This thing hurts my arm!

[Bill Robinson]

The windows on my ’27 Tudor won’t roll completely down. It’s very uncomfortable if I want to hang my elbow on the sill while driving on a hot summer day. My arm rests on the glass and not the sill because the glass won’t roll down far enough. It lacks about an inch. I’ve had this car for about a year and yesterday I attempted to find the problem.
Luckily, I have a another ’27 Tudor that I can use for comparison. Starting with the passenger door.

This is Turtle- the one that wants to show it’s glass.
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When totally rolled down, one end of the glass still protrudes about an inch.

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This is Junior- the one that hides it’s window.
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Both windows roll up and seal very well. See the comparison.
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Both windows rolled up tight. Good seal.

T-and-J_window-upx600.jpg (51.32 KiB) Viewed 3160 times

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This is what I've found....
1. The window assemblies with the Bottom Metal Glass Channels attached- measure the same- side to side---top to bottom.
2. Even though both cars are 1927 models the Lower Glass Stop Bumpers vary in the distance from the bottom of the door. Junior's factory installed bumpers are 1" lower than Turtle's. This allows Junior's windows to reach a lower stopping point which is below the sill.

My question....Do I lower Turtle's 2 Lower Glass Stop Bumpers? Or, should I cut the excess off of the glass at the top?
By the way, I went to my friend John's shop today to check the windows on his '26 Tudor. Guess what! His windows don't roll completely down either.

[jiminbartow]

I would not cut off any of the glass. If you do, you may find that you will have a 1” gap at the top when the glass is rolled all the way up. Instead, get a piece of 1 1/2” x 1 1/2” Open celled foam, the length of the glass. Take a razor blade and cut a 1” deep slit in the center, down the length of the foam and keep it in the car. Whenever you go for a drive, slip the slit of the foam over the protruding glass and push it down until it seats on top of the door sill. This way, you will have a nice soft armrest for your arm. Jim Patrick

PS. If you make the foam deeper than 1 1/2”, say, 2 1/2”, it will allow you to compress the lower 1” of the foam and stick it into the window gap on each side of the glass to hold the foam in place so it will not blow away if you remove your arm.

[Allan]

If we have any part of us protruding from the car, the law can impose a fine. The only exception is when giving a recognised hand signal. I gather that is not the case there.

Allan from down under.

[Humblej]

The two bumpers that support the glass channel when the window is all the way down is what I would look at first. My 26 coupe windows have the top edge of the glass exposed when all the way down too, as it did with the original glass, channel, and regulator parts, but not an inch as yours does. I agree an inch is too high, and something is wrong.

[RustyFords]

If we have any part of us protruding from the car, the law can impose a fine. The only exception is when giving a recognised hand signal. I gather that is not the case there.

Allan from down under.

Wow....that's rough.

I don't think I'd own old cars if I couldn't occasionally hang my arm out the door.

[Bill Robinson]

I just finished removing the 2 window stop bumpers from the passenger door. Soon, I will temporarily clamp them 1 inch lower than FORD did. If the window comes down so the top of the glass is below the top sill and the window cranks up and down like it is supposed to, then I'm in business.

[ivaldes1]

Probably not the case in Texas. However, when I do the hand signals people usually think I am waving at them and wave back.

If we have any part of us protruding from the car, the law can impose a fine. The only exception is when giving a recognised hand signal. I gather that is not the case there.

Allan from down under.

[rbishop26]

Hey Bill,
Your problem and the different answers you received remind me of an old joke about a farmer whose donkey wouldn't enter the barn because his ears hit the top of the door frame. A friend stopped by to find him trying to saw grooves in the top frame to fit the donkey's ears!
After watching him for a moment and hearing the story, he said "wouldn't it be easier to dig some dirt out of the floor of the doorway, to make a ramp down and then back up?" The farmer looked at him like he was crazy and said " it's his ears that are too long, not his legs!"
All a long winded way to say I think it's safer to move the bumpers if you can, not cut an inch off the top of the glass! (you can always move the bumpers back. You can't put the inch of glass back on if it doesn't work

[rickg]

The glass book shows two different windows for the Tudor, one fits the coupe 24-27and is 19" at the front and 197/8 at the rear, the glass shown for the Tudor is203/4 at the front and 21/12 at the rear, the coupe/tudor glass is part #G47c and the Tudor glass is G122.

Rick

[Bill Robinson]

Rick- I'm not familiar with "the glass book", but both of these cars have the same height windows. I don't know their width because they are still in the cars. That doesn't mean that both cars have their original doors. My original post states this but I'll repeat that the indentions in the 2 doors for the STOP BUMPER are not the same. The indention on Turtle's door is approx 1" higher than Junior's door. Which brings up a question- why would FORD install 2 different doors on the same year model car. Could one of these cars have doors that belong on a coupe instead of a Tudor?
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[Bill Robinson]

Today has been a fun day, trying to figure out why the windows completely roll down on one ’27 Tudor, yet the other Tudor (same year) the window lacks as much as an inch from disappearing. One inch is all it took. Tomorrow, I'll re-attach the Stop Bumpers- one inch lower that they were this morning.

[Bill Robinson]

[Allan]

Like everything, the law was framed to protect idiots. Once any part of you is outside the glass line on a modern, there is a risk that such could be ripped off by an errant passing vehicle. It also keeps kids safe. On old cars, an arm outside is still probably within the line of the vehicle running board, but try justifying that to an over zealous young officer.

Allan from down under.

[Bud Delong]

I guess i don't want to go there!! Bud.