Spent some time out in the garage today. I decided to start to make the hinges for the moveable air assemblies, aka "batwings". The OEM setup seems relatively easy to make, its a 1-1/2" wide hinge that attaches to an l-bracket. First thing I needed to do was to extend the length of the hinges. The weldable hinges I bought at McMaster Carr are only 3/4 long. I welded metal to both ends of the hinge so that i could make them the length that I needed. After that I drilled some holes and a couple slots into the hinge. My slots are not the best as I have to drill a hole and then file the slot in. Probably 50 better ways to do this. The second part is an l-bracket. This is the part that bolts to the rear fender while the hinge bolts to the batwing.
Before you ask why didn't I just make the hinge and l-bracket one piece... well, by leaving it as two pieces I now have adjust-ability in all three axis, forward/reverse, left/right and up/down. I think this is why the OEM hinges are the same way?? So far I made 1 set, 3 more to go but I am already tired of making hinges...
Next, I decided to see how well the engine trim pieces and the engine cover that Nate (Inspire) made. If you read my build on the other site, you will know that I needed to move the firewall forward in order to get the trim pieces to fit properly.
In case you missed that, the Venta-R is not long enough to use the OEM engine trim without some modifications. Now it fits like it should.
Then came the Engine cover... Since it was not design to fit any engine specifically, I needed to notch it quite a bit to get it into the correct position and height. This was expected. Nate is also making me a new carbon covered center section that fits the OEM emblem. Hopefully he completes that sometime soon.