Hot Rods Looking for ideas to get rid of the bowtie window

When my car was built the guy cut the back window into a bowtie to demonstrate that it is not a Ford as that's what everyone asked him at the time..."What year Ford is it?"

Anyway...after owning the car off and on for about ten years I have grown tired of it...
I will be painting the car in a few months and I want to change it...

The roof has been radically chopped so whatever garnish I find will have to be able to be narrowed to around 6-1/2" tall...that is the ht of the bowtie window...
So it can not be too round on the ends...
Also...the back of the cab is not 100% flat but has a slight curve to it...

Maybe I should consider a fibergl*** garnish...? I don't know...I am seeing what's out there as well as looking for suggestions...

I am attaching a couple of pix to give you a better idea what I am talking about...
Thanx guys!

 

I think the easiest way to fix that would be to find window opening from a donor body. Then chop away until the proportions look right.

 

Exactly the plan...however early Chevy body parts are nearly impossible to find because the wood frame issue...
I don't really care if it is a Chevy window so finding window garnish (window opening) that will fit will do the job...
I originally thought the same thing but after looking into it a little bit, it is just a hole in the body dressed with a frame (garnish) with a piece of gl*** in it...
Thanx!

 

I have a 33 chev window section and garnish molding I would be willing to part with
same window as this.

 

Damn, I'd rather have them ask me if it was a Ford. I used to have a '68 Galaxie fastback and people would always ask me what year my Torino was. One guy got angry when I told him it was a Galaxie and he told me I had no idea what I was driving....

 

I think that is too round to chop to 6-1/2" tall without the ends looking funky...???

 

I'll dig out the moulding later today and give you some measurments
Sold the car a while back , so it is not here ,

 

I have chopped window section that has an opening of 30" by 5" with stepped body lines around the edge. If you think this might work I will take some pics.

 

Ya....I'd like to see that...my window opening now in 6-1/2" tall but that could be dealt with...
What is it out of...? Thanx!

 

Why not just open up the window opening in your first picture? Looks like it was left there and just plated over with sheet metal. Or is that not your car, and just an example of what you want?

 

^^^^ There ya go.

 

Yep, and sell the old window on the Camaro web site.

 

Actually I thought of that too as I was thinking the same thing (that IS my car in the pic)...
I just don't know about what that weld might look like once I get in there...

 

You could find a 50's truck with a small back window in a junk yard. Chop it out. Chop it up to desired size! You could also do it with some 40's cars, but trucks seem easier to find

 

I have used the 48-52 ford truck rear window for applications such as yours, these are fairly easy to find

 

Wow!!! That looks perfect for the job.

 

Find the guy who cut the bowtie in there; stick his head through the center of the bowtie opening, and pull (with a tractor if necessary) until he is entirely inside the car. Discard him. If he had fairly big shoulders, result should closely approximate desired result.

 

Thank you for rectifying that!

 

Can you remove the interior panels to see whats left of the original window and post pics?

Window choice will be what you can find, either modify an existing window, or choose a shape and have it formed bead rolled, get gl*** cut, make garish molding. I'm not trying to be a smart *** here, those are the choices depending on how much you want to fab. Looks like you are getting some options on existing windows from others too.

Good move on making the update, all that bowtie, heartbeat **** needs to go back to the late 80's.

 

There are no "removable" panels inside...whatever I remove will have to be replaced...
None of that will happen until I paint which will not be for months...
Yesterday I DID however obtain that window from 117harv so we will see then and I will be posting about the window and the paint job at that time...
Thanx to all of you for your help!

 

That window from 117Harv will look good, I bet the photoshop guys can help you out with a "mock up"

Ive followed along in many of your threads, youre doing a lot of work on the car recently.
Planning on a repaint this winter? What color? Are you doing the panel replacement?

 

Yes...I believe it will look good too
Well...I have owned the car for ten years (off and on) and the yellow with the chrome wheels etc was great but I am over it...
I want a more traditional, bad *** look so I have done the black wheels and next is black lake pipes and then, finally, it will be a dark gray metallic...
Next week the tan, cloth seats are going to be redone in black vinyl with a traditional diamond pattern sewn into them...I will post pix...
Thanx!

 

Subscribed! Looking forward to the transformation.

 

I agree 117Harv seems to have your answer!

Pat

 

I'd think that that part of a 47/54 Chevy pickup cab would be reasonably easy to find and you can cut it to the size you want easily. You could leave what ever amount of the inner panel you needed to. When you chop them they just take a length of "universal window rubber" available at any auto gl*** shop to put the gl*** in.
The stock opening without gl*** is 11 inches tall at the center and 27-1/4 to 27-3/4 wide top to bottom. If you narrow it to the right width it would be easy to cut it down the middle and the cut the sides to the right height to get a real good fit and then trim to width.
This is one of my donor cabs and this window will probably be cut down for my 31 Victoria.

My back window with 4 inches cut out of it for comparison


The inside of it.

Otherwise it is off to the wrecking yard to look for a usable donor window.

 

You're doing the right thing by swapping out that window and redoing those seats, the look of the car will benefit hugely from it. I don't have any suggestions to add, just wanted to let you know that you're making a great choice with the planned changes.

 

A sneak preview....

 

nice!

 

That window will make the coupe just that much better. Do you plan to change the tail lights? I'm partial to 40's.