Like most (all) Sevens, my Tiger Avon was starting to get a lot of stone chip damage on the fronts of the rear arches. A lot of this comes from stones that are thrown up by the front wheels. Some people fit mud-flaps to the front cycle wings, but I don't really like the look of these - too much like a rally car.
I decided to follow the crowd and add stone guards to the front of the rear wings. These also help prevent damage when getting in/out of the car. To make these I used cardboard templates to transfer the dimensions to the 1mm aluminium sheet. The shapes were then cut out using a guillotine (lovely straight edges that can't be achieved with tin snips or a jigsaw).
The aluminium was then shaped to the curvature of the arches by gently bending around a cylindrical plastic kitchen bin. Holes were drilled for the rivets and then 2 or 3 coats of spray etch primer were added.
I decided to follow the crowd and add stone guards to the front of the rear wings. These also help prevent damage when getting in/out of the car. To make these I used cardboard templates to transfer the dimensions to the 1mm aluminium sheet. The shapes were then cut out using a guillotine (lovely straight edges that can't be achieved with tin snips or a jigsaw).
The aluminium was then shaped to the curvature of the arches by gently bending around a cylindrical plastic kitchen bin. Holes were drilled for the rivets and then 2 or 3 coats of spray etch primer were added.
Thinking that most paints would chip off I decided to try using an automotive stone chip paint. Black Hycote Stone Guard spray paint to be exact. One 400ml can was enough to do about 2-3 coats. The formula of this paint contains particles of rubber.
Once dry the stone guards were riveted in place using black head pop rivets. I've been out for a spirited drive down some country lanes and the paint seems to be holding up very well - no chips yet. Let's see how they handle some high speed motorway driving.
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