Trimming Cee Bailey

[Selden]

I bought a Cee Bailey #1 +2 last year, and immediately returned it for a +4. However, the +4 always seemed a little bit too high, especially on mountain roads with elevation changes, where the top of the shield was often at or above the road horizon. Since the top of the screen was curved, this was most noticeable right in the center of my line of sight.

 

I used masking tape to mark a new top contour, basically taking about 1/2" out of the middle, and nothing at the corners; allowing for the curve of the screen, the top is now flat, rather than slightly convex as before. A bandsaw took care of an initial trim, followed by smoothing with an orbital sander, then wet sanding with 320, 400, 600, and 1500 grit paper, finally polishing with chrome polish, then plastic polish. Lucite is pretty easy stuff to work with, so this wasn't as much effort as it sounds. By the time I finished with all the sanding and polishing, the center was probably 3/4" lower. My only cautionary note is to round the edges with something like 150 grit sandpaper before starting the wet sanding, as I ended up with several small cuts on my hands.

 

The end result of this small change exceeded my expectations, and I can now see the road no matter what the elevation change. I'm surprised at how much more air flows with this small change. The windshield has to go up slightly more to create still air, but less than the amount that I removed.