SL-C Nose Hinge Group Buy

[Scott]

We're shipping the first four tomorrow. We had to order some extra shoulder bolts from McMaster and it's the first time I've ever gotten a "Ships this Week" update. In any event, everyone should hear from me sometime next week regarding batch 1 and batch 2.

Ken is correct, they mount to the side of the brake duct openings. It's my plan to reinforce that area with a piece of aluminum, panel adhesive and maybe a little fiberglass. I'm not sure that it's necessary, but that's just the way that I roll. If you want to go this route, wait until you have the kit because you can use the Capture Plate as a clamp and you want to make sure that you don't do something that prevents it from fitting! The install should be straightforward with the provided drilling jig, but I'm working on instructions.

 

[Alex]

This style of hinge mount does not bolt to the Stantion. It bolts to the fibreglass nose at the side of the brake duct openings.

i was thinking of the struts being bolted to it - if they delaminate from the front end then the front end is going to flip down hard.

 

[Scott]

i was thinking of the struts being bolted to it - if they delaminate from the front end then the front end is going to flip down hard.

OK, now I understand what you are talking about -- the struts cause the vertical supports to delaminate while the nose is open. It is of course possible that the vertical nose supports could delaminate from the nose. My plan was to strengthen that interface with a fillet and some fiberglass well before I even considered a nose hinge.

When the nose is closed there is only ~25 pounds of pressure on each vertical support and when the nose is open the vast majority of the weight is supported by the shoulder bolts. One side delaminating wouldn't likely cause the other side to delaminate unless the wind was ripping. In any event there are two struts which have ball sockets with locking clips (all from McMaster so we assume that they're good quality). IMO it's a lot safer than cars with one strut or have a support that you or an observer can accidentally knock out. The only way to get a safer support would be to toss some bolts or rivets through the top of the nose;-)