Getting closer - windshield installed today

[Gumball]

Here's the final installation of my windshield with the center rod (for the soft-top installation) and the two lower brackets. One is the for the center rod (which will keep the soft top from tugging the upper frame away from the glass) and the other is to give a little more wind pressure resistance by mounting the lower frame to the center of the cowl. This is pretty similar to what the original cars had and the frame even had a couple of dimples at that point for the screws. As with other things that are bolted to the body, I made a gasket out of some rubber sheeting. The trick with this one was to get it fitted to the body before paint so that when installing it today it fell right into place. The screws that mount the two brackets to the lower frame are just tight enough to allow me to slip the cowl bracket into place as it is slotted and just slides up behind the bracket for the rod. You can see the slots in the lower bracket in the bottom photo - the two dark gaps on the piece closest to the frame.

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/IMG_20140914_130252486_HDR_zpsefdf08ed.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/IMG_20140914_130252486_HDR_zpsefdf08ed.jpg.html)

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/IMG_20140914_134857775_zps72018f90.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/IMG_20140914_134857775_zps72018f90.jpg.html)

[Scott Zackowski]

One beautiful car!



Mk IV, Complete kit, FFR 7304

[marlin]

Beautiful. Did you make the bracket connecting the body to windshield (under the center rod) or purchase it someplace?
Thanks, Marlin

[Gumball]

Beautiful. Did you make the bracket connecting the body to windshield (under the center rod) or purchase it someplace?
Thanks, Marlin

I made it - it's just some .060 stainless that I cut, polished, and bent. It took a few prototypes to get the size and angle correct, but once I had that, it was super easy.

Here was my inspiration - an original 289 car (I didn't get the CSX number off of it, though)

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/Topofdashwithlowerwindscreenbrace.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/Topofdashwithlowerwindscreenbrace.jpg.html)

And here is a detail pic of the part I made:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/LowerWindshieldFrametoCowlBracket1_zps27e3e877.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/LowerWindshieldFrametoCowlBracket1_zps27e3e877.jpg .html)

[LuckyWinner]

Looking Good!!!!!

[carlewms]

I made it - it's just some .060 stainless that I cut, polished, and bent. It took a few prototypes to get the size and angle correct, but once I had that, it was super easy.

Here was my inspiration - an original 289 car (I didn't get the CSX number off of it, though)

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/Topofdashwithlowerwindscreenbrace.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/Topofdashwithlowerwindscreenbrace.jpg.html)

And here is a detail pic of the part I made:

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/LowerWindshieldFrametoCowlBracket1_zps27e3e877.jpg (http://s845.photobucket.com/user/CCRsAC/media/LowerWindshieldFrametoCowlBracket1_zps27e3e877.jpg .html)

Chris,

Very nice ... did you make the piece that is used to attach the rod? If so how did you attach it to the lower part?

I am a little thick headed on this so bear with my stupid questions.

Carl

[Gumball]

Chris,

Very nice ... did you make the piece that is used to attach the rod? If so how did you attach it to the lower part?

I am a little thick headed on this so bear with my stupid questions.


Carl

Carl,

No, the inverted bracket that the rod attaches to at the bottom came from ********** (or Cobra Restorers - it's been a while and I'm not sure which of those I used for the rod/bracket combo).

The bottom of the windshield frame has a pair of dimples (at least mine did) where the holes for that bracket go - I just drilled and tapped them when I had the glass out for edge polishing. In the photo above of the frame-to-cowl bracket that I made, you'll notice that the bottom (cowl side) is drilled, but the angled top (windshield side) is not. Figuring out how to tighten the screws that go into the windshield frame was giving me fits, but I ended up with a simple solution. I slotted the angled top of the cowl bracket so that I could slide it into place just before installing the windshield. I then installed the rod bracket first, but didn't tighten the screws completely, and slid the cowl bracket up into place. Once the cowl bracket is positioned, the screws that go into the windshield frame are all but impossible to reach, even with the ground-down allen wrench I was using. So, I had to slide the cowl bracket out a couple of times to tighten those screws a bit until they were snug enough to make it hard to slide the cowl bracket into place, while still allowing a bit of movement of the cowl bracket so that I could position it down onto the cowl once the windshield was installed. After that, I installed the rod and tightened it just snug, installed the windshield, and put the two slotted-head screws through the cowl bracket. Those attaching screws that go through the cowl are accessible from the engine compartment and have nylock nuts to hold them in place.

I hope my step-by-step helps and isn't too confusing - just let me know if you have additional questions.

[riptide motorsport]

Very. Very nice.

[Todd Buttrick]

Doing a great job there Chris. Really enjoy your updates and pictures