Body / Glass: Hardtop Joys In Life....Not!

[DEEPNHOCK]

My learning/patience curve was tested today....
Helped Pat Skelly with his '56 SkyHawk hardtop today.
He had a plastic baggie full of rollers and funky springs.
He had two window frames with this rotten rusty...something out at one end.
Rotten and rusty is not a fair description.
Whatever was there was unidentifiable.
The pic's in the parts manual were useless.
The pic's in the SI catalog were great.
Now I knew exactly what was in the bag.
But exactly 'how' they fit into the window frame was a mystery (to me).
After sandblasting the end of the window frame, and prying the fossilized whatever they were out of there (and sandblasting everything again...
Painted the window frame end, and started the jigsaw puzzle.
Took an hour to get everything in the first frame
(eleventeen trial assemblies to learn that I put something in backwards, or the wrong roller in the wrong hole.
After getting the first one put together right, it took ten minutes to do the other window.
My first hardtop window roller experience...from scratch....
It'll make a coupe guy out of you...
But... I am still learning!
Jeff

[5brown1]

So any guidance for those of us who have that project coming up.

[DEEPNHOCK]

The SI roller kit is good.
The stuff fits...only one way.
If I had a camera with me I would have taken pic's in between screaming bouts and dropped springs.

But, to answer your question in the best amateur way I can....
There are 'four' roller pairs that need individual installation.
Each of the roller 'pairs' are held in by a retainer plate that is held in with a machine screw.
There is a single center roller on each side that is retained by a spring and has no plate.
Only take one side apart and use the other side as a reference (like doing brakes)
Start with the center roller. It has the big armature shaft.
Hook the spring on the hook, put the roller in the holes and push the spring ends on with a short screwdriver.
The end rollers... The ones with the shoulder on the shaft are the ones that are mounted solid.
The other rollers have no shoulder on the shaft, and they are the ones to use with the springs.
I put the springs in against the roller and pivoted the retainer clamp on to compress the loop end of the spring.
There is a slight recess in the 90 degree bend of the retainer tab. This is where the spring end resides.
Once the retainer is in position, and the two rollers are in their respective holes, then the 10-32 flathead screw can be put in to hold it all together.
The springs allow the one roller to 'float' on the spring suspension...Gives the window some 'give' in the rear track.
HTIH
Jeff

So any guidance for those of us who have that project coming up.

[Flashback]

"If I had a camera with me" What, Jeff without a camera. I don't believe it for a minute. LOL Thanks for all the info you post Jeff.

[Jerry Johnson]

So, when are you going to do the flippers (the ones with the cat wiskers that close when you roll up the windows). Looks to me like these thing have a few springs and gadets as well. I need to work on mine next spring, so if you guys need to repair them on your Sky Hawk, let me know how it works out.

[Jeff_H]

Posted these a couple years ago. From my project notebook:

[mbstude]

Jeff, as you know the Cade's basically parted that '56 out to restore their Lemon/Lime Speedster. The fact that it needed the side windows assembled is probably the number 1 reason why my uncle let that car go so easily. Sounds like you and Pat got it all together though. Nice job!

[52 Ragtop]

The nice part is, when they are right & greased up, the windows work very well!!

Jim