[matt167]

well, altho I'm not quite to this stage, or anywhere close. but how do I create the channels for the windows for the glass to sit in?.. this is for my scratch build ratrod I'm working on

[willys36@aol.com]

Split some thin-walled square tubing on your power hack-saw. Braze on a couple of appropriate brackest and the felt should fit right in.

[cboy]

In addition to Willy's solution, I've used a couple of others. If you happen to want electric windows, you can order the kit with the window channel included. It will bolt right onto the rest of the mechanism.

And if you don't want electric, you might still be able to contact one of the aftermarket electric suppliers and see if you could just buy the channels.

Another option is to use the old channels out of some donor. The drawback to this one is the glass can be very difficult to remove from an old setup. It really gets stuck pretty solid and quite often you'll end up breaking it. But the channel will be salvageable.

On a side note, I don't know how thick you intend your doors to be or how much room you have in there, but I've found the aftermarket electrical systems are easier to adapt then trying to cut and paste a mechanical system. But I'm sure it can be done.

[matt167]

Oh. I mean for the fixed windows, windshield and rear window. the doors will be framed 1" thick but will only be 1/2 doors. no window frames, and no windows.

[cboy]

Originally Posted by matt167

Oh. I mean for the fixed windows...

Oops, my bad.

On my roadster, I wanted the windshield removable. And I could only figure out two options to do that. One would be to have the top crossmember of the windshield removable and than have "channels" for the glass to slide down into made of three sided tubing (which I guess is called channel). This option posed some problems for getting a good seal.

The second option was what I went with. I welded simple "stops" around the outside perimeter of the windshield posts...I used 1/2" angle iron as shown in this pic.



Here's a shot of it being clamped for welding.



Then I put weather stripping against that stop, tilted my windshield into place, and held it from the cockpit side with aluminum 1/2" angle iron secured to the windshield frame with sheet metal screws. Along the bottom edge I used a piece of 1/4" oak strip...which functions as a stop and a dashboard top. Not the most beautiful deal, but it functions.





There are probably a number of ways to skin this cat. Hope this helps your thinking along.

[TubeTek]

Fixed windows don't normally sit in a channel. I guess they glue a lot of them in new cars now, kinda like they do windshields. But on older cars they were typically held in the opening with a gasket specifically made for the purpose.

The window opening is normally just an edge, usually doubled by spot welding the inner and outer panels together. Most times the edge was inset so the gasket sat fairly flush with the outer body panel surrounding it. Heavy equipment cabs and other such things with single wall construction aren't inset, so the gasket ends up standing proud of the surrounding panel. Don't know what you're building, but to create the offset around a window opening as was done on older cars takes a seriously good metal man.

There are a bunch of different gasket profiles available, for different glass and panel thicknesses, and for different amounts of overlap onto the surrounding panel. Some of them are locked in place with a separate filler strip that pushes into a groove to expand the gasket once everything's installed, while others have a section that folds and locks into the gasket after assembly.

Go here http://www.crlaurence.com/crlapps/sh...&History=19748 and click on the one piece or two piece self seal gaskets and you'll open another window showing the dimensions of the different ones available. CRL has a fairly complete line of stuff for auto glass installation.

[willys36@aol.com]

I was thinking roll up windows too. You could make or buy from your metal shop a sheet metal angle and buy a Harbor Freight shrinker/stretcher and bend the channel to whatever shape you want. The shrunk/stretched flange will stay really flat to glue the glass to. I was skeptical about these tools but I got my usual stack of HF gift certificates for my last birthday and bought a set. These puppies really work! You can wrap a sheet angle into a circle.

[matt167]

Thanks guys.I think I got it now.. visual really helped...

[Chevrolet4x4s]

You can get aluminum U chanel at Lowes.
Shane