Side Curtains

Well I've got the bug to prep the Speedster for the Carlisle show. Just finished off making the side curtains. They weren't too difficult to make. At least they'll keep the rain out.

Step by step directions please.Photos will be great too.

Again,you did a fantastic job!!

Joe,
Those look great. Well done. How are they when driving?
Troy

Cool! A 'Porthole" Speedster! Why should the T-Bird folks have all the fun?

SWEET ! ! !

Where did you get/how did you make those little porthole thingies, and the angled collars as well?

Really NICE!

TC

I think you should post the instructions for all of us :-). That'll be one of the first things I do when I get mine.

The vents are aircraft span vents. They are similar vents used in the old Ford GT 40. You can find them at http://www.wicksaircraft.com/catalog/product_cat.php/subid=5270/index.html Make sure you follow the intallation instructions.
I haven't given the window a trail run yet. My car doesn't have heat. Also its been -1 degrees all weekend.
The window is polycabonate .125" thich with scratch coat. You cannot heat this stuff up to bend. It doesn't work with the coating.
All materials were purchased through McMaster-Carr
item # 8707K115 Abrasion resistant clear polycarbonate
item 8451A72 7 ft Push on flex vinyl trim (goes on top edge)
item 1120A223 2ft Push on edge trim rubber seal ( front edge)
item 12335A42 5ft Push on edge trim rubber seal( bottom edge)
You also need the speedster window mounting hardware.
Put the top up. Take a piece on stiff cardboard and have someone hold it on the outside while you get inside to draw the window opening. Cut out the pattern and check the fitup in the window opening. Trim as needed. Take the finished pattern and line up the bottom edge of the template to the outer edge of the poly sheet for a straight bottom. Trace the pattern the polycarbonate sheet. Don't remove the paper on the sheet. Cut the poly sheet with a power jigsaw. Check the fit up again. With the poly sheet paper still on mark the optional 3 1/4" vent hole placement . Cut with a hole saw.
Keep the paper on still .Install botttom rubber seal. Trim to full length on window. Install front rubber seal. Round rubber bead seal should be on the outside. Trim to length. Install vinyl trim on top edge. Trim to length. Now remove all seal and now take the paper off. Install the rubber seals once again. Install the speedster window mount per the CMC manuals ( look in the library) . Lay the window up to the window mounts and mark the three mounting holes for each bracket. Drill holes and install bolts . Check the fit up once again. If the window needs trimming, put masking tape on the bottom of the jigsaw so you will now scratch the window. This wond is not 100% weather proof. It will keep the rain out in most cases .and will shield you from the wind.
Estimated cost to make $75.00

Another photo

Theyre great, thanks for the nice info, keep us updated after the hose down test!

Joe
Thanks a lot.

Joe..
I think you have stock in McMaster-Carr! ;)

Mike, I wish I did! They have just about everything a kitcar builder would need.

THANKS ! ! ! !

Joe,

What did you use for the sockets or ferrules in the top of the door?

Did you have any problem getting the angle correct drilling the holes for these?

Thanks.

The ones CMC supplied are copper (brass) and are from electical supply department of HomeDepot (assume 2240V due to size)! You could also use the ends of a chrome cold water feed tube to a toilet bowl. They are about 1/4" diameter.

I bought a used set off of the site. You could check out JPS or VS.

Yup, that would be it. I have been collecting the local wisdom on the plexi side-curtain thing fro thus winter as a project. What you have managed here is what I have figured would do the job. And now I have all the part numbers and a place to go get the materials. THANKS VERY MUCH!! I was thinking that a really proper application would require a slight thermal sagging of the panel to capture the windshield curve right. Maybe your weatherstripping will do the job nicely (span the gap) using a flat panel -- ? The tip about what will and will not thermally sag is valuable info. Scratch resistance seems a very good idea, and may trump the notion to try and curve the panel in. Excellent work here. Do the vents sing when open at speed? That would be good to know about.

Look closely at the round vents Joe put in his windows. Nice idea and execution that provides a little ventilation when you don't want to remove the window. I think he told me he got those from an airplane part supply catalog.

Joe,

Can you tell us (again) where you bought the vents?

ECB

http://www.ultralightnews.ca/airvents_uslk/

3 1/4 inch vents

I say again: What sort of noise is generated when vents are open at speed?

to open them - you jsut push them out right and to adjust the amount of air - turn it?

The picture is kind of not that clear on both your window and the website.

You need to make sure you have a tight fit. If you want forced air point opening towards the front. If you want to draw air out turn the vent so the opening is to the rear. Don't worry about noise ..you'll get plenty from the top being up.

Joe,

There are two 3-1/4" listed there, which did you get?

SCV3251 snap vents

Kelley:

Single data point for you, almost Speedie related.

My neighbor in Rhode Island had, among other things, a Piper Saratoga which had those spiffy air vents in the lower forward corners of the doors.

They worked just as Joe describes, and I believe that the cockpit noise was about the same as my Speedster with the top up, maybe just a tad more, but not much (the Speedie has more wind noise.

Open the vents and, after you got them opened, you really couldn't hear anything more than before.

gn

Txs to all, Joe esp'y. The plans for my winter project (one of several) are now well laid out.

Hi all,
I'm Francois from Europe (french alps, near Switzerland), owner of a Vintage speedster classic 356. It's not exactly California here so I'm looking for a pair of slide windows, very useful for a daily use. Have you ever heard of such a part, and if so where is it available? Thanks in advance for your answers.
Cheers

Hi Francois
http://www.fibersteel.com/SlideWindows.html
A few months ago, I to was in the hunt for such a product. You might give this guy a look: I did and it turned out that the windows were not even in production! Perhaps, by now, he actually can provide what he advertises.
Good luck, Ernie

Fibersteele has been promising those to be available "in about a month" for over six years now.

You might try contacting some of the people on this site who live in the UK. some of them may have made or found a pair already.

Gordon
The Speedstah Guy from South Carolina

Sorry.....somehow it double posted!! A little too fast on the "return" key!!

If someone here can ID this red flared speedy w/trailer (pic is from Carlisle '06) , this car gots slider curtains.

Bruce Ryan from Ohio.
Hand fabricated the best set of side curtains I have seen yet, Aluminum channel that allows the forward portion to slide back, the last time we talked about them was at Carlisle '05. ~Alan

THose sliders looked slick, but lacked a front weatherstrip, and the owner said that they leaked at the front edge (as you'd expect). Otherwise they were very nice. The owner made them himself, along with a gorgeous Speedster trailer molded from his car's body. Mad skilz, I tell ya!

Speaking of side windows and since we were all able to see WAY more of other people's side windows at Carlisle this year than we prob'ly wanted, I was surprised to see how small some side window "glass" areas are. Some have this very wide fabric area around the glass, presumably to either make them look more authentic or give them strength (or both) but it makes the viewing area so small that it approaches dangerous 'cuz you can't see much out of 'em, and the blind spots are HUGE!!

It's bad enough that most cars (except IM roadsters, I think) have small to teeny back windows in the top, but couple that with teeny-weeny side windows and a smallish windshield and it's like looking out of a bunker.

Plus, when Chris was getting in and out of Tom's Speedster (can't remember the make of it) that side window fabric is either supposed to go outside of the top material (which doesn't make sense if you want to keep the water out), or a single person (driver) simply cannot close the door and get the side window material inside of the top and up into the top's "pocket" where it'll seal. No way.

The side windows on my CMC (vastly reworked by me to actually work) don't look like much - just the plexiglass with a smallish rubber gasket around the perimeter (with ugly gaps in the rubber here and there) but they have WAY more viewing area than many others I've seen (especially since I trimmed the top's inner side flap up over an inch to get it out of the way). They close and seal when the door is closed with no additional moves, other than maybe poking my way-too-much-stretched-out top a little up out of the way.

And they don't leak. Trailered back from Carlisle for 7-1/2 hours in the rain and the interior was dry on arrival (I also had blue tape along the top-to-windshield seam - (I'm no fool!))

So I'm wondering if many have this problem (limited visibility and worried about it) and what we might be able to do about it and still retain the "look" of an original.

OK, it's "Fess UP" time....

All that stuff above about Pearl being dry inside when we got back was more than a little exaggeration, as it turns out.

I went out to soak the top again (second day in a row) to make it shrink and thought I would pull off the sheepskin seat covers to run'em through the washer. When I was pulling out the seats, I found that the top carpet layer (I have rubber on the bottom, then two layers of carpet) was dry, along with the seats, but the bottom carpet layer was soaked - SOAKED!! So much for a dry interior.

Pulled everything out and have them drying in the sun, and will dry out the rest of the car tomorrow.

8>(

Didn't want anyone to think I had an IM or SAS or something......

Sorry for misleading anyone.....

gn

Tom's car is a Beck like mine. It actually IS possible to get in and seal the windows up, but it's a bit of a bite. One of the reasons I still want to do some plexi windows.

What is a good source for the metal window mounts? I left my oringinal CMC window mounts with a guy who did some interior work for me and he "lost them". I still have the plexiglass windows and would like to build them out sometime soon.

I tried a set of aftermarket Porsche 356 Speedster side curtains but they dont match up to the top at all. There is a couple inch gap. Probably eBay those at some point...

Any ideas/help will be greatly appreciated. You can see my car at:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2991445

Thanks!
Rich

It might be hard finding those items. I gave up on them and went with a stainless 5/16" bolt which I cut the head off of and then bent to give the window the correct angle. Topped it off with stainless washers with rubber washers up against the acrylic and an acorn nut for good looks.

Here up go:

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f254/speedster356/12FrontMount.jpg