Project Trench Foot

[Karl V]

Before I waste more of your time with another late-night post, I want to make 2 things quite clear:

1) The Nomad was never designed as a daily commute. If it was, it would be as bland as my X3 and 1/10 of the fun to drive
2) I bought it as a daily commute because I am slightly unhinged and love tinkering with a 10mm spanner. Nuff said…

So today was ‘Project Trench foot’.

Having designed a roof to keep off the sun and rain (viewtopic.php?f=54&t=17151) and attached mud flaps to keep out the… mud and water (viewtopic.php?f=54&t=17132#p288751), my attention turned to the gap at the bottom of the windscreen / top of the nose cone. This seemed to be an area that attracted water and took great pleasure in soaking my socks!

When moving forwards, water runs up the nose cone into this gap. When stopping or sitting still, water runs down the windscreen into this gap.

Using a bit of material left over from the roof, I’ve attached a strip to cover this gap. I spent minutes trying to figure out how to run it under the main crossbeam, but couldn’t work it out with discreet anchoring points / interfering with the windscreen wiper motor movement. So over the top it was!

The idea here is NOT to try and make it waterproof – King Cnut I ain’t! Instead, the idea is that any water hitting this area will filter off to the sides and not run relentlessly onto my feet, soaking my go fast / go slow sock.

Early tests with a hosepipe seem positive. As soon as it next rains, I will be out there going fast and stopping quickly, challenging Mother Nature.

If you’re reading this a potential Nomad owner – or on the waiting list – please don’t read my list of projects as issues with the car. As explained above, I bought this car knowing it was not a daily commute, but I made a little a promise to the wife that it would be. So in essence, I have sold my soul... Armed with a 10mm spanner, I am trying to redeem myself. I'm sure you understand.

You won’t read about me having to rebuild gearboxes or replacing brakelines. Ariel have taken care of the important stuff.This is just 'old man' stuff...

Cheers.

In the raw, the material does not fit well due to the angle of the crossbeam.

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With the bonnet panel on, 70% is hidden, leaving the underlying material to channel wet away from the socks.

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[Karl V]

Project Trenchfoot update...

Thanks to [mention]stupot[/mention] finding a wide / deep rubber seal ( I'm experimenting with a new way of sealing the gap between bodywork and windscreen.

The sailcloth has worked well over the winter, but this new miracle seal seemed like too good a find to pass up.

The strips sit quite snugly, but they are easy to pull out. Time will tell if it fits snugly enough to not need any further 'gumming in'.

I've taken the opportunity to also plug the small gap on the sides of the windscreen, I'm convinced that this is where the rain seems to come in and then sprays straight into your face at higher speeds. My hope is this also tackles this topic too - https://www.ariel.club/forum/viewtopic.php?f=54&t=17087

Just wanted to share in case any others out there wanted to do some experimenting too. Could be £20 well spent and 100% 'undo-able'!

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[gtm]

Hi [mention]Karl V[/mention] !

Thats grrrrreat, Ive been looking at this for months in anticipation of getting my car friday and have spent about 50 euros or more on random seals, draught excluders, moldable rubber / plastic, helicopter tape and had all sorts of ideas.... which is, as you say, all part of the fun. Now it seems you have ruined my fun and thanks to [mention]stupot[/mention] you have ruined my fun and I will make my 14th purchase from amazon over the last 4 weeks all nomad related.

It looks like it works a treat, but I guess a few hard bounced experiences on rough lanes will tell the truth.

Roll on friday for collection... and then a wet saturday for fitting this as it will arrive prime time tomorrow.

THANKS.... I also intend to weather the car as much as I can.... even though barcelona does not have as much rain as birmingham, but well... its all part of the fun!

[77_TYX]

thanks for the link. I've just ordered 2 strips.

[GavM]

Do these strips need to be glued in and do they stay in place at motorway speeds?

[nfcf]

They don't need to be glued in for use on the road. I found the ones up the side of the windscreen can fall out on rough terrain but the ones across the dash stay firmly in place. No big loss as I found the sides one didn't make a huge difference as water whips round the bar anyway.

[GavM]

Nfcf...found exactly the same thing. Side ones just won't stay with any spirited driving.

[Jerry]

Nfcf...found exactly the same thing. Side ones just won't stay with any spirited driving.

I tried these and have since removed them. Only solution I guess is to bond them in place.