Anyone ever try this?

I took the Jack Crosby route with my side curtains and added material. However, I am considering taking heavy clear vinyl, adding snaps to the top inner flap and the top of the door trim. These would be easy to store, improve visibility, make it easier to pay tolls & go through the drive-through, and hopefully, improve ingress and egress.

If you're going to go to all that trouble, it would seem like sliders would be a better cost/time/benefit ratio. Or Troy's Cruzin' Windows, for that matter. They're certainly right on for what he's charging.

I know in your mind that should be an easy thing; throw down a pattern, measure twice and cut once ... But let's be honest. When is the last time you saw clear vinyl hold up over time and not yellow, fade, tear, pinch, fold or bind up while being used in an indoor-outdoor capacity?

Plus, you're talking about ruining the roof for future developments by throwing in snaps. You can't really undo those.

Not trying to sink the idea, but I think you'd regret it.

I have to agree with Corey.

Tom, I ca easily remove and replace my windows from inside the car and do so when I have to pay a toll or punch the keypad at the gated community where we live. Or get $$ from the ATM, etc,

I can't reach up high enough to reach the ATM unless I stand up on the seat. ;>)

We don't need no stinken windows!

Okay, I kinda listened. I ordered a yard of 40 mil clear vinyl. I'm going to attempt to use adhesive Velcro on the back of outside flap of the top and not yet sure about the bottom and front. I'll probably add the Velcro to the inside vertical surface of the top door trim to minimize appearance issues. I'm going to use the soft part of the Velcro on the car and the prickly part on the vinyl. I know, I know. I said "prickly,"

Why not just get zippers sewn in between the flaps on your 'vert tops, mated with the tops of your side curtains? That'd keep it from leaking along the entire top regardless of what the outer flap does in the wind.

In front, extend the panel an inch or two (or three, depending on how far forward your windscreen is) and install three or four suction cups--like the ones they sell with hooks on them for use in showers. If they won't stay on the post, stick them right to the inside of the windshield. Not pretty but it would work and, really, who is looking close at you when you drive by at 50 mph in the rain?

While I whine incessantly about my side windows (fancy-shmancy plexi thingies with vents) not sealing perfectly, the only places they leak are at the lower front corners. I really have little to complain about - but then I love complaining.

Ed, I've travelled about 20,000 miles in my Speedster since September, 2010 in any weather that was thrown at me ( no choice when on the road with a legit destination ) and all these ideas about sealing your side windows kinda make me want to giggle . My plexi windows are tall enough (fit tight enough up top ) that I cannot remove them without opening the door....read that, so tight that water doesen't come in. Extending the side window way inside the windshield will not cure the problem. Water understands gravity though and a small dam can be installed to divert the flood outbound onto the roadway. I've been thru Kansas at 65 mph at length in heavy rain and previously up to Mesa Verde Park in ice and snow. A $40 set of plexi side windows fitted as best you can will get the job done. If you really use the car to drive or travel, zippers and shit will just get in the way. YMMV

Can't easily do zippers because top is glued on. I ordered this too http://www.google.com/m/products/catalog?q=velcro+that+sticks+to+fabric&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=shop&cid=2630015285114211770&sa=X&ei=kaZ3T_-9EYXFtgfH4tDiDg&ved=0CEQQ8wIwAw

I tried the extended side curtains and find them a pain. They're better than stock, but not great.

The idea of plexi side curtains seems too hard to do, still a storage issue, and still have to open the door to pay tolls.

I like the suction cup idea for the front.

I only drive with the top down unless caught out in the rain or on long trips.

Hey, they laughed at the Wright Brothers, too.

If these work, they'll be easy to store, easy to install, easy to open, improve visibility, improve sealing, won't increase door closing effort, and eliminate scratching-potential side curtain posts.

I can only install and uninstall my current side curtains from outside of the car. These would be installed from the inside. I plan to have quite an overlap on the bottom. In parking situations, I will place the bottom on the outside.

Yer a smart man, David. I'll take a look at what you've done when I see you in May.

Lane...there's a cure for water coming in around that window post. Get thee a small length of worn out windshield wiper blade refill. Clean it well with anything you can put paint onto and paint it the colour of your car or just leave it black. Install your side window, close the door and imagine what water will do at high speed. It will want to curl and reverse direction onto the front of the side screen, puddle up and flow down into the car. Open up your door and understand the area between the top hinge and the lower hinge. On my older IM, there's more or less an inside and outside area at the front of the door. I separate that with generic weatherstrip. Close the door. Snip/trim around the left front of the rubber wiper blade piece, then place it onto the body of the car near the base of the windshield post to deflect the flow to about 200 deg to direction of travel. Goop will hold it in place. Water can't think, wind is predictable and we're entitled to take advantage of both.

David,
Time for some Mango-esk pictures of your solution

I'm calling my invention "shower curtains."

David, may I ask you what your solution might be for me?

We are trading cars when it rains, right? Wasn't that the deal? ;-)

Okay, I'm making progress. I've roughed in the templates while I'm waiting on the material to arrive. I intend to use the suction cup idea on the windshield. I have to credit my wife with a breakthrough this afternoon. I was debating on putting velcro on the inside of the top door trim an have the vinyl on the inside for improved appearance, but worse sealing or draping it over the outside for improved water deflection and hope the the other three sides would hold them in. My wife's idea was to Velcro on the inside AND fuse about a 3" flap on the outside bottom to hang over the edge. I should be able to still install from the inside by tucking the flap out and then attaching the velcro and suction cups from the inside. My confidence level is going up. btw, although my stock side curtains are plexiglass with canvas trim, the original Speedsters had vinyl where our plexiglass is. I guess I'm going back to the future a little. Also, by running the vinyl lower down the door it covers up a nasty leak path at the back for top of the door that plexi sidecurtains would not seal.

Thanks for that, Lane. This idea is not glamourous but it seems to work. The first photo shows a small length of wiper blade refill gooped to the back of the fender and butted up against the rear of the window post. It is angled outward somewhat to direct the flow of water to the outboard side of the weatherstrip in the second photo. The weatherstrip forms a tight fit against the body of the car with the door closed and therefore the deflected rain water goes down onto the rocker panel rubber strips and overboard onto the roadway.

Cory, that's a tough one. I'm thinking maybe a Jack Nicholson type football helmet (Easy Rider) and an umbrella (tilt or swivel variety) somehow fixed to the top of it with a quick release feature. Hey...wait a minute. What about a full tonneau with a plexi dome or better yet in keeping with your Maritme locale, how about a tonneau with a circular cut out and a nice brass diving helmet ? You could have the Missus under the right side of the tonneau doing all kinds of weird stuff and no one would be the wiser... :-)

David, Pic #1 with the piece of windshield wiper shows a configuration of the plexiglass windows which I don't recall seeing posted before. Would you please share some more pics showing your complete installation.

I did that with my side windows, too. Heated the lower forward corner with a heat gun and gently bent them in to align with the lower corner of the windshield better. I though they were all like that until I got to Carlisle.

Giday Roy. Here's another picture which may make things more clear. The idea of the windshield wiper rubber and it's placement is to keep rain from entering the car at speed. It works...at speed. If I were to park the car and a heavy rain storm hit either side of the car, rain would likely enter because the driving rain would find it's way on the wrong side (inside) of the rubber strip. If rain gets on the inside of the strip, it'll go inside the car rather than outside falling down onto the carpet just inside the running board. I could do a better job of fitting new plexi side curtains making the lower forward joint fit better into the lower window post area. Gordon's idea of canting the lower front of the plexi outward is good too. But still, if any water gets inside where my rubber strip is, it will enter the car...period. Perhaps a "filler block" could be shaped to fill in that space between the plexi and the rubber strip. The filler block could also have a short extension lip so that the door top slips under it making it better again..but what about the looks of the car?

Thanks David, it seems that minor refinements in fit, finish and weatherstripping will eventually solve the problem.

David: did you make the plexi side curtains yourself? They look just right. Getting a little curve at the front to join in w/ the windscreen is a good idea, as Gordon says, but maybe tricky if have to use the heat gun and hope to not overdo it. I also hear that the special weather stripping that Henry uses on his roll-ups can be applied to a good end when using the plexi SCs against the windscreen. That rubber is a little bulky, so maybe would not look all sleek and such, but is sufficiently large and flexible, looks like, so as to make a good seal when squashed against the door. also, there is an old weatherstripping product called mor-tight, which is a bit like modeling clay, comes in cords, and one could fashion a dam w/ a little of that like your wiper blade. It would just stick to the paint; push it around so as to fill the crevaces just so, and you're done. peel it off when the weather will be good for a while. No more trouble to apply than blue tape . . . Just an idea, have not tried it. Right now I am all talk, as I run w/ crappy fitting SCs that came w/ car, and carry a big towel.

My builder said he'd make me new side curtains if I would make custom patterns of the exact size and shape I want. We have not haggled about the fee for that. I think if the SCs are made to tuck into the top flaps just right, much is gained. Jack has accomplished that w/ his sew-on extensions. Also Dusty (wonder how old Dusty is doing these days??) had custom SCs made, I think, and they worked very well, says he.

PS for toll booths, once you have it all buttoned up tight: get an Easy-Pass. ATMs? Who the f--- needs cash? Plan ahead and take what you need w/ you. Anything else I can help you with??

There is much research to be done at Carlisle this year. Very much looking fwd to all of that, and a few impromptu tech sessions too.

Yeah, Rich I made them myself. Cost was about $35. I yanked the hardware out of the old side curtains and turfed the rest. I'll still build another pair when time permits. I'm not a very patient person and usually build something to make it work, then make it work well, then build another to make it look half decent. A lot of parts of my car are in stage 1, 2 or 3. It's not a show car, more of a traveling car. In fact, about 22,500 miles in the last 18 months. Hopefully I'm on my (third) last engine.

Okay haters and hijackers. Here is the next phase. I finished fabricating (the first phase) and installing the left side curtain. I ended up putting the velcro on the inside of the top because it was too fiddly to try and sandwich it between the inner and outer flaps. The job would have not been possible without the velcro fabric fusion. The suction cup idea worked great too. They install and uninstall very quickly and I'll be able to peel back a corner to pay tolls. This works for my usage. I only drive when the weather is nice with the top down and only need side curtains for long trips and when getting caught out in the rain. On the long trips, I invariably have to pay tolls. The next step is to use vinyl to vinyl adhesive to attach the rain flys at the bottom.

I went to an "EZ-Pass" transponder because, even though I hit the toll booth in good weather with the top down, I still had to stand up in the seat to reach the damn toll-taker or coin bin.

Interesting approach, though, Tom. Be interesting to see it outside with better lighting. Some of the details got hidden in your photos.

Final report. I took a cool weather drive this morning, first with my invention & second with my Crosbyesque side curtains:

1) Sealing-worse than Crosbyesque due to rainfly concept
2) Suction cups on windshield-great
3) Field of vision-larger
4) Clarity of vision-worse than plexi
5) Ease ofinstallation-better than stock
6) Ease of removal-terrible. Adhesive backing and heat fused backing will not hold to top and door trim
7) Door closing efforts-much better than stock

Conclusion: I prefer my Crosbyesque side curtains :-)

Nice going, Tom.

Hope you'll report results when it rains.

Ed, just to be clear, I consider my idea a failure. I decided to go with my stock side curtains with extra material added ala Jack Crosby. I did that last summer. I've tried them in the cold, but not yet the rain. I've made 3 significant sealing upgrades, seal along the front windshield, enhanced side curtains, and snaps behind the windows (as far as I know, Beck's are the only ones missing these snaps). These should address the issues that I had during the Carlisle trip last year.

Ah. Sorry. Thought my suction cup concept was a win.