I read another thread here about a car crash caused by the drivers attempt to avoid hitting an animal. Imagine what will happen with the chopped, stylish but ohh so tiny windscreen on a roadster if you hit even a light animal, as long as it is tall enough to slide over your hood? I'm just now in the process of making my own Duvall windscreen. Can not afford the 1200$ to buy one, and besides that it's more fun to make it myself, of course. With security in mind I decided to beef up the centre post. Some of you might don't like the look, but it will for sure withstand a lot more than the ordianry ones. The windscreen is not finished yet. The post will be hidden by some rounded plates (made by an exhaust bend). I can post more photos later, if you're interested. With the centre post this strong, the windscreen will probably bend down the cowl. To avoid that, I will add pipes from below the cowl and down to the floor and frame. Yes I know our 30's rods will never be very safe, but if it can help me keeping my head in the place where it belongs, I don't mind designing parts for both good looks and some safety.
I like the shape. Are you gonna add a roll bar too? Because what happens if it rolls over on it's top? To me safety has to weighed against probability that the worst case accident will happen. How probable is it you will hit a big animal? Where I live we have deer. Lots of the fuckers. I've driven for almost 20 years now. Down back roads, at high speeds, at night, during hunting season. I don't even hit the brakes for deer on the side of the road anymore. I have hit one (1) deer ever. I like your style and commitment to thinking about what you are building, but I think you are over-thinking it a little bit. But don't let that stop you. The teaser pic makes the windshield look frick'n awesome!
I have never hit an animal the size of a deer..but my old man hit one in a lincoln mark VIII..and the best thing he did was never hit the brakes. he nailed it at 70 to 80 straight on. And it went up and over the car ,and the International Scout that was a few car lengths behind him. It wasted the front end of the car and the impact blew out shit all over the place. But he was able to keep it in a straight line..and stopped. Both my Mother and He were with out a scratch. The Lincoln had over 9Grand in damages. The cop that came on the scene said that he did the right thing, they have seen where people panic and swerve or nail the brakes and it gets ugly after that. The guy in the Scout stopped to have a new set of shorts installed on his soiled ass..and commented that he didnt really believe deer could fly..he's now a believer
Fred Sanford said it best in a mathematical sort of way, "A 10 cent cat goes under a 20,000.00 car with no remainders." 60 miles south of where I live there is an interstate highway (I 10) Just about every week the DPS officials release a statement, "It looks like they may have fell asleep and left the roadway, over-corrected and rolled about twenty times.....there are no survivors." Fell asleep my ass......At least some of them are trying not to run over dumbass deer that stand in the middle of the highway....deer are like rats in New York around here..... Your much better off just plowing through them. Nobody likes seeing animals killed unnessecerily (sp) but if it's between me and a deer.....well, they are tasty.
Hey Staleg, Your center looks nice.In my humble opinion it doesn't detract from the overall.Good job! Here in the Appalachians we have everything wandering onto the highway for a looksee.Cattle,pigs,deer..... Those "caramel-colored-corn-cows" love them some auto interaction sometimes? I had a 4pt buck total a nice 66 Chevy II I had back in the 80's. It floundered and I had to put it out of its misery,then develop a hatred for the things.Humility and hatred in the same incident. Good luck with your project!
Car-deer accidents keep body shops in business around here. Turkeys are just as bad, they are like bowling balls with wings!
And if you live out in the country or in the hills, there may not be a safe place to run off the road. Deer are a huge problem out here too. I made up my mind a long time ago that anything but a wild hog was gonna get center-punched.
The faster you go, the more damage you will do. Speeding up to 90 miles an hour, breaking the deers legs and sending his 200 pound body straight into your windshield at, well 90 miles an hour isn't the best idea. It's funny, deer have been around long before we paved any of these roads, but now people see them as "the problem." The real problem is everyone is in a rush to get nowhere, I don't really see the point of driving 75 mph down an unlit country road so you can get home 2 minutes earlier to watch TV. You're gonna hit a deer and get home 2 hours later, or 2 days later when you wind up in the hospital.
ZHR oh just so you know deer dont know the difference between a freeway or a back country road..and they dont care about lights or no lights..what happened to my mom and dad was on I-75..and they were close to the speed limit.
See the animal Resist the urge to swerve, hold the wheel straight Let off the gas. You can always repair/buy more parts as long as you're on the right side of the grass
I like your DuVall screen and would like to see more of it. As for the post about hitting animals, it was made by a truck driver. Big difference hitting an animal in a 80 ton truck as opposed to your roadster. Yup, safety first but dont blindly run into everything, that can fuck you up just as much!
I want to know more about that bitchin poster on the wall in the garage in those windshield post shots.
Von Rigg Fink, I do agree accidents do happen to people that are doing their best to be safe, and those are unfortunate situations. I just don't agree with the hatred and animosity that most people have towards wildlife. Animals don't know any better, and that's just the point. We put these roads through their "home." You can't get mad at a deer for standing on the road.
The reason you see more deer and other animal related collisons now is because there are lots more people and animals. The deer population in the ozarks has exploded. When i was a youngster we never saw a deer alongside the road and rarely even saw a deer track either.Plus cars are driven more a night now. Walmart is open 24 hrs now and there is more to do after dark than there was years ago.Also fur bearing animals arent trapped like they usted to be because there is not a profitable market for pelts. We drove just as fast in the 50s and 60s. We just werent out after dark as much and there wasnt near as many critters around. OldWolf
W/S looks good, you could give it a lighter look by cutting holes in it (large to small assending) without affecting the strength appreciably. As for animals, Mythbusters did a great show on the myth that faster is better when hitting a moose. Verdict was, don't swerve but get on the brakes. Slower was better. Lots of deer and wandering cattle around here. It's always the second deer that folks hit. They are watching the first one bound across the field and hit the one following it.
I have trained myself over the years when 1 deer crosses i start looking for the 2nd 3rd or even 4th... Dave
very true and well said..i totally agree..its too bad there isnt enough done to protect them from us. however i did notice in indiana there are motion sensors and lights that are triggered by animals crossing the e-way..some one got smart and tried to reduce the vehicle/deer incidents in that state..i commend them. It also helps from bending up a bunch of nice sheetmetal
Here's a map showing the top ten states with the most incidents with deer. Most all happen between October and December when the rut is on. During this time the bucks lose the minds, and lives, looking for Ms. Right.
I took out a whole family of racoons once. It was either them or the car in the oncoming lane... Didn't even hit the brakes so I wouldn't go into a skid...
Sure, deer are bad, but around here, Moose are the true killers. I don't care if you're driving a tank, it will destroy ANYTHING. Imagine snapping a 9 foot tall 800 pound beastie off at the legs at high speed and having that body clearing the top half of a car off at the belt line. Eeeewwww. I guess what my take is on it is you can only be SO safe, staying alert and paying very close attention, especially at night goes a long way, but shit does happen. It all comes back to living in fear or just letting it ride. A Model A, god love-em, is only so safe. That being said, I really like the structural integrity of your homemade Duvall windshield and admire your thoughtful safety considerations. Just don't hit a moose, swerving is always the better bet with those big bastards, head-on is a death sentence. God, I love Maine. oh yeah, lightening-holes would do wonders for aesthetics.
Had a mate hit a horse once, it was walking in the same direction he was driving when he hit it. Slid up the bonnet and its arse went through the windshield and painted the entire interior horse shit green, yup including my mate!
Love the post design, but ironically, you may have given yourself a blind spot (for watching those deer) to contend with. Oh yeah, MythBusters is must viewing for my son and I (we both have crushes on Carrie)....
Yeah.... Oct to Dec around PA is like the deer equivilant of 1:30 AM Saturday night in a college-town bar. <!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
many moons ago my buddy hit a cow in his lowered bug. it went all the way over the top and pretty much destroyed the car though he did still drive it after that. it went from a Cal Look bug to a Cow Look bug.
Opening up your deer gun hunting season to last longer than a week would be a much more practical solution. And bag limits. the map shows Georgia has one of the highest incidences of deer/car accidents. Our gun season lasts from October to January, with a bag limit of 12 animals, with a max of 2 bucks. Gun season next door in Alabama is still more liberal--I've heard the limit is 2 per day! And they have fewer accidents. the deer have adapted, and are thriving like never before: not only is the infant mortality rate for deer lower than ever, the food is so plentiful that twin fawns are now common. Up north, the gun seasons are a week, and they still cling to one buck only, with special doe tags. Yet they have a crisis in the number of deer, but get beat down by public that has gotten away from hunting. Hunting is a bigger American tradition than hot rods. I'm proud to pass both these on to my son. What I like about posts like these is that the more you think about what will happen in a given situation, the better you are prepared to deal when it arises, whatever path you choose to take. It's absolutely NOT worrying about everything, it's training for given situations. For instance, I was able to show my son the post of the accident that started this. And in this thread, I was reminded that it's usually not the first deer that people hit, but the one crossing the road behind it. -Brad
Oooohhhhh....you guys are talking about hitting an animal while driving a car? I thought you meant just fighting them. There's nothing more funny than sucker punching a deer. They look at you with those big innocent eyes...as if to say..."WTF man???" I almost kicked a bear in the testicles once but then chickened out at the last minute. I guess I can see the value of hitting them with a car. If I would have had a car handy, I would have kicked that bear in the testicles after all and then jumped in the car to run off. I just didn't feel comfortable that I could get away on foot before he recovered. The windshield frame is a good idea. Is that something you can dismount from the car and swing at animals while you are hiking? On a related note, I hit a gazelle with my old Mercury. I'm not allowed back to the zoo here in Indy anymore. I've quit drinking as much though so I think they'll let me back eventually.
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