In reply to Andrew Quine’s query:
“Indeed these screens have been a nightmare for some years to to me till I reached the present status as per attachments. My comments: For orientation of location I taped the frames into the aperture above the closed doors with a rather generous gap at the bottom to the door skin outside, to be filled by one of these self adhesive foam stripes which expand to almost 2 cm thickness once off the roll and protective strip pulled off. Used by builders. The bent steel shells are very stiff, can only be re-shaped in a vice off the frames. Frames are very flimsy and tend to be sucked out at even moderate speed, so need rather high pre-tension to ensure they are pressed tightly against the body at all times to minimise ingress of air and water. This pre-tension is provided by the angle between baseplate and shell of the clip and very hard to control. Rectangular is not enough, I’ve have had a few tries of tap-welding (?) plus opening the slot in the shell.
Following Martins pic, I would suggest to replace the short lozenge shaped rear base platelet by an L-shaped bigger one to lend the frame a bit more stiffness. The required angle is so big, that the frames’ top always slips into the aperture, to be then crushed once you close the door forcefully !! I Always have to pull out the window a bit with one hand, then close the door not fully, but ensure the frame will rest outside and then press home for the last inch. Means, your locking mechanism must snap in properly and easily. I have no door handles and locks on the outer skin!! Even with this pre-stress, the screens tend to open, which can be blocked by a little clip attached to the rain gutter
at the upper front corner, see pic from outside. The frame does slide underneath that clip ! The sliders provided by Archers are rather thin and tend to rattle within their guides. I have obtained better ones from a boat builder, originating from Switzerland. A little steel blade prevents the rattle, a steel grip outside gives a handle to open the slider and get access to the door handle inside ! German TUEV required me to use only “stamped” material to be prepared by authorized qualified builders, thus engraved into the window material, see pic. Archers could not provide this (even in the good old days pre-Brexit). I used Makrolon/Lexan, anti-scratch and anti-UV coated, supplied by a local provider of speed boat building stuff.To answer another question of Andrew Quinn, I have no “cladding” around the doors, just pure aluminum or paint ! Saves thousands
of micrograms ! I hope the above helps, if more questions, don’t hesitate… Another matter: The third pic is for weightwatchers and those in need of room: I’ve replaced my sofa-soft MAZDA MX5 seats by Tillet ‘s which a friend has covered with hand-stitched real cow hide. I still have to work on spring rates and dampers …… And one more: Anybody tried these famous Weller steel wheels, 5.5″ wide, and either 165/80 or 175/65 x13 rubber ?? Regards, Juergen” (Schaefer)
