Windshield setting channel

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Art Ebeling
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First Name: Art
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* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1911 touring 14 runabout
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Windshield setting channel

Post by Art Ebeling » Sun Dec 29, 2019 11:23 am

The brass windshield setting channel in the lower half of my 11 Touring Rands windshield frame is pretty beat up. Can the straight pieces sold by the vendors be formed around the corners or do the channel kits fit correctly? Art
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CudaMan
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Re: Windshield setting channel

Post by CudaMan » Sun Dec 29, 2019 12:04 pm

Mark Strange
Hillsboro, MO
1924 Cut-off Touring (now a pickup)

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CudaMan
Posts: 2383
Joined: Fri Jan 04, 2019 4:17 pm
First Name: Mark
Last Name: Strange
* REQUIRED* Type and Year of Model Ts owned: 1924 Cut Off Touring (now a pickup)
Location: Hillsboro, MO
MTFCA Number: 30944
MTFCI Number: 23667
Board Member Since: 2013

Re: Windshield setting channel

Post by CudaMan » Sun Dec 29, 2019 3:50 pm

Steve Jelf has attempted this, using particle board guides to hold the channel sides firmly in position during the bend. The threads talk about the need to anneal the brass first before attempting to bend it:

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/70 ... 1495603227

http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/70 ... 1509250998
Mark Strange
Hillsboro, MO
1924 Cut-off Touring (now a pickup)


Scott Rosenthal
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Re: Windshield setting channel

Post by Scott Rosenthal » Mon Dec 30, 2019 11:15 am

Hello Art:
I replaced these channels on my brass Rand windshield, and will say the process is not complex, but not done well without some practice. Use your old channel and practice first. Channel sticks are costly....I got the best price from Speedway, who sell it by the foot.

Bend areas are annealed for best results...assume you may need to anneal more than once. You will feel the work stiffen, telling you when you need to repeat this process. Annealing here amounts to heating the work area till it begins to turn orange, then cool to room temperature.

I tried to use my old plate glass as a male form, but got better bend results using 1/4" plywood, where the corner radius is reduced by 1/8". This accounts for springback, resulting in the new channels better seating concentric with the frame.

I also made an OD forming fixture in the form of a 2 inch long wood block, with a 3/8" x 3/8" slot cut lengthwise. This allows you to form your bends slowly and over a larger area, resulting in less wrinkling of the brass. This limits spreading open of the channel as the bending occurs.

Cut all short side brass lengths only after the bends are complete and fit verified. Where channel pieces meet at a 90 degree corners and overlap each other, flatten the 1/4" overlaps of these brass beads so that this assembled corner is minimal thickness and has clean joined corner look. Flatten no more of the beads than is actually overlapping. Use flat jaw pliers for this so that the brass surface is not marred by jaw marks that conventional pliers will create.

I used 5mm Laminate glass for replacement. Glass shops sell Black cloth adhesive tape that you wrap the glass edges with. This thickness of glass will fit very snug, so be careful not to bend the channel as you are inserting the glass. When assembled, the exposed cloth tape gets trimmed back to the channel with a razor blade, so is barely noticeable. Hope this is useful.

Regards,
Scott

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