'42-'48 Convertible windshield gasket

50Fraud

50Fraud

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I find that Carpenter lists a gasket with part # 11A-7003110-B, while Drake shows # 21A-7603110. Both are supposed to be for '42-'48 Ford cars with stainless inserts.

As some of you know, my car is actually a fake, but we have tried to build a windshield frame that's an accurate copy of a '42 convertible frame in every respect except height -- it's been chopped to match the height of a '40 convert.

Of course the gasket will have to be modified in any case, but I'd like to have the closest-to-correct piece to start with. Can anybody explain to me the difference between the Carpenter and Drake part numbers?
 
Each company assigns its own part number to its own parts. Depending on whim the numbers may or may not be the same as, similar to, or totally different than the original part number.
 
For what it's worth, I prefer Carpenter rubber products. They just seem to fit better. Of course you are going to modify which ever you get so I cannot comment on which one can be modified the easiest. lol
 
Our windshield stainless project has not gone well. Here's the '42 convertible from which we took the dimensions used to construct our windshield frame. Notice the appearance of the stainless:



Here's our windshield frame. The cross section of the frame and its pinch weld is an accurate copy of the '42. The rubber gasket is from Carpenter, and the stainless was reportedly from a '46 Convertible:



Here's a look at the cross sections of the rubber and the stainless, which don't look to me like they belong together:



Obviously the end result -- the way the stainless looks when assembled into the rubber on the car -- looks completely wrong. I suspect that either the molding or the gasket is incorrect, but I don't know where to look for alternative parts. Any knowledgeable suggestions?
 
shouldn't the rubber gasket have a separate groove for the stainless trim like on coupes and sedans have
 
This mystery is not yet solved. I posted this picture a while back, illustrating the way we were trying to install the stainless in the gasket:

We were trying to fit the windshield glass into the same wide groove as the straight leg of the stainless, and sliding the narrow groove of the gasket onto the pinch weld of the windshield frame.

Some further thought suggested the the stainless belongs like this in the gasket, and this looks more like the installed windshield in the red car above:

--BUT-- if it's installed this way (glass in the wide groove, pinch weld in the narrow one), the glass is BEHIND the pinch weld and has to be installed from inside the car. That doesn't make any sense to me at all.

Again, this is a Dennis Carpenter gasket. I haven't seen Drake's part, but I imagine it's basically the same cross section. Drake does not have a picture available of theirs, and their phone order guy is clueless.

Does anybody on here have actual experience with this stuff, who can suggest what we're doing wrong?
 
Its been a long time since I installed mine, but I seem to remember that the glass has to be installed from the inside.

There are two types of gaskets. One for the stainless trim, the other for the cheap models w/o the stainless trim.
 
Thanks, Paul. I am aware that there are two different gaskets, and I'm pretty certain that the one we have is correct for the stainless trim -- the three grooves would be (1) glass, (2) pinch weld, and (3) stainless.

Is glass installation discussed in any of the Ford shop manuals of the period?
 
The 21A-7003110-B is the windshield seal for closed cars and station wagons. The convertible seal does not have the "B" suffix. There is a difference. I fought that battle with Carpenter. They sent an 11A-7003110-B. They said the seals were all the same. Not so. The corners are different, and will not lay flat.
 
supereal said:
The 21A-7003110-B is the windshield seal for closed cars and station wagons. The convertible seal does not have the "B" suffix. There is a difference. I fought that battle with Carpenter. They sent an 11A-7003110-B. They said the seals were all the same. Not so. The corners are different, and will not lay flat.
Click to expand...

Sounds like supereal has identified a potential for not being able to solve this?? He's building a fake. So, is the windshield frame based on a closed-car frame? And, if so, you say the stainless is from a convertible?? And, if supereal is correct, the -B is for closed cars (only)?? Sounds to me like you have a combination that CAN'T go together properly?? Just a guess...

OT, but I'm curious - did you get your convertible doors from RAK? We eventually found the body tub that went with those doors, and I'm just curious.
 
He asked for the convertible gasket. Both types have a groove fro the stainless trim which goes on after the gasket is in place. Getting the glass in a chopped car of any kind is a real challenge, often best left to a pro.
 
The Carpenter catalog lists only one seal for '42-48 with chrome, both convertible and closed car, and that's the one I bought (Not disputing you, Supereal, just recounting my experience).

Drake DOES list two different seals: 21A-7003110-B for closed cars with trim, and 21A-7603110 (no suffix) for convertibles with trim. Maybe they've got the different corners right.

My car's windshield frame was actually made from the '40 coupe that we started with, but was modified to dimensions taken from the gennie '42 convertible shown above, and then chopped. The corners may differ, but our problem has been in figuring out the proper relationship of stainless-to-rubber-to-glass -- also depicted above.

bobH, my doors didn't come from a convert. They're Tudor sedan doors with the window frames cut off, and some changes made in the latch area to simulate a convertible door.
 
I need instructions on the installation of windshield weatherstrips for a 40 ford convertible.Apparently the thin outside mildg.clips onto the body lip and the weatherstrips are cemented to the backside of the windshield frame.
 
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