Roll-up window option

What do you think of this roll-up window?


http://www.vintagevans.com.pt/356speedster/original47.jpg


I do like the practical advantages, but the extra 'material' puts me a bit off... still trying to get my head around it.

It garantees a perfect seal with the top-on.
It can be painted in any color, and/or also chromed.

Doesn't do anything for me.

but speedsters dont have windows...

Also, the so-called top was for emergency use only! A real man's car!

Remember it will be an everyday driver... :P

if you're asking for opinions - here it is. it's ugly as hell and would totally distract the driver and take away from the look of the car.

there is a guy in the UK (maybe Sweden) who built his with a rollup window. he converted it himself and did a VERY good job. He's on here, so i'm sure he'll chime in.

NO buT,, Speedster D's and Roadster do .. Don't they,? Aaron??

Mine is a every day driver,, To make it look right You need a Drauzs winshield and frame,

I have sence learned you can have a windshield and frame cut down to speedster height and you can use your speester top . That would be cheaper and a lot less hasle.

BUT you will still need to rework the top front of the doors and chop the top nose off the door post to get the front seal area correct..

Mango !! I built My car out of a VS and did the converson ...(Myself)

Ask Aaron how it looks. He has had his hands on it once..

Nope the link don't work for me. U guys sure you aren't imagining something......

Barry did a great job with his "D". Now we know why his "Barry heaters or heat guns" work to keep him warm in the North Carolina winters.

The link worked for me...Note the large gap at where the funny lookin' post is supposed to match the windscreen frame! Leak like a sieve.

Better listen to Barry and go "D' for roll-ups.

Mango: I agree, it is F-Ugly... and, the longer I look at good looking speedsters, that piece just looks nastier everytime... :(

Any idea on how I can look up for that good roll-up suggestion?! :)
(I'm becoming such a pain!!! lol)



Barry: I know I'm trying to get the best of two worlds (seldom happens!), but I do prefer the speedster look anytime, it is simply more... unique. Yours does make more "sense" in real world, but I guess even that "sense" depends on passion for 356's... :)

Aaron: check http://www.vintagevans.com.pt/356speedster/original81.jpg - it closes completely, the window goes well into the top to make it really water-tight. That's my only problem, looks are aweful, but it works.

Post me a email to zegfredgrummin at the U hoo place and I will send you a few picks.

Dont go whacking up your car just Yeat I have been trying to design around the D winshield to come up with eather a quarter window or a small peace of chrome at the top corner of the windshield post

Re working the door only would be a lot easyer for you. and with a little planning you can avoid any outside paint work . But the front inner jams of the doors will have be re touched and could be taped on the inside edge wher it wont hardly show.

I have been working on the Idea for quite a while. And I bet Aaron can guess why..

OH!! The heater Guns I made are realy nice. I'd fight for them.. I have no heat exchangers on the car now .. I put Tigers sidewider kit on it..

P,
The close-up showed a gap at the bottom, between the added window frame and the windscreen. The overall photo there is something wrong with the car! The frame is ugly and the ride height appears to be wrong.

My Beck does not leak...at the window tops if the flaps are inserted correctly into the top pocket. A little water does come through at exactly the same spot were the gap is shown on the close up photo.

If you are dead set on roll ups, do yourself a big favor and talk to Ziggy.

more pictures of that car. I'm not sure that is Pedro's car though.

http://www.vintagevans.com.pt/356speedster/original78.jpg
http://www.vintagevans.com.pt/356speedster/

Like Aaron's car.. My rear rim edge is about 5/8 of a inch from the center of the wheel well lip. actial spec's on mine are, front measures 24 and 1/2 and the rear 21 and 5/8s ..

That car is riding to high, I bet it gets squirrley in a cross wind. or when a Big simi goes by it. that's not a good ride height.

After some more reflecting If quarter windows and frames that opened like a bugs were avalible that would be a perfect fix that would also improve the main window's ridgedity.

That would look and work very nice.. and it would also solve the side cutain blow out problem I have seen. on a few cars

I don't have one yet - these photos are from the only company that does them here in Portugal.

I can tailor it to my needs/wants, as practicable... ;)
Many "details" will necessarily change for my Speedy, some of them who look appalling on this one (ride height, licence place "light-thingie", etc).


Here's a link to the speedster build, with thumbs:
http://www.vintagevans.com.pt/galrest21.htm

Don't get it, but none of these links will work for me.

Bill,

in the address, cut everything after .com and hit the return key...

more like after cut after

One more thing Porshe regulators are bought by exchange only.. You will eather have to use 1968 beetle regs ,,also used on one peace window bug conversions ..Or as I did,, 1984 Suzuki sidekicks regs and glass sills and I dremmeled the spline to use 1966 bug cranks. They are very simular to the porsche.. They WORK SWEET!!

Somewhere in the cob webs of my mind, I recall something about using Chevette regulators too.

Finally got the pictures open. If the question is what I think of it, the answer is "not much".

Looks like a very poor solution and may create a blind spot on multi-lane highways.

i did the rollup convertion on my speedster.
i did not go for the total original look on my speedster.
But i wanted a usefull sparetime car that i could use with my kids.
so i installed rollup windows, bucket seat in the back with reelbelts and modern frontseats just for comforte ;-).

i think is works quit well,

P,

I took a look at how the frames are made. The first thing that I noted was that they do not use jigs and fixtures for welding the frame. I personally would not buy a VW pan based speedster. Frame mods, cutting and welding just doesn't work for me. First there has to be a donor VW. I just don't care for this method (an age thing). The pan type chassis are not as rigid as I prefer.

I recommend that you contact Carey Hines and discuss having a roller package or complete Beck Speedster exported to you. I think that you will be glad you did.

Good Luck

Oh, my reasoning is based upon the fact that I live in the Mountains of North Carolina and drive like H--L. The Tail of the Dragon is very a very mild terrain for me. This can be verified by Lane.

it was jesper.

Great job on those BTW.

When John Steele was assemblying my speedy, he had another customer car in his shop. He was designing and fabricating custom roll-up SIDE windows for that speedy. I watched that project develop over several weeks. I beleive it finaly got shipped to a customer in Florida. The end result was pretty decent, both functionally and visually.

John summed up that one-off project this way," NO WAY, NEVER AGAIN, DON'T EVEN ASK!"

One problem I noticed with roll ups is the placement of the front track and where regulator has to be you have to eather make a incert pannel or glass up the front part of the inner door so you have a place to mount the regulator.

The futher forward you can get the front inner glass track the better..

I don't like the Picture of that thing sticking up out of the door. I have a better plan.

Only a softseal glued to the windshield edge, and to a small wedge at the top

The little chrome wedge attaches to the top corner of the windshield frame, it need's to be a almost perfect fit. so it blends into the frame

I'd want the glass to be as much like mine are as possible.. It would be a lot cleaner looking.

I'm not shy of it I'd do It again. I have already done it once and with a very factory look. I did a lot of study of the real ones and a few other cars before I started..

If you need a good example to go by look at a 1978 camaro window set up ..I used that example to design mine by.

Mine had to be a lot more compact , But it gave me a good base line for my layout.

I think the roll ups in my D are what won me the North vs. South Shoot Out XIV Plaque. They work so perfect you dont think about them much.

Take a look at IM"s speedsters with power windows, Henry has a good glass to windshield frame seal design in place. ~Alan

Although Henry did once confide in me that he's yet to find a completely leakproof solution for sealing the side window against the Speedster windshield frame. The shapes just don't easily match up. Any way to do it perfectly would look kinda funky - like that solution on the top of this thread.

I found a good cure for that one. I use the wide GM G body soft seal weather strips. One peace from the top corner all the way to the floor. . They are a little larger than I'd like them . But they give you some forgiveness room on the window glass and are thick enough to pinch a dollar bill snuggy between the glass and rubber seal.

Now? If can stop the drip near the middle of the windshield. I will be totaly air tight. I recently got one of Henery's seals for that, and need to install it.

Pedro I have some door drawings I'd like to share with you that will help. I will get them to you over the week comming.

Also the big difference between the D and speedster is the windshield. The speedsters is about 2&1/2 inches shorter But has 3 inches more curve in it.

When converting to the D glass the defrost vents will be outside the glass and will have to be fiberglassed in. The 2 door post tops have to be trimmed flush to the door jam line and the post holes also have to be filled and moved.

Only a finished windshield duct taped together to its frame will be your only timplate making guide. A (Must have) before you begin to cut an redrill the forward post holes. and the holes for the lower forward windshield rubber trim.

Then you have the door issues . the front tops of the doors have to be extended about 2 inches forward and the side window slot will acutally be forwarded another 2 inches of that on the inner ledge so your glass will line up with the jam rubber.

Dont forget! yYur turnning a dry cavity door into a wet cavity type drill some drain hole along the bottom ,just inside the lip.

It's trickiy,, but If I can do it so can you.

Thanks a ton Barry, but that looks like *way* more than I can chew... :o

I just wanted you to understand Why JPS gave it up . If you have tons of paisence and plenty of idle time? It can be done,, and done right.