Ferrari 360/430 Spider Wind Stop Gaskets

The "wind stops" (metal frame, gasket, and thin screen) in the Ferrari 360/430 Spiders reduce the wind whipping in the cockpit of the car and add a nice distinctive touch. On some Spiders, the gaskets in the wind stops have deteriorated to the point of failure. This is rather unusual to see and I suspect that it's due to either some sort of detrimental treatment product being used (such as Armor All) to clean and shine them, or a material failure in some batches.

I've made a number of sets of these gaskets as a learning experience and am offering them for sale. Some sets are better than others as I was learning how to make them. The defects are small bubbles and inclusions. If you need perfect, then please, buy the OEM frames. 

The better sets are being sold first.

Price per set: $300 plus shipping. Each set includes the three gaskets and three sheets of screening material. If interested, please contact me at: jcoryat@usnaviguide.com

Installing the gasket in the frame is a bit of a trick. The screening fabric is very fine and drapes very easily. To get the screen to line up and be tight and wrinkle free takes a little effort.

1. Place the frame on a clean table.

2. Drape the screen material over the frame.

3. Stretch the screen material enough so that the wrinkles and sags in the material are gone. Tape the edges as shown in the picture.

4. Fit the gasket over the screen material so that it aligns with the frame.

5. Starting in the corners, press the gasket into the frame. Press it in enough to grab but not all the way in yet. 

6. Work around the edges pressing the gasket in deeper until it's nearly in all the way. It will look lumpy at this point. That's ok.

7. Remove the tape. It should look like this.

8. Flip the fabric over the top of the gasket so that the fabric can be cut under the gasket to free it from the frame. Use a VERY sharp snap blade knife and gently fit the blade to the tab of the gasket and trim off the fabric. It should cut easily. Be careful not to cut into the gasket. That would be bad. The gasket is pretty tough though.

9. Use a clamp with a rubber tip (like pictured) or similar to squeeze the last bit of gasket into the frame. It can take a lot of force to get the gasket all the way in. Some sort of mechanical help is going to be required. I found using a bar and a couple of clamps worked well for the center wind stop but the roll bar wind stops are rounded so I used a single clamp on the back of the frame against the table to squeeze the gasket in on those units.

10. Examine your work! If done right, it should look like this. The gasket should be tightly against the frame.

11. Finished product.

Potential problems

If the screen stretched too tight, the fabric will probably tear, or the gasket won't be set all the way in. If it's too loose, it will likely have wrinkles or sags. The fabric, stretched properly, will be tight as a drum, which is how the OEM screen is set.

Once the gasket is set, it's probably set for life. Removing the gasket will damage it noticeably. So it's super important to get it right the first time.  

Update: Supply exhausted. Sale ended. Thanks.

Best screen material I found: Sailrite No-See-Um Mosquito Netting Black 60"

https://www.sailrite.com/No-See-Um-Mosquito-Netting-Black