Hi Dan, I'm not much of a "car show" person as it's more fun to drive than to wash my cars! However, I was badgered into putting #007 in the show this year by my race buddies. It was interesting how much attention it drew. A lot of people asked if it was FFR's car. That also surprised me so many people are aware of the kit and the company.
One of the judges of the concours is a Mk IV FFR Roadster owner and he asked me a bunch of questions.
Yes, the grill has bothered me for a long time (
http://www.ffcars.com/forums/120-fa...23880-grille-not-quite-square-symetrical.html 07/2009) I'm not sure if I was the 1st to notice it, but might have been the first to post here about it. By wiggling the radiator and grill in their mounts and then tightening them, I was able to conceal the defect a bit, but then I had the front apart again and wasn't as careful about reassembly the 2nd time. So, it's about as bad as it can be in appearance right now. Correcting the problem with the grill now might entail me doing a bit more work with the side panels and hood. Not sure it's what I want to do now. I guess the BondMobile #007 will always have to be raising an eyebrow!
I really am enjoying going "topless" this summer. It's delightful to have a roadster again. It's not bad at all as far as wind buffetting goes. Only when there's a stiff cross wind is it a bit much (15mph to 25 mph). Then, I ran the electric windows up and that took care of the problem. I was surprised by two things about the front roadster glass: 1) there's really no need for "wind wings" and 2) it kills a lot less bugs than does the Hardtop glass. Must be the deeper rake of the windscreen that saves the poor mosquitos!
At 5'8" the wind "blow drys" my hair (what's left of it) and I have a clear view forward. Some of the taller owners say the upper frame is somewhat centered in their view, but for me it's just fine (FFR Roadster seats).
The car's actually relatively quiet at speed (60 to 75 MPH) and I can even carry on a conversation with a passenger. The Bassani exhaust sounds REALLY great at 3000 RPM in roadster form! It barks at that rpm so it coaxes me to tease the dog! Otherwise the exhaust note is civilized enough to keep the neighbors happy.
When we reassembled the roadster windscreen after painting, the lower frame split in the same place both left and right sides (see photo above). I was concerned about putting stress on the glass that way, so didn't use it last summer. It appears the lower "U" was just "superglued" from three pieces of AL. I have a fellow who will weld it and then I'll get it painted again. Mine was a BETA kit, so doubt if the newer windscreen frames have this in common, and I've not heard of anyone else mentioning it. We were just sliding the glass back into the gaskets and it popped on both sides. No hard pushing on the glass, just no strength at those joints. The only other choice is to machine out grooves on the inside of the mating ends and make inserts that can be drilled and tapped to secure the sections (similar to how the top of the frame fits).
So, since I didn't get it repaired over the winter, I'm just driving it like it is. Summers are short in WI, so I'm attempting to get in as much roadster driving as possible. Odometer now reads 5300+ miles.
Best regards,