1960 Ford Zephyr Convertible - Light Recommission

Chris. not wanting to hijack the thread but, any latching allignment tips? On the GT I had to take the latch off to fit the handles and it all doesn't quite line up now. 

After much searching I found a endless glazing rubber that I thought would do the job - its far from identical to the original but with the original M section being unavailable the only alternatives were to pay an exorbitant tooling fee plus then a minimum 100 metre run to replicate the original (we are talking somewhat in the realms of £1500 to replace a 2.5 metre length of windscreen rubber) or use the section that I found which cost £50 



Rear screen cleaned up and the new rubber fitted 



The screen is actually larger than the aperture which is unusual for rubber glazed screen 



Its also reverse fitted from the inside out - common glazed rubber automotive windscreen fitments are fitted from the outside in 



Fitted then windscreen sealer applied to both external sides of the glazing rubber  



Locking strip inserted to the inside - what's unusual about the way that I've used this rubber is the fact that I've reversed it - the rubber face with chrome locking strip would conventually be on the outside - by installing it in reverse I've managed to obtain a very close match with the original rubber fitment externally but a different fitment on the interior (which most will not see) - Sometimes in the old car game you just need to think outside of the box 



The fitment was then tested to a couple of hours of what the current weather conditions could throw at it - and it passed without any sign of water ingress    More later 
 

That sealing rubber looks exactly like the one that I will need for my Spitfire hardtop rear glass. I know how long it took for me to find that one, so well done Chris. Love the idea of fitting it in reverse. Did you use cycle puncture repair adhesive to join the ends? Is there a reason for putting the join at the bottom? I would have thought that putting it at the top would mean that less water passed over it reducing, in a minor way, the chance of a leak in the future.

Latest progress with the Zephyr whilst awaiting other parts for it 



Radio speaker / heater control grille has been removed to allow access in order to resolve a number of issues - once traced a number of the electrical problems related to this mess - clearly a idiot at work whoever installed it - rewiring from the fuse box to the heater controls resolved the non working heater / demister fan - rewiring again from the fuse box via inline 5 Amp fuse resolved the radio & low level dash / footwell lighting - its very tight for working space / access behind the dash - my hands, fingers & arms all bear the scars 



The non working wiper motor was traced to a perished vacuum pipe that was replaced - yes that's right vacuum wipers - vacuum created at the intake manifold is piped to a vacuum pump that is on the underside of the fuel pump (part of the same assembly and operated on the same cam lever) then routed up to the wiper motor 



Handbrake is the pull out lever type mounted to the dashboard - this was sticking heavily on release to the point it could not be released easily 



The ratchet pawls are fine but the ratchet rod has seen some heavy wear - currently I cant locate a replacement 



I cleaned the burrs off the ratchet teeth and reassembled it 



Then refitted it - this literally took hours - next to no access to remove the upper bolts & blind working etc - its much improved but not perfect - unsure if we can find a good used ratchet rod or if they are available through the owners club 



Front spot lamps have all been rewired back to a fused supply on the ignition circuit 



And a start made on removing the chrome trims in preparation for the windscreen removal 



All the interior screen trims have to be removed too - more later 

With the windscreen rubber now in stock I could remove the screen 



Rather than risk any sprain damage to the chrome trims or damage to the windscreen itself I opted to cut the rubber in order to release them from the aperture 



The original windscreen sealer had set stubbornly hard - this is useless to a rubber glazed windscreen fitment which requires a sealer that remains flexible 



The hardened sealer took some removing too - weapon of choice for this job is a sharp but plastic non marking chisel 



New screen rubber fitted - Its a endless type rubber that's common to many vehicles of the period so its supplied off the roll / by the length and has to be spliced to length once fitted 



Top & bottom horizontal trims are fitted to the rubber whilst the screen is out of the car 



To assist with the location of the trims I marked the position of them onto the glass prior to removal 



Then the rope inserted in order to pull the rubber lip in & over the aperture edge has I fitted the screen 



This type of fitment is very difficult to apply the sealer to once fitted hence I applied the sealer to both the glass to rubber channel & rubber to aperture channels prior to fitment 



In it goes - its a tight fitment and you need to ensure that the chrome trims clear the windscreen wiper mountings & the roof drip rail at the time of fitment 



Side pillar trims fitted which are retained by pop rivets but only once you have managed to slide the top & bottom horizontal trims onto the pillar trim - its a very tight fit that requires much care if you don't want to damage paint / trim / windscreen rubber etc - once fitted I cleaned the fitment up - this will settle over a few days and any excess sealer may require a second clean up once its firmed up / settled in 



I could now sort the 'A' post to door seal on the offside 



It's glued on but retained further by a alloy strip which is pop rivetted to the 'A' post / windscreen pillar - which is how the factory fitted it originally 



And although its not the original rubber trim its does the job very well & looks significantly better than the very degraded one that I removed - still have the nearside one to do but I want to sort the door hinge out on that side first - more later 

I am going to show my age now, but in 1960 my dads boss brought a brand new Zodiac Convertible Automatic, he wanted my dad to run it in for him ( a lost art now ) I remember going on a 3 hour drive in it just to break it in a bit. As a kid I had never known such a posh car and being automatic and power hood WOW this was quite something in 1960. It has always stuck in my mind. 

Do you know what type of paint is on the vehicle, I am guessing it is not the original?

I had the pleasure of seeing this car on Sunday.
The original paint looked fine.
But after the polish - stunning - nice work Chris.

I have been avoiding the workshop & resting my back after doing something to it - but it would appear to be well on the mend - not wanting to seize up completely I headed to the workshop on a light work & cure it basis (normally works if I don't go doing anything stupid) - I continued to machine polish the paintwork up which has made a remarkable difference in the cars appearance (and it didn't look too bad to start with)



Worked my way around the car in order to complete the red 





Which then just left the cream lower half on the offside to polish 



Sometime later 

 

Gave the front bench seat a clean up along with the door cards 



Sid called in to ensure that I'd not missed any of the details when polishing 



Need to get the car on to stands & the wheels off in morning then I can take the wheels over to the specialist tyre supplier 



Then I need to get the both colours matched in order to get the paint mixed for touching in - once that's done I need to give the vinyl hood a clean up and the car can be delivered