Glass hatch retrofit doesn't fit.

[1cobra]

:mad:
I installed the glass and it lines up ok around the perimiter but the sides are at least 5/16" bowed up and leaves a large gap the length of the sides. So alot of water could go in and it looks bad. I put some weatherstrip on the glass underside and it is better but when viewed from the side is not what you would want.
Don't do it if you have a painted body unless F5 corrects the glass.
Perry.

[Fluge]

There must be some variability in glass shape. Mine is nice and straight along the hatch sides. I have the edge of the glass flush with the body all around. I could install mine on a painted body if I had to. I don't know enough about glass shaping to know what the tolerances are in production.

Maybe FFR can help.

Marc

[Roy Hewson]

Perry, Is yours a Black or gray coupe?
Roy

[1cobra]

Hi,
Looking straight down the glass and body line up ok, even the corners on my black bodied coupe work ok.
The problem is that from the sides- the glass is bowed up and leaves a air gap 5/16" between glass and the rubber weatherstrip. I added some grey foam weatherstrip to the underside of glass or water and dirt would come in, I placed a straight edge on the top part of the glass and it is curved a fair bit, don't know if all glass is like that of just mine:(
Perry.

[1cobra]

Here is a pic of the side view, you can see the straight edge is up about 3/4" at the bottom and the grey foam weatherstrip mostly on the lower part to fill the air gap.
Perry.

[jetsbaby]

I have mine still in the box..If you have the car in Gilbert AZ I can bring mine over and we can see how it fits on your car..I live in Chandler AZ..Dave

[1cobra]

Thanks for the offer but it's in Canada. Maybe you could check your glass with a straight edge and see it it looks the same as my picture, the top 14" are flat then there is a bow in the glass looking from the side.
Perry.

[Fluge]

Perry

I see what you mean...I don't have that much of a bow in mine...it does have a bow but seems to follow the body much better. Not sure what to say...call FFR and ask?

Marc

[loeffler1]

I think the misalignment is in these black bodies. Remember also the gray bodies are very different in this area. These glass windows have been designed for the new red bodies. You'll notice there are no comments being made with folks that have the red bodies. Black bodies require some retrofitting - mine is at the body shop right now and certain areas have to be built up and other areas have to be shaved off to make the glass fit correctly. If you have a grey body the retrofitting will be more extensive ala the coupe at FFR' s showroom. I really don't think there is a whole lot of difference between the glass itself. At least you don't have the extensive work to fit the glass as you do to fit the driver's door. If your body is painted you may be able to build up areas with thicker weather stripping. At first look that's what I was going to do, but I had to have the door's fitted at the body shop so I figured I might as well have the glass done also. Hey, it's only money, right. I envy you guys that have the skills to do the bodywork as I don't. I think you can save a huge sum if you are able to do this yourself.
Anyways good luck with the rear hatch, I think the glass is worth the effort after seeing a number of coupes at the FFR open house and checking the old plexiglass and the ill fit they had.
Bill

[1cobra]

THE BLACK BODY IS NOT DIFFERENT AT THE SIDE, IT SITS FLAT ON THE 1" TUBE SO IT IS PERFECTLY STRAIGHT, THE WINDOW IS CURVED.
p

[lbperry]

Perry;
Might be worth putting the glass on a flat surface and measuring the bow in the center at the leading edge and trailing edge and getting someone else to do the same. That way you could demonstrate or eliminate the bow of the glass on yours as being the problem. Might make you feel better about doing the necessary fiberglass work if that's what you wind up having to do.
Good Luck,

[1cobra]

Hi,
Well..... I will NOT be doing any fiberglass work to my $12,000 paint job.
I emailed F5 last week but they have not said anything yet.
Perry.

[peffem]

email is slloooow mail at FFR, you better give them a call.

[Fluge]

Perry

Is it possible that they altered the body to make the other hatch fit better when you had the body work done?

Let me know what measurements you want and I can try to get them for you.

marc

[1cobra]

Hi,
No, the body lays flat against the 1" metal tube running down the side of the hatch so it can't change as it is rivited solid to the metal. It was straight so no bodywork was done there.
P

[Fluge]

Perry

One more thing...are both sides the same...is there a gap on both sides?

Marc

[1cobra]

Yes it the same size gap on both sides.
P

[CHAZC5ZX]

I have the same problem as Perry. I had one of the first glass hatches that were recalled and it fit great, nice and flat along the sides, this one has A bow in it. I'm waiting for my body man to come over and see what we can do with it. ButI'ts not looking good..... O and FFR dosen't answer E mail's CALL them.
Chaz...

[jetsbaby]

Ok I see the what your problem is..Can you adjust the u bolt down more so it sucks down the window more down in the body recess? I will break mine out and see if it looks like your or different.

[1cobra]

No the rear is already down 1/8" past the body so that isn't an option.
P

[John Card]

Mine fits better on the D side than it does on the P side. The bow is noticeable. I didn't notice it when I picked it up from paint, but noticed it after I secured the tail lights - the body may have moved. Mine isn't as bad as Perry's sounds, but its there and there doesn't really seem to be anything I can do about it other than add some more weatherstripping as he mentioned. Either way, I think it's still way better than the plastic.

[flajctype65]

But John and Perry, if the glass were placed on a flat surface, do the sides contact the flat surface their entire length? If not, then there is a manufacturing defect. I was ready to spring for the glass hatch until I read the dilemma Perry has. And, FF bumped up the price by 60%, or at least in the catalog. But until I have a good understanding of the situation with you guys, it won't happen. We all know that adjustments must be made in almost everything, but really, this is just too much to tolerate if it is a manufacturing defect.

[1cobra]

No the sides are bowed up 5/8" and the black weatherstrip can't take up the slack.
Perry

[flajctype65]

Perry,
You should probably speak with Factory Five about this obviously bad piece. May be incorrect, but it is my understanding that these hatches are drop shipped from the manufacturer so FF may not be aware of this problem. In any event, it would be great to know that they have to say about it. I really don't like the plastic, but am not inclined to modify the body to make up for an ill made glass hatch. I'd almost rather remake the frame and make my own lexan one. In any event, good luck with this probably frustrating development.

[1cobra]

Well I've adjusted the glass for 2 days and the best I got was a little better but still 1/4" extra weatherstrip is needed
P

[John Card]

if the glass were placed on a flat surface, do the sides contact the flat surface their entire length? If not, then there is a manufacturing defect..

Are you sure that it is SUPPOSED to be flat? Maybe there is supposed to be some curve there to fit the new bodies - don't know.

If I put a straight edge along the bottom edge of each side, the D side bows upward about 3/16" in the center, the P side is about 3/8". So it's not symmetrical. My D side fits OK, but it would fit better if it were flatter. The P side had an air gap that you can see through when the glass it latched. It's been adjusted all it can.

[flajctype65]

John
From your comments it seems that your question is probably answered about the sides being flat. I would think that even on the new kits, the square tubes running from the top of the roof roll bar to the back are "true" with no bow, at least my chassis 434 is that way and my body sits follows those tubes. Can't imagine FF putting a bow into the body in that area. Again, I really want the glass hatch but am unwilling to deal with the aggravation of something that doesn't fit properly and that I cannot modify to fit. If you lay a straight edge on the side of the hatch on the body, is it straight? Your car is so absolutely beautiful and with so many great design and execution details, this thing must be driving you crazy.

[Fluge]

flajctype65...

I thought I had 434?

Marc

[flajctype65]

Marc,

You do have 434. It was a typo. Mine is actually 438.

[loeffler1]

Perry

I may have the solution to your bowed glass hatch problem. I just stopped by the body shop this AM and lo and behold he was working on my rear hatch glass. We measured for the curve you mentioned and sure enough it was there, although not as bad as yours, about 1/4" to 5/16". Now on my coupe, in order to fit the rear of the body, I have not fastened the sides down that attach to the square downtubes which does give me an advantage over you. My drivers side fits flush with the frame but the passenger side has a 3/16" gap. We discussed the problem and came up with this solution. Fabricate a small aluminum spacer to fit under the fiberglass body and over the square tube and lightly jack the fiberglass boby with a small porta power so that it conforms to the glass in the middle. Now I know your body is expensively painted, but could you carefully drill out the rivets on the sides and fabricate this spacer - the body is very flexible in this area - and with a combination of the spacer between the body and frame and with some flat gasket to build up under your existing gasket, might you not be able to seal the glass this way. We tried this on mine and you can't see daylight between the gasket and the window. Now the only other work that needs to be done to make this glass almost a perfect fit on mine is to tweak the upper passenger corner with some material removed at the lower part of this corner and some material added at the upper part of the corner. Remember the glass is kind of truncated in this area. Then the lower drivers corner needs some material added and the lower passenger corner needs some removed and it should be good to go and LEAK FREE. My body guy is a magician on fiberglass bodies, been working on Corvette bodies since he was 15 and he is in his mid fifties. He said this will look great when he is done and best of all not take as much time as I thought it would.

Again good luck with your glass endeavors, I feel it is worth it.

Bill

[1cobra]

I got an email back from F5, their glass has the same bow in it when laid flat on the floor so I don't think anything will work but a spacer or bodywork if your coupe is not painted yet:(
Perry.

[j.miller]

shim the weatherstrip, not the body to get a seal.

[JohnPR]

I’ve got a black-body gen 1 coupe, which I “completed” in 2012 (are they ever really completed?...lol). The plexiglass hatch was never really that great to begin with, but over the years it has gotten cloudier and also has developed an ugly splotch in one area. So I’m thinking about replacing it with the glass hatch, and spotted this thread from 7 years ago. Does anybody know if FFR has improved the glass to get rid of the bow since then? Has anybody done this modification recently?

[Garry Bopp]

John,

I had an early coupe (#031) and did the retrofit in 2014. The glass fit very well and the only issue was the glass sat just a tiny bit high on the passenger side. A thin layer of weatherstrip sealed it up nicely. You would have to look very closely to see any issue at all with the fit.

102359102360102361

Garry

[JohnPR]

Thanks for the feedback Garry. Nice car, by the way!

[John Dol]

Question is if they still make the glass hatch for the gen II coupe, as I'm assuming the gen III has a whole newly designed piece of glass.

Thought I heard that they stopped production on the gen II hatch a while ago.


Better call FFR I guess to find out for sure, and let us know. Be nice to know if something ever happened to my glass hatch that I can get a replacement.


John