SCFFR
11-04-2012, 06:10 AM
13090130911309213093
I thought I would take a break from trimming and sanding fiberglass and spend the day (and it was ALL day) getting the windshield installed since I needed to have it in place before I start on the doors. I had search all of the forum posts I could find to see what things I needed to do and those things to avoid. All went pretty well once I got the slots cut in the body (my kit came with no cut outs but the slots were marked). I trimmed the ends of the support bars as needed and put some masking tape on the inside of the bars to make them easy to mark for drilling.
As with just about everything on these cars, there are many opinions on exactly how things should be done. I read that the idea angle on the windshield (as measure along the door line) was 53 degrees. I also read that the distance from the top of the frame to the edge of where the body rolls down over the rear bulkhead should be around 36". Regardless, I had several targets to shot for.
The first thing I did notice was that the bottom edge of the windshield frame has a smooth consistent curve which pretty much matches that of the cowl until you get to the ends where the cowl flattens out at the fender tops. No matter what angle I moved the windshield, the ends of the frame were sticking into the fiberglass and holding the rest of the frame off the cowl. I tried the 36" distance idea but when I did this the support bars were at such an angle that they were completely out of line with the 3/4" holes in the support brackets under the cowl. I guess I figured that when the support brackets were designed, that the holes should pretty much line up with the bars attached to the windshield. Certainly at this point, you couldn’t get any type of tool in there to move or make those holes bigger. So, I position the windshield so that the ½" holes that had to be drilled in the support bars were pretty much in the center of the bars.
In the end, I ended up with the windshield at about a 52 degree angle and it looks good but I’m really not satisfied with my installation. There are no gaps between the cowl and the rubber seal on the bottom of the frame, but the frame is about ½" above the cowl the whole length of the windshield except at the ends. I even had to grind a little of the fiberglass out at the very ends to help the windshield set just a little lower.
I’ve looked at plenty of pictures of cars and how their windshields sit. Some look like the frame in very close to the cowl and the rubber seal is almost flat. On others you can see a gap between the cowl and the rubber seal but the majority are in between.
Just wondering if I did something grossly wrong during my installation. The installation looks okay but I would really like for the frame to be down and closer to the cowl.
Any suggestions or recommendation?
As always, thanks for your help.
Ron
I thought I would take a break from trimming and sanding fiberglass and spend the day (and it was ALL day) getting the windshield installed since I needed to have it in place before I start on the doors. I had search all of the forum posts I could find to see what things I needed to do and those things to avoid. All went pretty well once I got the slots cut in the body (my kit came with no cut outs but the slots were marked). I trimmed the ends of the support bars as needed and put some masking tape on the inside of the bars to make them easy to mark for drilling.
As with just about everything on these cars, there are many opinions on exactly how things should be done. I read that the idea angle on the windshield (as measure along the door line) was 53 degrees. I also read that the distance from the top of the frame to the edge of where the body rolls down over the rear bulkhead should be around 36". Regardless, I had several targets to shot for.
The first thing I did notice was that the bottom edge of the windshield frame has a smooth consistent curve which pretty much matches that of the cowl until you get to the ends where the cowl flattens out at the fender tops. No matter what angle I moved the windshield, the ends of the frame were sticking into the fiberglass and holding the rest of the frame off the cowl. I tried the 36" distance idea but when I did this the support bars were at such an angle that they were completely out of line with the 3/4" holes in the support brackets under the cowl. I guess I figured that when the support brackets were designed, that the holes should pretty much line up with the bars attached to the windshield. Certainly at this point, you couldn’t get any type of tool in there to move or make those holes bigger. So, I position the windshield so that the ½" holes that had to be drilled in the support bars were pretty much in the center of the bars.
In the end, I ended up with the windshield at about a 52 degree angle and it looks good but I’m really not satisfied with my installation. There are no gaps between the cowl and the rubber seal on the bottom of the frame, but the frame is about ½" above the cowl the whole length of the windshield except at the ends. I even had to grind a little of the fiberglass out at the very ends to help the windshield set just a little lower.
I’ve looked at plenty of pictures of cars and how their windshields sit. Some look like the frame in very close to the cowl and the rubber seal is almost flat. On others you can see a gap between the cowl and the rubber seal but the majority are in between.
Just wondering if I did something grossly wrong during my installation. The installation looks okay but I would really like for the frame to be down and closer to the cowl.
Any suggestions or recommendation?
As always, thanks for your help.
Ron