I have read through a bunch of threads and magazines, and I see all the differant ways to do the qtr windows, but after cutting and welding on the door tops to the car is it now impossible to open the door without opening the window? I mean roll it down a few inches. And if so how do you deal with a safety system so some dumb *** doesnt try and open the door and bust the gl***. Or am I just not seeing the whole picture. I guess I could be that dum***. I have seen it with mercs, 48 fleetlines, 49 fords, windows are up or down. School me friends.......
What are you cuttin up now? LOL. What are you workin on? Check a hardtop of the same style. Maybe post a pic...........OLDBEET
When we do matranga style hardtops. you can weld / attach the window surround to the door. or have the surround go down with the window itself. If you want I can send you some pictures, but it will have to be tomorrow becuase I dont have them with me.
You could look at a 50's or 60's hard top for inspiration on how to get it all lined up. On my 64 Pontiac convertible, the 1/4 gl*** only comes up to the door seam, but doesn't overlap into the door gl*** like you fear. The weather strip is an L shaped affair fixed to the 1/4 gl***. So, you have one side of the L on the edge of the gl*** and the other side crosses the door gap on the backside of the door gl***. What that gives you is a seal across the door gap, but the door gl*** actually closes in front of it....if that makes any sense. I plan on doing a similar layout on a merc one day with a Hirohata chop, since the original has no weatherstrip around the windows.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25447 I hardtopped a shoebox Ford using 56 Olds roof sections to make it look "right". Used the factory Olds stainless "flippers" to seal the window tops, yet still allow you to open the door without rolling down the gl***.
most hardtopped chops become fair weather drivers that have no side gl***. you'll easily spend as much time and effort making the windows work as you do on the entire rest of the chop job. the easiest way, not the best, is to have the windows stop just shy of the original channel. keep the windows their "stock" height so the part of the window that is concealed in the door helps to support the now unsupported exposed part. of course you'll get wind noise and rain inside with this method.you could take it a step further and engineer some mechanical or electrical lockout so you can roll the window up the last inch but not operate the door latch. i'm considering an electric limit switch that will activate a solenoid to lock the door to prevent window damage when closed up tight. the BEST way would be to copy the weatherstripping off 60's hardtops, but that requires reworking the whole roof rail for weatherstrip. in miy case, i wanted to keep the "stock" appearance of the roofrail. most likely i'll end up stopping the gl*** short of the original channel, and using the L shaped rubber to seal it the best i can. like chopolds said, you could try to find the flipperbars off 50's hardtops, but they are pretty hard to find and spendy, and require a straight line along the roofrail, they won't work on a curved opening like a coupe.
If you are going to wash it or drive it in the rain, you need gaskets. Fill in the gap at the edge of the top where the window rolls into and make a channel to use 65 Mustang gasket. The door will also need a notch for clearance where the rear 1/4 window and side window overlap, some notch it on the outside. I did mine differently on my chopped 49 Merc coupe.
Here'a a couple pics from my "how-to" I refered to above. I used the entire side of the Olds roof, and grafted it to the Ford center. I had to shorten up the door flippers, because we put in curved gl***, like the Hirohata. That meant lengthening the quarter window stainless, as well. It al works pretty well, in the last pic, it doesn't show it, but we wound up making the vent window shorter, triangular, so the drivers gl*** would be longer, it looks way too short in this pic. The shape of the quarter gl*** is also different, curvier than it shows in the pic. I don't see why you couldn't use the same technique on a coupe, if the shapes were even close. Just takes a bit more work to fit it in and make it look right.
I have to have some shots somewhere, but I don't have them on this computer. Here's a shot of the car unchopped, but with a better view of the fins.
The car I have on the back burner is a 48 fleetline. I am putting a 49 fleetline together for my summer cruiser. But I realy want to to do a hardtop big body 48. To answer Old "Beet" My 49 is chopped four inches and channeled over a 80 elcamino floorpan/frame. 56 buick dash, 56 olds fender lips, 66 pont tilt, olds deep dish wheel, 55 olds headlights, 53 surround, Air ride, whites, Etc. I am making this one right, since I learned what I want to do better after the last one. Gonna post up some pics next month after I finish the deck and rear of the car, your gonna like this one.
anyone with close up pictures of the coupe to hardtop deal. i wanna do it to the 50 poncho i have. e****ally the door and roof area . i wanna use flippers and a stationary back window that slides into a slot in the rear
This is a '50 Ford HT on a '47 coupe. The weather-stripping around the top of the door gl*** seal is cut down '50 Ford HT repop. The quarter window is slide in with universal channel. Hope it helps:
this is more a street rod with to many damn wires running thru it for its own good, but on this car i welded the door tops to the body, then lowered the gutter down to the edge like hard tops have. i then fabed a trim piece out of br*** to go all the way around the openings to mimic stainless. the windows will be wired so when the car shuts off they will automatically drop a few inches, and then roll up with a remote. the rear 1/4 slide in and i fabed a division bar for the sides. not completely idiot proof but dooable
ahhhhh thats the part i couldnt vizualize the door top to the roof part. hmmm the flipper and stainless part will be fun to make thanks for the pics guys sorta giving me some more ideas on how to get things down. what were you guys doing for bracing in the body with out the post?
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