Photos of windsheild area mounting points.

[70gtvert]

Any decent pictures out there showing the windshield body attachment points? My book only has a description for this process. Leaves too many questions when they do that. Thanks in advance, John.

[Fluge]

Hi John

I think I have a few pictures in the link below. Along the bottom I have one bolt with nut on the driver's side and passenger side. Inthe lower middle I have 2. In the top center I had to make a spacer. I drilled and tapped holes so that I could bolt from the windshield body lip down and 2 bolts from the frame up into the spacer. The spacer holes for the frame bolts were tapped on an angle relative to the spacer. I think I put a picture of that in the link. I used to pieces of aluminum for the spacer but one thicker one would have been fine.

Good luck!

Marc

[DARKPT]

John, check out the last 5 pictures that I just added to this page for you:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53614858@N05/sets/72157625757618939/

Our Coupes have more flange area on the body than the older ones did, and it sounds like the mounting tabs on the chassis were also lengthened. You used to only be able to bolt through the windshield channel area itself.

8319

[LDave]

Any pics of how the top spacers looks?

[DARKPT]

I added one more pic showing my top spacer (look above the rearview mirror, and remember you can enlarge the pics by right clicking them on Flickr): http://www.flickr.com/photos/53614858@N05/sets/72157625757618939/

I cobbled it together with parts from McMaster Carr and Lowe's. It is a hex-shaped threaded spacer (McMaster Carr: Zinc-Plated STL Female Threaded Hex Standoff 1/2" Hex, 1" Length, 1/4"-20 Screw Size) topped by a rubber spacer that I got at Lowe's (specialty fastener aisle, about 3/4" tall and has a 1/4-20 threaded center, kind of shaped like a T).

I put a short length of 1/4-20 threaded rod into the top of the steel spacer and threaded on the rubber spacer. I put a short bolt through a hole in the top front flange of the chassis to hold the whole thing in place. I can add a washer between the spacers later if the rubber shrinks, but its a pretty tough rubber. Measure your total gap to figure out how much of the steel spacer you need. I ended up trimming mine to just under 3/4".

Others have bolted through the lip of the windshield mount area into this spacer, but I was afraid that any pressure point like a bolt head could cause a crack later on. So, my spacer only prevents the roof from being pushed down.

By the way, I used the same rubber spacer on the rear chassis flange to the hatch area. However, I just used a couple of washers as the gap was smaller.

edit: I just aded a pic of the rubber spacer to the link above. Look for the last few pics on that page.

[70gtvert]

There is some good stuff here, thanks.

[70gtvert]

Okay, now I have a little more time to respond. DARKPT, what is this a picture of? I can't find anything (yet) on mine that looks the same.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/53614858@N05/6834494274/in/set-72157625757618939/

I also only see lower windshield mount locations, 3 if I am correct. Is there not one at the top of each frame, front and rear? Looks to me I should have done this before mounting the dash. It would seem to be almost impossible to do if you did not make your dash removable. Luckily, I attempted to make mine removable but to date have had no reason to check it out. Now I do. Thanks again, John.

[DARKPT]

John, the pic you linked is the passenger-side body mount tab under the windshield. Your dash is also sitting on top of this tab. If you installed the dash without trimming it back on the front edge, then your dash is hiding these lower mounting tabs.

There are a total of 4 lower mounting screws that you'll use. It sounds like you already spotted the other three in my other pictures.

The only mount at the top of the windshield is in the middle on the same tab where you'll likely mount your rearview mirror. The body doesn't actually touch that top mount. I described the spacer that I constructed to connect the upper chassis tab to the body.

There is a similar tab in the top rear of the chassis that you use to mount another (shorter) spacer to prop up the roof in front of the rear hatch.

Feel free to give me a holler; I'll send you my phone numbers. It'll make more sense when you get the dash pulled and look under it.

[CJBergquist]

I'm interested in this as well. Dan you said there were four mounting spots in the front. Is that three across the bottom and one at the top? Second question, for some reason I thought there was a rubber gasket of some kind that held the windshield in place. Is that correct or does it just get glued to the fiberglass windshield opening?

[DARKPT]

There are three tabs at the bottom, but the middle one lends itself to using two bolts as it is extra wide and straddles a brace that runs under the dash. One tab at the top center of the windshield (the same piece that your rearview mirror will mount to).

The windshield gets glued in place. You'll probably use a "universal fit" weatherstrip that your local glass guys have. Mine called the one he used "#20", but I don't know if that's a term they all use or not. He wrapped it around the windshield, then dropped the windshield on the bead of glue.

EDIT: I shot a couple of short videos:
lower windshield mounts - http://youtu.be/9v7zI5hsGYQ
upper windshield mount - http://youtu.be/mgPxpbYdg_8

[CJBergquist]

That's very helpful. Thanks

Next question. Did you paint the black boarder on the windshield? How wide? Same width all the way around?

[DARKPT]

I used 3M Single Step Primer (part number 08681) to paint the border. I used a 1" foam brush, and poured the primer into a mixing cup after stirring it. The stuff dries really fast, and you need to get a good coat on the first time. If you try to touch it up, this stuff will lift the original coat and you'll end up with brush marks. Find a way to shine light through it, and don't be stingy with it.

I put a 1-1/2" border on all sides except the bottom, where I used 1-3/4. I should have used a 2-1/2 to 2-3/4 border at the bottom.

[70gtvert]

Dan, those videos are something FF should have done themselves and provide access to through this site. There are so many vague areas that I'm sure they are aware of via questions they received to allow them to cover most of the hot topics. John.

[Tim Potts]

Dan, How about the wipers? They don't look like the FFR supplied arms, where did you source them?

[DARKPT]

Good eye! One of my FFR arms was badly bent, so I went back to www.**********accessories.com and bought arms and blades. I had previously purchased wheelboxes there after one of my FFR wheelboxes arrived with the nut completely seized in the center of the threads.

Incidentally, Spaceclam over on the other site mentioned Tex Automotive wiper arms and described how they had a superior mechanism for gripping the top of the wiper box. It turns out that the arms I received from finish line say Tex right on them, and I do like how they attach.