Marshall V. Daut
Well-known member
I am putting a three-window 1929 Murray Town Sedan (155-A) back together after being disassembled for the past 25 years. The previous owner installed a complete new wood kit in the body, including the doors. But – I’m finding a number of internal door pieces had not been re-installed afterwards, which I have since had to purchase. $$$$ Because these pieces were lacking and the wood kit is new, I have run into a couple problem areas that I hope 1929 Murray Town Sedan and Standard Fordor owners out there can answer. I could find nothing in the archives or on-line to guide me. Drawings in the Ford body parts booklet don't help either. So, here I am, hat in hand, asking for advice.
(1) The eight side metal window U-channels were among the missing parts I ordered. These go at the lower end of the felt channels, nailed to the wood pillars. Because the door wood has been replaced, there are no nail holes to tell me where these metal channels are located. The rears are shorter and have no option for placement. But the fronts are longer and could go all the way at the bottom of the door pillars, in the middle or almost to where the bottom of the window is visible when rolled up. It probably doesn’t make much difference where they are nailed to the wood pillars to keep the windows straight when lowered, but since I am starting from scratch here, I might as well do it the way Ford did. Could someone either post a photo where these metal channels are located or confirm my suspicions? See photos of mounting possibilities.
(2) The four door window glass panes had been replaced with safety glass by the previous owner. I assume he used the original windows as patterns. This is a Murray body with the arches over the tops of the windows in the doors. The windows in this car had been cut to match that arch. Is that correct? Are the window tops supposed to also be arched? If so, I am having difficulty figuring out how the top curved edges fit into the sponge seal across the door top and where the vertical felt channel should stop. The problem is that the sponge ends hang free without support above or behind them. Is there supposed to be a triangular piece of wood in each upper corner for the sponge seal to use as a support, similar to the support triangles in the rear window? Or is the rubber seal glued to the metal arch on the door, forming a downward curve in the rubber? I see what appears to be remnants of glue here. ‘Seems kind of kludgey to me and alien to what Murray would have done when building the bodies. Is something missing? How do the sponge cross seal ends and the side felt channels meet so that the window seals at this juncture? As it is, there is a gap for air and water to enter.
(3) Finally, I realize there are two different window metal channels for the regulator arm to move the window up and down: LF/RR and RF/LR. It’s possible to slide the round disk slider through the enlarged hole in the channel's track. The operation works with the disk put in from either side. Of course, to do so, the channels need to be switched when flipped over. Because the disk will slide in the channel entering from either side, which way is correct? The way in the photo or just the opposite?
This car has been a nightmare to restore, so it should come as no surprise that the final stages involving door re-assembly have also been a pain in the tutu, mostly because of missing internal pieces. Thanks in advance for any photos or advice readers can offer.
Marshall
(1) The eight side metal window U-channels were among the missing parts I ordered. These go at the lower end of the felt channels, nailed to the wood pillars. Because the door wood has been replaced, there are no nail holes to tell me where these metal channels are located. The rears are shorter and have no option for placement. But the fronts are longer and could go all the way at the bottom of the door pillars, in the middle or almost to where the bottom of the window is visible when rolled up. It probably doesn’t make much difference where they are nailed to the wood pillars to keep the windows straight when lowered, but since I am starting from scratch here, I might as well do it the way Ford did. Could someone either post a photo where these metal channels are located or confirm my suspicions? See photos of mounting possibilities.
(2) The four door window glass panes had been replaced with safety glass by the previous owner. I assume he used the original windows as patterns. This is a Murray body with the arches over the tops of the windows in the doors. The windows in this car had been cut to match that arch. Is that correct? Are the window tops supposed to also be arched? If so, I am having difficulty figuring out how the top curved edges fit into the sponge seal across the door top and where the vertical felt channel should stop. The problem is that the sponge ends hang free without support above or behind them. Is there supposed to be a triangular piece of wood in each upper corner for the sponge seal to use as a support, similar to the support triangles in the rear window? Or is the rubber seal glued to the metal arch on the door, forming a downward curve in the rubber? I see what appears to be remnants of glue here. ‘Seems kind of kludgey to me and alien to what Murray would have done when building the bodies. Is something missing? How do the sponge cross seal ends and the side felt channels meet so that the window seals at this juncture? As it is, there is a gap for air and water to enter.
(3) Finally, I realize there are two different window metal channels for the regulator arm to move the window up and down: LF/RR and RF/LR. It’s possible to slide the round disk slider through the enlarged hole in the channel's track. The operation works with the disk put in from either side. Of course, to do so, the channels need to be switched when flipped over. Because the disk will slide in the channel entering from either side, which way is correct? The way in the photo or just the opposite?
This car has been a nightmare to restore, so it should come as no surprise that the final stages involving door re-assembly have also been a pain in the tutu, mostly because of missing internal pieces. Thanks in advance for any photos or advice readers can offer.
Marshall
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