knock up cheap wind deflector NC

Technical Area Body, Interior & Styling
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My and the wife will be embarking on an 8 day drive through europe later this year, so i’m looking to knock up a wind deflector.

In all fairness, i don’t think the built in one is bad, and for the amount of miles we normally do, it’s sufficient.

However, driving for lengthy periods might take it’s toll.

As it’s unlikely to get much use after we get back, i don’t wish to fix anything permanent, or stat drilling holes in any trim and i’m not keen on spending upwards of £100 for something that will see little use.

 

Has anyone seen anything or maybe manufactured anything that can be clipped in easily.

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 if you are as tall as i am & you have both seats right back to the bulkhead, how about just a plain piece of perspex (top edge nicely round sanded) the whole width of the seats & as high/low as you want jamned betwix headrest & roll bar. or if you have the seats forward, use a couple of bungy straps. it’s only temporary so who cares what it looks like (that’ll upset the style purists )

actually having just thought of that, I might try it myself (with a piece of cardboard first); how hard can it be?  

if you do it before me, post a pic

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Hi Rob here,

 

Have a 1992 Eunos but the one I have made could be adapted for your car. It is made out of a Childs Sun Blocker the mesh type for the windows of a car just make shure you get one with a large panel for the rear window they were found at Argos for a fiver four years ago,

 

Cheers Rob.

5

I have never done such a thing, but if you were to use Perspex then you could maybe drill it and use zip ties to secure to the rollbars?

Indeed I would imagine zip/cable ties in conjunction with any stiff mesh material could work for you. 

I have a Mk1, which has no rollbar, and an MX5 parts mesh wind deflector, it requires no drilling and just bolts into two existing bolts.

It changed driving the car on the motorway from a pain in the neck (literally).

 

Google turns this up:  http://forum.miata.net/vb/showthread.php?t=221553

So some stiff, clear plastic from B+Q plus some velcro cable ties from Maplin should do the job.

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My dads done one for his NC out of smoked Perspex. Looks the part and works well

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I’m rubbish at this sort of stuff.

I can fix just about anything, but fabricate from scratch is not my forte.

I just spent about 2.5 hours, cutting, filing, sanding and shaping a piece of perspex, it looked rubbish, so i lobbed it in the bin.

 

Besides that, i didn’t realise it was only plastic film protected on one side, so was a mess by the time i’d done lobbing it about the garage.

 

Maybe I’ll buy a scarf.

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I still reckon it’s a goer as some people have done it already.Blink
Learning from your experience I am going to look for some good quality plastic & try it.

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How about cling film around the two roll hoops?

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I’m currently looking at those sunshade things on teabay. 

 

They are only a couple of quid.

Just need to go outside and measure up.

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I picked up a genuine Mazda one secondhand last year - was considerably less than the new price. Also seen these on ebay - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Mazda-mx5-wind-deflector-blocker-Mk3-2-1-/151618739891?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item234d2e5eb3 - look good and at a good price. 

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If it turns hot, like it was in Spain when I went, the last thing you want is to block the wind!

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I’ve seen those and another one similar.

Spending £50 on perspex worries me that I’ll scratch it.

I’ve ordered one of those mesh sunscreens for a few quid.

If i can’t get it to work as a wind breaker then the daughter can have it for the kids, which will probably end up there after the trip either way.

For normal Sunday summer fun, the built in one is sufficient.

 

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We have done a couple of long trips around Europe over the last two years in a Mk3 with a standard windblocker and can’t say that we noticed any issues. A bigger problem may be spending all day in the sun with the roof down. My top tip is to wear a polo shirt or similar with a collar so that you can turn up the collar to protect your neck if necessary. Looks cool too

As RichardN says, the breeze can be most welcome at times. Also the factory windblocker is aerodynamically designed and, in my experience, some after market ones can be noisy or flap about in the wind.

 

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just cut a piece of cardboard & tried it round the block 

it works very very well, at 40mph there is no draft so I’m guessing that at speed there will still be a good block from the wind.

going to look for plastic/perspex or whatever tomorrow.

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keep us posted.