Slant windshield top replacement

Wick

Well-known member
I found a good way to stretch the top material.
 

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I found a good way to stretch the top material.
Looks to me like the uniform force being appied is about 2.5 Zenith/meter, with no correction for corrosion.

Gives a slightly different perspective on "balancing carburetors".
 
When I put the top on my Victoria, I tacked one side and then pulled the vinyl by hand as I went along nailing it down. The nightmare of this job is bending the reproduction aluminum molding around the back corners with minimal buckling of the molding. A lot of shrinking and tapping was done to take the buckles out the molding.
 

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I can definitely see where that would get difficult quickly in making those tight bins but it looks like you figured it out and it turned out quite nice!!!
 
When I put the top on my Victoria, I tacked one side and then pulled the vinyl by hand as I went along nailing it down. The nightmare of this job is bending the reproduction aluminum molding around the back corners with minimal buckling of the molding. A lot of shrinking and tapping was done to take the buckles out the molding.

It now seems the nightmare is finding the reproduction aluminum moldings to purchase. ;)
 
It now seems the nightmare is finding the reproduction aluminum moldings to purchase. ;)


The reproduction aluminum top moldings are hard to find because I no longer make them. To bend the rear top moldings for a sedan that uses aluminum top moldings, please see the FordBarn post titled "Need Help installing & bending the aluminum Trim on a SW Fordor ROOF from 2011". Slant sedans never used aluminum side and rear top moldings; their moldings were steel, but the installation technique is correct for earlier sedans and coupes that used aluminum moldings. The aluminum front molding on a slant sedan or steel back Victoria needs to be installed with the small bump forward. I had 6 varieties of aluminum top moldings extruded for 35 years, and I punched the holes. Aluminum extruders need to extrude a 500-pound billet at a time to make the price affordable, which is a lot of top moldings. The demand for top moldings has dropped off, and the only styles still available are the 1/2 and 5/8 inch wide front moldings, which have a flat bottom. When those are gone, hide-em welt will take their place.
 
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