Top pins

46-03 Top pins

These are the pins that hold the top to the stanchions of the windshield posts.  They hold the top in the up position.

If a replacement can't be found, you can tap the holes and put in thumb screws as an alternative. Has anyone found these?

Aug, 2008 Michael responded:

I found replacement pins at West Marine (Lincoln Park if you near Chicago). I imagine other boating supply stores would also carry them and would be a good place to search.

Securing the top to the windshield

In Feb. 2009, John, car 1254 wrote:
Anyway the reason I am witting you is that the last time we met you  mentioned that you never trusted the top and were always afraid it might blow off at high speed.  Well you scared me and I went to work.  I will attach pictures of what I did to cure the problem so you may want to include them in your next top project.  I used flat aluminum stock from Ace hardware and just bent in a vice and drilled and --  boom they where installed and are hardly noticeable. 

Annexmaster note: I didn't recall mentioning that fear - I had been referring to the connectors that I had made for the back of the fiberglass top that I had built --

But, since he mentioned it, the FRONT of all Glassic tops is secured only by those two little pokey rods (one of which had broken off of car 1254 before I owned it, and had to be repaired) so his solution to strengthen that font windshield post security is well based - whether on a fiberglass top replacement, or the original soft top.

Sorry about the focus on these -- this bracket adds a secondary connector from the windshield stanchion to the block holding the top on. It uses existing holes and hardware. The aluminum is 1/8" x 1" bar stock.

Where the original top frames came from:

In late 2009, in response to a question by an owner, Joel provided the following info:

The top frames were built by a little two man outfit which is out of business and both men have since passed on...

The owner was hoping to find the original plans for the top frames. The top frames of Glassics were designed especially for Glassics and hired out to be custom built. Model A top frames don't fit Glassics.

Cleaning materials, metal polishes restoration suggestions
Whitewall cleaner, plastic window cleaner etc.

Car 1254, The new owner, John shared the following WHEEL CLEANER in Dec. 2008:

If you ever need to clean up old metal wheels, I found that using a product called Mothers Powerball  Medal Polish System is the best.  It is a cloth ball that goes into a power drill and polishes as it cleans. 

Car  # 341 in July, 2008 shared the following metal polish:

Those gauges (Old International Scout gauge cluster from a junkyard) cleaned up fantastic. they look new other than the fact that we had to pry them open to clean 40 yrs of crud off the inside of the glass. Not fun. If someone needs metal polishing stuff I strongly recommend Eagle One Nevr-dull Wadding Polish. It took off rust and shined it up great. I found my can sitting in my dad's garage and gave it a shot. I think it's available at Fleet Farm. I'm impressed with how it turned out.
 

Car 1254, the Annexmaster discovered the following  whitewall tire cleaner in 2007.

A guy saw my car on the street and said he cleaned cars for a dealer. He recommended Bleche-White as a whitewall cleaner. He said it could be found in most stores and comes in a flat plastic bottle like liquid Turtle Wax comes in. I think I got it in Walmart, or a grocery store. It is a white bottle, kind of old fashioned looking in the label style.

This stuff is STRONG and you should read all the cautions. It eat the grime right off the whitewalls on my car - and no rubbing was necessary. Worked great, but be careful, the stuff is like acid.

Car  # 885 in Oct., 2008 shared the following tip for cleaning plastic windows:

I read on the message board some questions about cleaning the top and windows without scratching.  I have a new top and interior on my roadster #885 and was advised by my upholsterer to use Lemon Pledge to my amazement it works great.

41-14 Rear seats

Info supplied in 3/2008 by Joel, the builder of the cars.

Rubber trim around windshield
In January, 2012, I got a copy of an answer to another owner's question on the Message Board. First, thanks to Chuck for copying me so I could post these pics, and second, here is his info:

Here are some pics hope this helps. The first pic shows how the strip kind of overlaps the body. The second pic shows the strip with the windshield pushed forward. The strip is slid through the middle of the frame. The next ... pics show what the strip looks like from the end view. I will try to locate the bill for the strip so I can tell you where I bought it.

Annexmaster note: As far as I know, this trim fits all years of Glassics and is available from Model A catalog places. The LINKS page on the Annex has some of them.  When working on my 1978 years ago, I remember that I could only find it in black and it was very hard to slide in. I think I ended up greasing (or vaseline) the trim so it would slide - and still had to tug with pliers.

Also, installing it stretches it, so you should let it sit for quite a while before trimming it, since it will shrink back.

Group 44 - Doors, hood, trunk and tailgate

Hood hold-down latches and straps

(scroll down for an item on removing the hood latches
for a cleaner look)

In Feb. 2009, Dennis, car 189 shared the following: (pictures below)

I installed these so I could put the hood on and run straps from the hood to the hold downs.  They are SS (stainless steel) with all SS hardware.  I paid under $15 for the entire setup and purchased from Boaters World.  If anyone is interested I’ll send the part number of the hold downs.  The current straps are just to get an idea of what it will look like after I’m finished.  The ones I’ll get (or make) will be a buckle type so no chance of slipping.

Boat superstores appear to the Annexmaster to be a great place to shop for ideas for Glassics. Their wide array of weatherproof plastic, stainless and aluminum products are great. Find a large boating supply store in your yellow pages and see what they have. If you know your prices for stainless, nuts, bolts, fittings, screws, etc. you may well find them cheaper than the hardware Home stores.

Dennis, and many others like to run their cars without the side panels in place, but with the hood on. I also saw some hot rod spring loaded things like barrel bolts that were made for hot rod hoods and fit up under the hood, and sent a bolt like rod into the front radiator shell area and into the cowl. The bolts are horizontal. 

I never did find those in a hot rod catalog, but something made me think they were very expensive.

Boat supply stores have all kinds of stainless goodies that may be of interest to Glassic owners.

 

Removing the hood latches for cleaner lines
October, 2010, Steve, car 699 reported:

Here’s how I attached the hood without using the old hood latches. I hope this will help someone if they want a different look. Without a great expense, I think the total cost was less than $15.00 dollars and it looks good.

 

1.       Removed all old chrome latches and bolts from hood

2.       Filled all holes using ¼” black nylon hole plugs from hardware section at Lowes.

Used on furniture & Cabinets (come 4-to a pack)

3.       Drilled (4) ¼” holes (1) on each corner of the hood with the hood mounted on the car in place

Note: Drill all way thru the body in back where the hood meets the cowl and all way thru the radiator frame in the front. Note: I added a extra steel bracket to radiator frame one on each side inside the radiator frame for added strength and drilled ¼” hole thru bracket for the Nylon Rivet to go thru when you pushed  the Nylon Rivet thru (Hood-Radiator Frame-Drilled Bracket)

4.       Used 1/4” Nylon Rivets 2” long Part # 961-065 Dorman part from Auto Zone

5.       Installed Nylon Rivets in ¼” pre-drilled holes & Tighten all Nylon Rivets to secure

the hood to the car

6.       Reverse procedure to remove hood takes less than 5/minutes. to remove hood.

7.       Have tested car at 70 MPH on interstate with  no problems with hood coming loose

what so ever. Note: I carry extra Nylon Rivets in my tool box in case one would break.

See pics of car 699 for Hood.

 

 

45-55 Interior Accessories

Owner’s manual. No owner’s manual or instruction booklet was ever produced for either the Glassics or Replicars. Some cars may have come with some Ford booklets for some of the components in the cars.

Reference pics for a grill shell - Replicars era
Earlier Glassic shells are similar in appearance and shape.

Some reference photos with measurements. These shells were plastic and subject to warping and bending. These pictures were added in 2012 from the Annexmaster's parts bin.  The holes in the top (not seen in these pics) show where the hinge rod was bolted on.  The older Glassics had a single piece hood, while the Replicars had the split hood.

Total overall height 27 inches. Measured with the shell upright on the floor, and a mark on the wall at the highest spot.

Line A measures  18 inches-- not the opening, but the opening and the lip on each side  Line B is 21 inches -- the overall width  Line C is 26 3/4 inches.   The shell opining itself (the part of the mesh you would see) is 15 3/8 to 15 1/2 inches across and ABOUT 19 to 19 1/2 inches high depending on where you measure  Along line C, in the middle, the opeining itself is 19 inches.

The cut across notch is 4 inches deep where you would see the shell with the hood sides on, and another inch where it is indented to be covered by the hood sides.   The very bottom of the front lower curve drops to about 4 3/8 inches below the flat cuts on each side.

Plastic, chrome plated -- not immune from pitting and corrosion. This shell looks like old galvanized steel and its smoothness can't be restored that I know of.