bolts through the windshield, foam, and glareshield, the head of the bolt and the nut would not have been parallel with them, so I would be concerned about stress on the windshield. What did you do for this? Again thanks for your help.

hansedj
11-24-2008, 06:31 PM
On our series 6 we had the same problem, it calls for 6 screws to hook the gliairshield to the windshield. We put the glairshield on the panel first then screwed it to the windshild and left the 2 outer screw off, so we have 4 screw holding the glairshield to the windshield. Holds just fine, seem like everytime we tried to put the outer screws in it would want to bow.

Dave S
11-25-2008, 07:06 PM
Bryan,

On N128DD, the spacing of the 6 screws was modified a bit. The manual called for 8" between the screws - the two front/center ones on each side of the braces were located about 5" apart, the remaining screws were approximately 6" apart. The attached photo shows somewhat of an idea about the distance from the last screws to the windshield post - this resulted in somewhat less of a gap, which was manageable, at the last screw.

The second part of the strategy was to stop tightening the screws just before any compression takes place. In this case - the last screw is just holding alignment - it is not compressing the assembly.

I think the idea of leaving the last two screws out, as suggested in the previous post, would work fine.

Sincerely,

Dave S
Kitfox 7
St Paul, MN

Bryan
11-26-2008, 08:01 AM
Thanks to all for the suggestions, and pics. I will keep working with it and hopefully make some headway soon. Bryan

n85ae
11-28-2008, 04:49 PM
I put a layer of plastic packing tape on the inside of the windshield, put
the cowl on and the glare shield in place. Then I sat with a sheet of balsa
wood and some scissors, and instant super glue. and piece by piece glued
in a nice transition out of balsa to match the cowling line. Then I pulled
out the glareshield and layed up a couple layers of glasscloth over the
balsa. Filled and sanded, and voila perfect fit. Upholstered over it with
fake leather and it looks great. Jeff

n85ae
11-28-2008, 04:53 PM
The plastic packing tape keeps superglue off the windshield, and superglue
won't stick to it.

Jeff

Bryan
11-29-2008, 02:35 PM
Thanks Jeff I am going to try something like this as my shield is just to far from fitting, so something has to be done to make it come out better than it is. Again thanks. Bryan