I want to instal finger pulls on my new roadster windshield. Can anyone give me the correct dimensions where these should be located along the bottom of the windshield frame.
Thanks
HemiDeuce
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I want to instal finger pulls on my new roadster windshield. Can anyone give me the correct dimensions where these should be located along the bottom of the windshield frame.
Thanks
HemiDeuce
Doesn't your windshield frame already have the holes drilled?
And maybe you're just double checking?
Generally speaking, the pull is right in front of each occupant.
Here's a pic to give you a general idea and if need be I can measure mine for you.
The finger pull location is exactly 10" in from each end on a stock windshield. Theyre Countersunk on the outside only.
My new repoduction windshield did not come drilled for the finger pulls or the rear view mirror bracket.
Would that 10" dimension be from the outer edge of the windshield, or the inside corner of the frame?
Thank you both for your replies.
HemiDeuce.
I measured mine this afternoon . . . 10" from the vertical outside of the windshield frame.Quote:
Originally Posted by HemiDeuce
Strikes me that an inch or so either way won't make a difference.
However, if your windshield has glass installed, you may hit it when drilling.
More than likely you'll only hit the edge of the glass.
When I enlarged the window pull hole on the drivers side of my 32 the 3/8" drill cut into the glass about a third of the drill diameter - which is to say the notch in the glass was about 1/8" deep.
I used a new, sharp 5% Cobalt drill for the drilling, went slow and the glass cut just fine without shattering.
Goes without saying you need to do this in a drill press.
I used a piece of 3/4" plywood on the drill press table, under the windshield frame and used another piece of 3/4" plywood for clamping.
No cutting oil was used due to I didn't want oil rotting the glass tape or creating other problems.
If the frame is chrome plated or polished stainless I recommend you put a piece of masking tape on the windshield frame for marking and to help the drill start in the right location.
Using a center punch on a frame w/glass can damage the glass sometimes.
The pic shows the Windshield Wiper motor installed in the 3/8" hole.
The WW motor was put on the bottom of the windshield frame because it impinged with the drivers view when it was on the top of the frame in the already drilled WW motor hole.
C9 thank you for your reply. I guess I'm being a bit of a coneheadder about being so precise, but I'm really a Hot Rodder. I am building a real 32 that has taken a huge amount of work to bring back from the dead, so to speak. It was an old early 60's hot rod that was channelled, had 34 windshield posts welded to the cowl, Cougar sequential tail lights inset into the rear pan below the trunk, scoop over the inset licence plate in the trunk, rear fenders welded to to body, etc. The favorite tool of the day apeared to be the Hot Wrench and Brass rod. I've righted all the sins of the past and am at the fun stage now, finished the frame and running gear and assembling all the small goodies on the body and about to spray Lizzard Skin on the floor pan and boards, then mount the body for the final time. I'll try my hand at picture posting in another post.
Thanks for all your help.
HemiDeuce.
C9x, This is an old thread, but I am having trouble with my 2" chopped windshield for my '29. You are really a careful worker and I appreciate your comments about drilling though the glass for the finger pulls. I am wasting a weekend waiting to contact the guy at Brookville who installs their windshields. I bought a Brookville 2" chopped chrome frame along with their top irons. A local glass shop "installed" the glass but the side holes are 1/3 covered because the top piece will not go down far enough to line up the threaded holes with the holes in the side frame. I took it back to the glass shop thinking I could get 1/8" trimmed off the top but the guy showed me that even removing the rubber strip across the top the top bar will not go down any further because the top bar hits the side bar. If the frame was stainless I would just trim it with a Dremel bit but with a chromed frame that will probably just chip off the chrome plating. Another idea is to slightly wedge the side frame apart but how to do that without buckling the welds at the bottom of the frame. I do not know if I am the victum of creeping tolerances in manufacture of the frame or whether it is supposed to be a compression fit of some sort. Basically the top part of the frame needs to go down about 1/8 inch further into the side of the frame for the holes to line up. For those folks who criticize some of us for just buying parts, this is just a reminder that many, many parts do not fit as one might expect and one of my most used tools is a rat tail file! Is this a mis-manufactured set up or just the usual cut and fit situation? The only thing I can think of over the weekend is to put the windshiled in position and IF (?) the holes line up with the stanchion holes I can oval out the holes in the side frame with a dremel tool, but I don't want to do that because if I "raise" the holes then the bottom of the frame will not fit above the cowl lip!
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
I'm not sure I follow your description but if I do the question I'd ask is if the frame pieces fit together before the glass was installed? If so, I would think that's your answer.
I sounds to me that your glass is cut a little too large for the windshield frame. I had mine cut a little smaller and shimmed to the proper size on the top and sides with windshield shimming tape.
Thanks for the comments. I got frustrated mainly because I needed a second person to hold the other side of the windshield and finally my son visited and I decided to oval out the holes with my Dremel rotary file (sort of like a dental drill only a little larger). With a second person to help and a little grinding we got it together. I was afraid it would not clear at the bottom but in fact the rubber barely covers the gap. I shouldn't be here because this is a '29 A roadster not a Deuce but I always try to absorb whatever C9x says and Bob has plenty of good suggestions from experience. For some reason my picture is pretty dark but you can see it is on there now. I still need to add some washers between the stanchion and the butterfly and trim some of the extra rubber around the top but thanks to my trusty rat tail file I got the stanchion screws to line up with the holes I tapped. As far as I know the original holes just do not fully line up but with a little grinding it is on there now. Now two new questions arise. What is supposed to keep the windshield from coming further in????? So far all that keeps it where it is, is the vertical hang and the friction at the butterflies. Second, there are grooves on the inside of the stanchions so I suppose some rubber is supposed to go there? If not, there is one heck of a large gap between the stanchion and the windshield frame! Should there be some sort of stop to keep the windshield from swinging in too far? Thanks for your patience, this is the first actual progress I have made on the car in over a year due to another committment and it is exciting to see that shiny frame even if it is a little dark in the picture. HemiDeuce, you echoed my thoughts but it is metal on metal at the top corners so either I would have to spring the sides out or oval the holes on the side, fortunately the Dremel worked.
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
Looks ok so far Don.
Did you have the glass cut to a pattern?
On my 32 I had the glass guy do the complete install.
One thing you do want to do is make sure you can remove the locking screws up top so the glass guy can get em un-screwed ok.
Glass workers seem to have a delicate touch and I have yet to get back anything they've torn up.
Still though, I've got more than a few things back from "pro mechanic's" - and I use the term loosely - that were torn up all to heck and gone.
With the implication that it was my fault cuz the bolt or whatever was hard to get out.
You'll probably need something to keep your 29's windshield from coming back.
Not a problem on the 32's, the cowl 'eyebrow' as it's called along wth the bottom weatherstrip keeps the windshield in the proper place.
My pal's 29 windshield came back due to wind pressure.
I was gonna knock out a subtle little piece for him, but he opted for a 1/8" x 1" short strip of bent aluminum"
He's a production oriented 'get-er-done' kind of guy . . . what can I say?
Got pics if you like.
A little lighter for you Don;
Thanks Bob for lightening the photo, Denny did it too but I don't know how you guys did it? Today I found the "T" cross section rubber in the Bratton original parts catalog for the side coverage. C9X that is the sort of detail I appreciate. Who needs pulls when the wind will blow the glass back anyway. Now I know I need to ponder over some sort of "stop". I wonder how a wall mount bottle opener would look, hah? Probably that is too wide but an interesting idea. I wonder what held the stock windshield? There is an original roadster near me, maybe I can take a look at that. If push comes to shove I prefer angle iron over aluminum for paintability but I will look around for some aluminum angle too. There was no pattern and I left it to the glass guy to cut the piece but when I took it back he stalled as to trimming 1/8" off the top. I may look around for another glass shop to cut the windwings, I will have patterns for them. I don't know whether to buy the stock tall windwings and have 2" trimmed off the bottom or try to get the whole angled shape cut; certainly I don't have much confidence in this glass shop. Overall, looking at what is there now the 1/8" lowering due to the oval hole helps the coverage of the rubber flap a bit. C9X thanks for the realistic comments out of your experience, I am afraid I am a "git-er'done" guy also but your comments are valuable! If you have a picture of you friend's "stop" I would like to see that.
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
Bob, can you send that picture to me by e-mail to quantummechanicsllc@msn.com ? I used thecamera on "auto" but the metallic maroon just soaks up the light.
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Shillady
Most photo programs will lighten up stuff.
Works especially well as you can see in the two pics of me and granddaughters.
The family room is almost black in the original, but the digital info is there.
Once lightened, the kitchen area, the girls and I are overexposed, but the family room lights up nicely.
Someone more skilled than I could set things up so both area's are properly exposed.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...heGirlsjpg.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...eGirlslite.jpg
Here's the windshiled gizmo.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...29interior.jpg
Incidentally the finger pull is needed to pull the windshield back into place.
If'n I was doing a windshield stop - and I'm probably going to have to - an aluminum block machined to nicely rounded flowing shape with some hidden hold down bolts coming in from underneath and having a crank on it that looks like it could be for getting the windshield in and out, but does have an actual function (hood latch?) would do the trick.
Think I've mentioned it before, but I don't care for fake stuff nor things that cover up good honest hot rod parts.
Aluminum paints well if the proper primer is used.
I've had good luck with rattle can zinc chromate primer and an epoxy.
Aluminum also powder coats quite well and is easy.
Bring some of those faded green things in your wallet and grease the powder guy's palm and all will be well....:cool:
C9X, Thanks for the pictures! Now that I have the chopped top that I always wanted I realize I am not going to be looking "up" much with the top in place. I was very interested in your method for mocking up a top with tape. I would like the back of the top to slope forward slightly like a '34 but there must be a limit to how far back one can lean back and also the back bow has to clear the seat when folded down. Thanks again for the neat stuff about tops.
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Shillady
Not a prob.
Yes, no and maybe on the folded top clearance.
Pretty sure I posted the 32 top on an A body here.
If not, I can do it again.
Basics are, the 32 top fits the A with only one modest modification that does require welding.
About a 40 minute job if you're all set up and measure twice before cutting....:3dSMILE:
Still got the pics if need be.
With 32 w/s posts on A stanchions a 32 top is almost a given.
Not a problem.
Thanks . . . and I always like to learn something new....
No offense taken Denny, I only do it to help. But I also think that you're completely clueless that that kind of comment it what's driven several people off this site. Spare the excuses, I've already heard them.
DennyW, maybe smart guys are sensitive sometimes. I thought this might be a problem but just thought Bob's picture slightly lighter. In my career I usually grooved in on some fundamental detail but often did not stay up with the latest technology. This is because after many stages of graphics evolution with maybe each stage of a year or so whatever hotshot graphics I used before would go out of date. I originally spent a lot of time on CalComp flat bed graphics plotters but then PC software came out so fast I did not keep up. So DennyW, Bob and C9X are certainly ahead of me on the PC graphics. Did you all use "Photoshop"? I only have PAINT so far and Denny certainly is a pro with the color shading and as I said I still have the neat maroon '29 Denny shaded in from a white picture, neat stuff, even removing one of the passengers. I have already learned and used the trick DennyW showed on how to merge several pictures into one and to keep Denny happy I am attaching one with five (5) pictures merged using the method he showed, they are pictures of the top four (highest occupied energy) electronic orbitals of formaldehyde. This may/may not be the cover of our new book since the cover art selection is sort of a committee process and anytime you get three people on a committee there are usually seven opinions! Just for the record, I am using an early Canon Power Shot A20 camera with only 2.1 Megapixels (which we won from a Coke can!) and I usually just resize the picture by 50%x50% to make it into the Forum limit but I don't know if all the pixels are resized or maybe there are only 1/4 the number of pixels. I am unfamiliar with this camera (which is my son's since he won it) and use the "auto flash" which doesn't always work. I wish I were using my old 35mm with all manual settings! Anyway in the garage with only a fluorescent overhead the pictures come out dark so I need to either get Photoshop and/or learn how to use some sort of manual settings on the camera. I was just so excited to get the windshield on that I wanted to take a picture as my first advancement on the car in over a year but it came out too dark. So here is the question: tell me what software to get to lighten up dark pictures.
Now, for C9X, I talked with a guy named "Dale" at Brookville who occasionaly installs windshields on their steel '29 roadsters. He says there should be a lip on the inside of the '29 stanchions but in fact I have official Brookville stainless stanchions (2" chopped) and they have no such lip, perhaps because they are not replicas but just "hot rod" parts? Anyway Dale suggested and it seems reasonable to add a tab to the bottom of the inside of each stanchion with two small bolts or machine screws as a fix to keep the windshield from swinging in. I can get some scrap stainless but cannot imagine how to polish it so I will probably use flat steel and paint the tabs body color.
I will try to answer any question on the theory of electronic structure if anyone asks (hah!) but you guys are the experts in PC graphics and building cars, I am the amateur here and need advice from several sources, so let us just stay calm and swap useful info. Whatever I know about cars is mostly useless stuff on early Fords, VWs and MGs so I am really groping when it comes to the SBC drive line and I am sorry to say that I will need more advice and hope not to become a pest any more than necessary.
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
DennyW, That's great, now you can even see a small part of my temporary steering column just behind the dipstick as well as my new tilt column hanging on the left curing like a ham. When I got the tilt column painted a second time after scratching it up with the mockup I decided to make sure the paint thoroughly cured in the hot garage over the summer while I mess around with the old column for the mockup. I wasted $60 on the first Camaro column but with paint the tilt column is now over $400 so I will try to cut my losses using the Camaro column for the setup. So maybe you can e-mail your version of this picture to me and tell us the name of the programs you have used? (quantummechanicsllc@msn.com).
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
Hi, I am asking this question in two threads to try to get an answer. Since the last nice pictures I have drilled holes in the stanchions for windwing clamps and find that is just one more case of messing around to get it to work. I have windwings cut from laminated safety glass and find the rubber pads I got from Brattons are too thick. I am considering using the rubberized cloth that came with the clamps on one side with the thinner of the two rubber pads on the other sides. Can you make any comments about mounting the windwings?
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
"I talked with a guy named "Dale" at Brookville who occasionaly installs windshields on their steel '29 roadsters. He says there should be a lip on the inside of the '29 stanchions "
That's a stock 29 roadster in the pic I posted with the stops.
Don't remeber a lip, but Brookville could have cast one in since your posts/stanchions are one piece.
Comments about windwings . . don't use glass - meaning safety glass etc.
Make them from polycarbonate (common trade name = Lexan, which is a brand of polycarbonate).
Available from Home Depot etc.
Trouble with glass is, they're usually so heavy they tend to slip out and down in cold weather.
You could make some from slightly thinner Lexan and your gaskets would probably fit.
Take note of the WW's in the pic.
Lexan and they're about 10 years old.
No special care needed and they're as clear as ever.
I wash them when I wash the car and that's it.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...kjuly52002.jpg
And a view through a WW about a year ago.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...rHackberry.jpg
Note as well the WW's on the 32 are a little shorter fore & aft-wise than a stock 32 WW.
Stock length hampers ingress as well as shuts off a little too much air in summer.
I was removing them in summer, but the shorter ones stay on year-round.
They do a good job in the cold, especially when used in conjuncton with Lexan 1/4 windows that cover the area between top and door gap.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f278/C9x/FSRA9.jpg
Do your clamps look similar to these?
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f2...ls2007Jay1.jpg
There are different thicknesses of neoprene rubber available.
Local industrial rubber store, McMaster-Carr etc.
Guess that last pic wasn't needed . . . too much stuff going on this morning, forgot where I was....
C9X,
That is a wealth of help. Yes my clamps are essentially the same as what you show although perhaps slightly smaller. I should have thought of Lexan since the same shop that cut the class for me does Lexan as well and it is of course much lighter. Thanks too for the picture of the Lexan rear quarter windows. Are they secured by the top bolt? That solves a major concept for me for cold weather driving and will allow me to purchase the less expensive LeBaron Bonney top you have recommended as well as retain visibility to the rear. I plan to drill two holes in the top of each door (fiberglass) and add a rubber grommet in the holes. Then I can fabricate Lexan windows with posts for the holes. The only tricky part will be to put a strip of velcro along the top and sew a strip in a flap hanging down from the top edge of the top. All considered, it would seem unlikely that a watertight setup can be achieved easily, but a wind break might allow the annual trip to the Skyline Drive on the Blue Ridge in the cooler Fall weather and earlier outings in the Spring along with the heater under the dash. The stuff that I do myself suffers from my lack of skill but I think I can get it together. I note in your pictures that your brackets hang down from the "ball socket so that if the nut comes off the WW will fall. I think I can mount the clamps so that the weight of the WW sits on the "ball socket" so if the nut comes off the WW will stay there, but that does depend on visibility to the top of the WW and whether the clamp obscures vision. Maybe you do have it set up so the WW has it's weight on the "ball", I can't quite see from the picture but anyway that is easy to do. You have one very neat machine there and I really appreciate seeing your pictures!
On the other matter about stopping the windshield from coming too far in, I agree that I do not recall such a lip on the '31 Fordor I had either so maybe the comment from the guy at Brookville is just his imagination? On my fiberglass dash the upper lip is narrow and it is in the '32 style shape rather than the true Model A shape so I have not figured out yet how to add the stops but for now it mught have to be a piece of 1" angle iron (my favorite material) with rounded corners and a metal screw into the fiberglass painted body color as a last resort. If I could figure out where to get some chrome or stainless angle iron that would be much better. I will look around for some stainless in the nearby Hanover Air Park. There must be some sort of aircraft stainless stuff that could be formed into a stop on each side of the dash. It is coming back to me now that on the '31 Fordor there was a swing-out bracket with a tightening knob attached to the windshield post on the inside? However the roadster stanchions are too thin for that sort of arrangement.
Thanks!
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
Just a quick note on the Brookville stanchions, I just received a pair of their stainless, 2" chopped, stanchions, they're in Brookville blister pack, so I know they are Brookville's. They don't have what I would call a "lip" that would stop the glass. There is an insert piece welded on the inner side, that has a groove stamped in it that might "catch" the side rubbers, but that would be the extent of it. Hardly what I would consider a "lip" worthy of stopping an installed windshield. Certainly not like the actual lip on the inner edge of the stanchions on my '36.
Bob, We are talking about the same parts from the Brookville blister pack. I have "glued" the 5/8" wide rubber in the "crack" with "GOOP" contact glue and it seems firm but who knows how many "swishes" of the windshield the rubber can take before dislodging.
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
Don, your stanchion/post is hollow is it not?
Make up a threaded weld bung with a step and JB Weld it in place from the inside.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The WW pivot nuts don't fall off because they're nylocks and also because when they get loose - from swinging the WW's in or out - they'll drive you nuts and you'll torque em back to where they should be.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Lexan rear quarter windows are secured to the oak bow and stainless top iron piece the oak bow is on.
Slightly longer stainless sheet metal screws into the wood and an 8-32 allen with nylock through the oval hole at the bottom.
Since the quarter windows are supported only in the middle you need a fairly sturdy thickness of Lexan.
I tried 1/8", but they fluttered/buzzed at highway speeds much like the control surface in an airplane will when max speed is exceeded.
3/16" stopped that.
The quarter windows do well in keeping the wind that comes off the windwings from curving in and hitting short passengers right in the ear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One thought I have about side windows is a sheet of 3/16" lexan on a hinge that mounts to the top's horizontal bar above the door.
An over-center spring setup to allow the window to stay up or down would help.
Granted, it would leak air to an extent, but the main thing is rain would stay out of the cockpit for the most part.
16 degree's F is my personal best in the roadster, but below freezing at highway speeds can get a touch chilly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple of pic's during the quarter window mock-up phase.
They will impinge on the ingress-egress bit, but not bad.
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f278/C9x/FSRA7.jpg
http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f278/C9x/FSRA4.jpg
Note the notch for the main top bolt, not used for the quarter window install.
When you cut Lexan, use a table saw with a piece of plywood on the table so the sharp table edges don't cut through the protective paper.
A sharp 60-80 tooth carbide blade helps as well.
Cut the basic shape close to the line with the table saw and use a bench style disc sander to reach the finished shape/size.
Use a piece of plywood on the sander as well.
Don't let the Lexan flap up and down on the table saw, hold it firmly in place with your hand
If it does pop up and slam back down you'll probably end up with a chip in the outer edge.
Sand a light chamfer on the edges of the Lexan and wet sand the edges until they look like a typical glass edge.
240 - 360 grit wet/dry works ok here.
Note as well that Lexan has an ultraviolet resistant coating on one side.
That goes toward the sun.
Be sure and make a left and a right side....
C9X, Thanks for the excellent details on the rear quarter window. Yes the stainless stanchions are evidently pressed from heavy gauge stainless with the panel with the groove for the rubber welded across the U-channel of the pressed shape. The holes were drilled through the stainless behind the panel that has the groove for the rubber. C9X, thanks for your excellent help, I can only approach your excellent workmanship in a rough way, but your practical ideas are excellent. I see what you mean about the stop. I could thread a hole in the channel welded across the stanchion near the bottom and use a small bolt with a spacer protruding at the base of the stanchion. Probably a 1/4" stainless bolt with the head cut off and rounded should be enough to prevent the windshield from coming back too far and a short rounded stainless bolt sans head might not look too bad, I'll think that over.
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
Don and all,
First of all, I DO NOT have faith in anything that Brookville says or makes. They have been proven wrong too many times during my '31 build to the point that I wont talk to them. They have literally thrown me off their display at NSRA York My car was improperly assembled, dimensionally incorrect in many places and built out of the wrong very soft draw quality steel. You can read my review on another site.
But with that said, Brookville (as do all others) purchase their OEM style stancions from Lebarron-Bonney or Mac's. They were made in Taiwan, but are probably made in China now. There is no lip. They simply repackage them exactly like NAPA does with Standard electrical parts.
Sorry - any mention of Brookville gets me going:CRY: :CRY: :whacked:
C9, I do like the LEXAN wind wings - much nicer then the usual oversized glass versions, especially on an A. Something to consider next spring.
A side note on Brookville business practices ... :oQuote:
Originally Posted by IC2
I was at the Brookville booth @ the NSRA Nationals in Louisville this year ( 2007 ) and Ray ... the owner of Brookville ... was making a sales pitch to a fellow about the 32 Ford 3W body. He said that a fellow who had a deposit down ( 5 grand ) was #141 on the waiting list had gotten Cancer, had 6 months to live and Brookville had just gave him his deposit back ... I was impressed ... I thought that was real good of them :D
Then Ray offered the new guy ... the #141 slot ... if he put down a 5 grand deposit that day :mad: :mad:
I think that stinks to high heaven ... all the deposits after #141 should have moved up one spot and the new guy start at the rear of the line IMHO.
I know I would be very UPSET ... if I was waiting for a 32 3W from Brookville and they moved a new buyer up ahead of my deposit.
Thankfully ... I have a original 32 Ford roadster and a original 32 Ford 3W coupe ... and do not NEED ANY of Brookvilles products.
:)
I have a Brookville '32 grille shell for my '31. With the amount of time that I have in repairs, I could have bought an OEM off EBAY. When I approached Ray Golohan about it at York 2-3 years ago and explained what my problems were, he said that they had been addressed and showed me a pristine copy. My (lucky) buddy then bought it for his car project. Last fall I stopped by Dick Spadaro's shop and asked if they had one of the better versions. The two that they had just gotten into stock were even WORSE then mine.Quote:
Originally Posted by Deuce
The problems that I had are sunken areas on both sides of the top(1/4"), .060 ridges top to bottom on both sides, the upper right detail ridge was off by over 3/8" and to make things even worse, the insert stuck out by a 1/2". Quality stuff NOT!! And yes, I do understand that there are tolerances - but those were beyond any reasonable assumptions as well as almost everything else on the car I bought. Golohan and I have had several 'discussions' but never more.
C9X,
Sometimes you win one in spite of stupidity! I bought a 2'x3' sheet of acrylic because it is much cheaper than lexan and I thought I could buff out any imperfections. I don't have access to a band saw so I took the acrylic to the glass shop that made a minor problem with my windshield and to my amazement the shop guy there first cut out the windwings from the acrylic and when he found that sanding the edges made chips he supplied lexan copies for the same price quoted to saw the acrylic. So we have two lessons here. First, acrylic looks clear and nice but the edges can't be beveled or smoothed over easily without chipping. Apparently the lexan is much harder than the acrylic. Second, sometimes you get lucky and find a helpful person! I am not proud of the holes I drilled in the stanchions but it is one of those cases where it is not very easy to look at both sides of the car at the same time and from the front they are at least six feet away. The stainless is tough. I put the stanchions in a vise holder on a drill press at John York's Cobra shop (nearby) and used a brand new bit, but after four holes the bit is useless! John York is a good guy to know, he turns out about 3 or 4 turnkey Cobras a year and does just about all the assembly himself so he is my closest car guru and I try to stay on his good side! Still without this Forum and a lot of help from some of you I would really be up a creek without a torque wrench!
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
Good on ya.
Lexan is far better than Acrylic or Plexi.
Years ago I worked at Oxnard airport and the plexi windshields were always scratched to hell and gone.
Lexan is the material used to make jet fighter canopies.
Reputed to be able to have bullets bounce off, but that's probably at an angle.
I oughta take the 1/8" quarter window prototypes and pop em with a few different calibers next time we go shooting.
Do you know if Lexan can be heated and bent at about a 30 to 45 degree angle. The reason I ask is I have seen wind wings made of a plastic material that were bolted to the windshield posts in the same location that the repo wind wing brackets bolt to. It looked like a very clean instalation to me, and I would imagine it would work as well, as using the stock style windwing brackets.
HemiDeuce
Quote:
Originally Posted by HemiDeuce
Yes.
If I remember right, 200 degrees F in the oven will get the Lexan to where it's bendable.
Time is part of the equation too.
Too long and you'll have it sagging when you take it out of the oven.
Little brother did the V-bend on his Henry J drag race car's windshield.
Seem's like he used a propane torch sparingly and used the car's body as a mold.
Do some experimenting with scrap pieces before you try to bend the windwings proper.
Plexiglass in a trade name for acrilic plastic. Lexan is the trade name for polycarbonate plastic. Lexan is a much better product in most applications. Plexiglass cracks easily and will craze over time. Lexan can be bent in a metal brake if thin enough and can be formed with heat. In heavy thicknesses it is considered bulletproof.
C9x Here is the result of a liesurely ten hour day with three trips to ACE hardware and two trips to Home Depot following several half days of ordering stuff from Bratton's Model A supply house. I am sorry that I was so pleased that I got it done that I forgot to wipe it off! The height can be adjusted after I get a top on. I used half of the pads from the rubberized cloth that came with the clamp kit and on the inside used the thinner of the rubber pads that were supposed to be reproduction rubber. The Brookville stanchions seem to be tapered more from front to back than the stock stanchions which are more rectangular in cross section so the studs that came with the clamp kit were too short and I had to make my own studs from 5/16" bolts with the heads cut off and threaded for the 5/16" NF24 thread of the clamps. Since the cross section of the stanchions is wedge shaped I used wedge shaped pieces of 3/8" neoprene fuel hose to cover the threads of the studs. It's not perfect but it passes the ten foot inspection for me. I still need to trim the rubber strip from the top of the windshield frame.
Bob, (I can help Bob???) all the furor over the swing-in windshield made me worry over it for several days and today I decided to just mock up the windshield just to see where the position for the "lip" should be and to my amazement the new rubber makes it pretty tight. In particular the side rubber binds pretty good at the top three inches of the windshield so I think anything less than a 50 mph collision with a Canadian Goose will resist moving the windshield in just based on the side rubber and the rubber along the bottom edge. The '29 stanchions have a 5/8" flat rubber strip which I glued into the groove with "GOOP" contact cement. I also ordered the 3/4" strip that was used on the '30-'31 roadsters which has a T-shape but since there is no groove for the T I went with the '29 rubber. I have been pleased to be able to buy a lot of '29 reproduction parts from Bratton's Antique Auto Parts in nearby Mount Airy Md and for my location I often receive shipment in one or two days. Their phone number is 800-255-1929 (toll free!) and the rubber strip for the '29 stanchions is part No. 28620 for only $3.75 plus shipping. The restorers say to paint the edge of the windwings black but I kind of like the way the edges "glow" a little bit. Bob why are you buying '29 stanchions? Building for yourself or a customer?
Despite the fact that this thread was originally about finger pulls and even though I bought the finger pulls, my recent adventures with drilling a round piece and the relatively tight fit of the windshield rubber lead me to expect that I never plan to swing the windshield out and so will not need the finger pulls!
Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder
Time will tell that story Don.;) Right now I'll just blame kenny d. for bringing them into my life.:)Quote:
Originally Posted by Don Shillady
Like the progress you're making there, a picture of what you did on the side rubber you described would be appreciated.
Thanks.