C-1 Upper Windshield Frame and Stainless Moulding

[Pat H.]

I'm in the process of restoring my 59 and have the windshield out in order to have some dings removed from the upper stainless and have the lower one polished. The upper portion never did fit very well and I had water coming in when it rains (typical C-1). I have the upper frame separated from the stainless to see if there is anything out of alignment that causes it not to fit properly. I tried each piece separate and it seem to fit okay. My question is how to get the 2 pieces back together and properly fitted. I've noticed there is a lip on the inside of the stainless on both sides, but due to the curvature of both pieces, it can't seems to get them together. Any help would be appreciated.

[Mike E.]

Re: C-1 Upper Windshield Frame and Stainless Moulding

Pat,
I'm on the road right now, so I'm going from memory, but I do know that it's not that both lips fit over the inner metal channel. I don't remember which one (inner or outer) fits over the lip and which doesn't. I remember the pain of trying to figure this out back in about 1978. Pre-internet days!

[Richard M.]

Re: C-1 Upper Windshield Frame and Stainless Moulding

Pat, You may cringe, but the only proper way to install the top stainless is to get the open ends aligned over the two windshield post ends, and PUSH down briskly and it'll snap over the post ends and lay down. Sounds crazy, but that's exactly the way it's stated in the ST-12 Service manual. They simply say......"Install upper frame header moulding over ends of both side frames". Yea right, like you can understand what that really means?

I've done it that way over the years with no problems. One trick that I've learned before you snap it over.....

Measure the ID of the open ends, and measure the OD of the W/S post ends. If the SS trim is too big, slightly squeeze the open end with your hand so it's a little less than the W/S posts. This way when it snaps over, you won't see the trim a little bigger than the post ends. It's tricky, and you have only ONE shot at it. Sometimes it works tight, sometimes not.

I usually install the windshield assembly on the car without the SS top trim. After I'm satisfied with everything, I wait a few days and work on other things. The reason I wait, is because if the assy needs to come off for any reason and has to be taken apart, the top trim won't be there to cause grief. My last step is always the top trim as when the assy is on the car it's a solid mass and pushing on the trim is less stressful.

Rich

[Pat H.]

Re: C-1 Upper Windshield Frame and Stainless Moulding

Rich/Mike
I think it's the outer edge that gets clip onto the outside of the frame, but I'm not sure. It was properly done when the windshield was changed 18 years ago. I'm planning on have the stainless dings removed and polished before re-assembly, so I don't want to mess up the polished trim. It make sense to snug up the stainless ends which I've already done, but will it stay like that once you try and re-install it?

[Richard M.]

Re: C-1 Upper Windshield Frame and Stainless Moulding

You cannot just clip the outside first and try to roll it over the backside. You have to center the trim over the post ends, and snap them both over the posts. I tried that once....impossible. If lucky, it's snap over and hook in the front....

They usually are left with a gap. Almost every car I see has that gap in front, with the weatherstrip sticking out a little bit. A big problem is when the posts get rechromed, too much copper(thick) is applied before chrome(mils thin). This causes the flange to be oversized where it's made to accept the header trim and causes the trim to be somewhat "balooned".

The first 2 pics are my '59 which has original(non re-chromed) posts. Gap is there. 2nd 2 pics are rechromed posts on a different car. All 4 are the same..... with a gap.

[Pat H.]

Re: C-1 Upper Windshield Frame and Stainless Moulding

Rich,
I've seen them perfectly flush. I believe it was Entec that had a display at Carlisle. Mine looked just as yours do and that why I disassembled it. One of the posts is an original NOS and the other is a repaired, re-chromed one. So I don't think its the chrome thickness that makes it not fit flush. Does the moulding just slip over the frame or does it clip to the inner frame? When I took it apart, the moulding was clip to the inner channel in the frame.

[Pat H.]

Re: C-1 Upper Windshield Frame and Stainless Moulding

Mike,
I got a few pointers from RIch Mozzetta, but from the sounds of his explanation the moulding slides over the upper frame and does not clip. May it just me, but if you can give me some guidance on how to tackle this it wopuld be appreciated. Note, when I was in Carlisle, Entec ( former Glassworks) had a display of a windshield and all the moulding fit perfectly. There has to be a tick in accomplishing this.
Thanks

[Richard M.]

Re: C-1 Upper Windshield Frame and Stainless Moulding

Pat,

It's supposed to be flush, but as I mentioned so many I see are not. The forward edge of the trim should be flush with the post. It's just very difficult to get it there so that the front is even and the edge fits over the post's ridge.

The copper/chrome thickness in fact DOES play a big role in getting any trim to fit properly. Case in point is the inner and outer reveal moldings on the doors. I've had several C1's where the door posts come back from the chrome platers with the copper/chrome so thick that the profile end of the molding would not fit over the post stub at all, let alone fitting evenly. It takes some careful grinding to get them to fit when the build up from the plating process is so thick. Here's an example. There is NO way the trim would fit on these posts, raw from the plater.

P3150001.jpg P3150009.jpg P3150010.jpg P3150003.jpg

Many platers have no clue what we have to do after their work is done. They may make them look like jewelry, but they need to know where to mask and keep the copper thin.

The same holds true for the windshield posts. I always test fit the header trim to the post ends before assembling the windshield. It's easy if you have just the post by itself and push the trim over the end to see if it fits. Then you'll see what it should look like at final assembly. If it doesn't fit right using this test method, it will never fit right when the windshield is assembled and you push the trim over the post ends as the procedure states.

You ask if the header trim is designed to slip...or clip... on to the inner top frame. It slips over the inner frame, but actually ends up being clipped on the edges of the trim to the frame. I'm not sure if it was designed to or not, but by default it always gets attached such that to remove the header trim from the frame, you need a number of butter knives to pry it off during a rebuild.

I would imagine the Entec people, who yield excellent results, most likely grind the post ends so that their header trim fit flush, and test fit these pieces before assembly.

Rich