VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1949-1954 Beltline window felts installation.

Looking for advice on installation of belt line window felts for '52 Sport Coupe. Plan on doing front door windows and side windows. Are original staple-type mounting clips still available? If so, how do I install them? Are tiny screws a better alternative? What about using adhesive? Thanks in advance for your replies and wisdom.

I'm a couple weeks away from finding or figuring this out too. My new ones are sealed in the shipping tube. I'll open it up and see if there are instructions?

i did a 50 coupe,yes old style clips are available i found a company RESTORATION SPECIALTIES WINDBER,PA very helpful go to their website and look at online catalog.phone #814-467-9842 or info@restorationspecialties.com and get a catalog the illustrations are actual size of parts you are looking for.now i kept my old whiskers and tried to copy them the best i could turned out ok goofed 1 piece.found the small clips very difficult to push thru metal part of the felt backing some worked some didnt so went to some **very small**round head sheet metal screws i should have a couple left if can find i could send them to you to match.i used no glue the rear slide widows most difficult i couldnt get the bend right on the inner mouldings so used the best ones i had left over and put those on look ok. secret is TAKE YOUR TIME and sometimes three hands are better. andy

Thanks Andy.I'll order some clips from Restoration Specialties and try my best to push them through the whisker. Will construct a plywood jig to act as third hand in forming radius for sliding window whisker. (I think this is going to be tough part of the job.) Nothing ventured, nothing gained. One final question - if you did it again would you still try the clips or would you just use the tiny screws? Thanks for your advice. Dave

would still use the screws its hard enough getting the clips in whiskers plus you have to line them up with the small slots in the door if you get one off a bit it throws the rest of them out of sink did you get my pm about the screws from 40's and filling station.tried the jig deal didnt help me at all.make sure you read the instructions on how the whiskers are bent to curves and such you have to pry the the tips where they have been cut to length you will surprised how the felt moves thru the metal beading if done right am home all day not going any where too cold am near cleveland ohio also use round headed screws with phillips head instead of flat beveled ones the screws will go deeper into the metal area and the felt will form itself over the small head of the screw so you will hardly notice the screw

Got any pictures to share? Of the screws? Process?

unfortunately am computer lost when it comes to putting stuff on w/o my kids help they are not around all the time all i can tell you is you can try and get the stock clips through the metal like the old ones but the points are made of some kind of metal that you only get one chance to peen or bend them to stay on if you try and redo it the points break off and the clips are virtually useless i think they call it something like spring metal i went thru a bunch of before gave up and used small screws with phillips heads am going to hardware store tuesday will find out exactly what i used and get back to you guys where ever the clip didnt get the whiskers to tighten against the frame of the door i drilled a hole under size of course of the screw and finally got the strip to tighten up looks as good as factory plus the smallness of the screw makes almost invisible you have to really know what you are looking for to spot them will get size and put on tomorrow like my other post said did not like filling station screws at all andy

well went to hardware store like promised my regular guy wasnt there so couldnt roam around. clerk came back with a match to my screw box says
100 pcs #03269 4x3/8 phillips pan sheet metal screws zinc
at moment cant remember if its ace or true value its an old store sold out to big boys its a sharp pointed screw *not blunt or self tapping* hope this helps you guys out it worked for me
andy

FYI I talked to the tec guy at National Chevy and he said use pop rivets or just clear silacone and masking tape on the whiskers.

On the glass channel bend it around the glass first. Silacone the edges and put them in the door opening and then roll the window up tight for a day. I think I'll put some vasoline along the glass edge first. Or maybe wax paper?

pop rivets might sound like a good idea but you still have to drill holes for the rivets on a channel that is roughly 1/2 inch wide that already has a lot of slotted holes and lets say you dont get one of the rivets to fully compress now you have to drill that one out to replace the rivet and can you get the rivet gun at the angle you need to start properly squeezing the rivet gun.and silicone a lot of guys say dont use on certain kinds of weather strip.i thought of rivets but after practicing on a same kind of weather strip that was used on door i found that the rivet was too noticeable thats my thought on this topic andy

I have a parts door so maybe I'll practice

Looking at the project closer and cleaning up the channel posts I have discover three different types of channel tracks on the same door. The total length of the window tracks is around seven feet, the channel sticks sent from National chev are six feet.
Looking at the vent window track which disappears down into the front of the doors has two separate pieces that are different sizes and materials and the a third type which attached at the top and wraps up and aroun the window to the door side mount.

My question is does anyone know if both separate approximently one foot sticks of channel come off? I took the top one footer off as it is shot anyway and looks like the new sticks I got and the lower section is more rigid but the cloth material is shot! So I left them on for now. I'm guessing I'll run out of length if I take it off too? The lower one foot piece is shown on the lower end in this first picture, and to the right on the second, it has a higher profile.




This pic shows the third version that wraps around the window opening

it s been a couple of years since i did mine.the felt that goes around the window part of the door is more flexible and is easily formed by starting at one end of the door(i started at the vent window section) after the vent window was installed and then worked my way around the door channel. the vent window part if remember correctly i used the the same chrome beaded channel for the whole length but made 2 pieces there i used some of the rivets that you peen over with a tool that you can buy on ebay and a hammer or i suppose you could use pop rivets. the chrome beaded strips i think i bought from restoration specialties out of winber penn. i think i already gave their address if you look in chevs of 40 or filling station they have that tool for replacing vent window rivets thats about it keep your old stuff to copy off of ps. those pieces that are on the vent window channels if you look closely you will see the rivets that are holding them to the channel i drilled them out and found some on line that were a close match and just used the original holes will go on line and see if i can remeber what the rivets were called

i used a vent window rivet setting tool type that in ebay and you will see quite a few of them a lot with rivets for GM cars of the fifties. i think the rivets are called semi-tubular which mean they can only be compressed so far as the length of the tube part of the rivet. go to ebay item number and look at the bottom pic of the item up for sale and you will see the type of rivet that you need to use ebay item #141897191506 good luck

Guess I should have opened the entire mailing tube first before panicking turns out there are solid and flexible both in the package and instructions! So I am going to remove all the existing channels.

Anyone know which way this window glass channel gasket goes?
Picture 1 or 2?

Photo 2 is correct orientation.

Spent a brief moment today trying to fit the drivers side window glass in the rubber seal and then into the track channel.

First off do you seal both the glass into the rubber seal and then the rubber seal into the track? I would guess?

Then how the heck do you get the glass and the seal into the track?

or do you seal the glass tot he rubber and then soap up the track and side the seal and the glass into the track without any sealant?

FYI I talked to National Chevy today.
No adhesive used, just a coat of motor oil which swells things together. Rubber on glass first then pound on track with a rubber mallet.

Silicone seems to be very handy for this project.

Using the old glass to put pressure on the felts while the silicone dries works well.

Saving the old glass and the old window felts has been helpful.