Side Curtain Rebuilds
Rebuilding side curtains (or "sidescreens" if you are Down Under) is very character building. It's been a while since I did the last set, but here's a blow-by-blow description as I remember it.
- Find a friend.
- Grab one sidescreen, and move both perspex windows to the centre, so there is a gap on each side.
- Insert feet into the gaps you just created, on the lower edge of the sidescreen.
- With both hands, grip the centre top of the sidescreen and pull it up whilst pushing with your feet.
- Your friend can grip the front window (which should be the outside sheet), middle three fingers at the back, thumb and little finger at the front, and bend it.
- With a little jiggling and tugging it will come out in one piece.
- Repeat to remove the rear sheet.
Now clean everything until it's spotless, scrape all the glue etc out of the runners where the felt goes, wash it out with some auto thinners if necessary, repolish the screen and if you are really fussy get it re-anodised. Note - anodising is a surface coating. You really should have the anodising stripped off, then polish the frame, then get it re-anodised.
You know what it says in the manuals - "assembly is the reverse of dis-assembly". Except for the felt.
So get both perspex windows into the frame (you know - with both feet and a friend), gather your felt, and lets go.
- Position the window to the back of the frame.
- Lay the felt in the exposed channel (you will only get about 8" in) with about 2" hanging out at the back, and the remainder hanging out at the front.
- Slide the window over the felt up to the front of the frame.
- Slide the window to the back of the frame, pulling on the short felt tail at the same time. The felt will come back with the window.
- Feed in another 8" of felt and repeat the process.
- When you have all the felt in position, you can lift the ends out of the channel, apply some glue, put the felt back and run over it with the window to stick it down.
One more little trick I remember. You can polish the front and rear edges of the perspex window, but under no circumstances should you polish the top and bottom edges. I actually rough them up a little. If the top and bottom edges are smooth, then the rear window will open (slide forwards) under heavy braking, and the front one will open (slide backwards) under the fierce acceleration enjoyed by all Sprite and Midget owners.
That's about it.
Just remember: That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
and avagoodday
Colin
Courtesy Tony Vanden Hoogen, another clever way...
