1960 installing new window felt

[Jim K.]

When installing the inner & outter window felt over the new front window channel it norrows the opening so it's diffcult to open/close the window. Any suggestion to correct this problem. Thanks in advance for your help and suggestions.

[Rob M.]

Re: 1960 installing new window felt

Jim,

How did you attach the felts. I'm in the middle of this task as well and I can't get new holes drilled in the SS molding to put the new staples in. The 1.5mm drill keeps breaking and I was planning to try another ways of attaching the felts. Any useful suggestions are welcome.

greetings,
Rob.

[Mike M.]

Re: 1960 installing new window felt

lay felt on a piece of hardwood placed on the table of your drill press(get one if you don't have one--you'll learn to love it) after marking your pair of holes per staple on the backside of the felt with a marking pen. then drill. mike

[Mike M.]

Re: 1960 installing new window felt

the felts available 10-15 years ago were oversize at the stainless bead and in spite of my attempting to flatten them somewhat where they envelope the verticle member, i still have to use a teflon spray yearly on my 57 restored @ 1990. the 61 i did in the late 90's, using very old NOS horizontals and verticle felts , requires minimal effort to roll the windows.I believe the latest repo felts are still a little oversize but not as bad as pieces purchased as repos in the 80's. One must be careful in purchasing NOS felts as those available in the late 70's(as i recall) came with beads on the horizontal members that were way too small to fit over the beads of the horizontal stainless beads. Problem with current repo felts is the horizontal members actually have beads that were doubled up, ie, each felt starts out life with a too small stainless bead then the repo guys envelope the small bead with a larger, closer to original outside diameter second stainless bead which is evident on judging field at the rear edge of the felts as installed. mike

[Rob M.]

Re: 1960 installing new window felt

Mike,

Its not the drilling in the felt which causes problems but drilling in the SS molding...

greetings,
Rob.

[Larry P.]

Re: 1960 installing new window felt

Purchase a bit that is made for drilling stainless. I used a clamp to hold felt in place while drilling. After I drilled the first hole, I put the staple in to align for the second hole. This also helps to keep from loosing where the hole is in the felt. Use a needle nose pliers to begin the bend on the staple. I used a flat nose pliers to squeese the staple flat and bury the staple into the felt. If your using the original parts, if your real carefull you can use the original holes. Make sure your hole in the felt is perfectly aligned with the original holes. I also sniped the staple off a little as they were to long.
Larry

[Dennis A.]

Re: 1960 installing new window felt

Jim...

Installing new repro felts requires flating them in a vise before stapling them to the SS inner & outer mouldings. Be sure to "crush" the felt in the curve section...As the window rolls up, the frame inside edge tends to tear into the inner side felt as the roll up starts...I cheated, and applied a thin coat of epoxy adhesive from the end up half way before stapling. This also held the felt in position. Using small vise-grips to hold the staples down worked well, thus benting was easier with needle-noise pliers got them as tight as possible.

[Jim K.]

Re: 1960 installing new window felt

I know what you mean Rob, I broke three 1/16 inch bits. I went and purchased a piece of cove molding. The same molding you may you around your doors to finish it out. This was my backing. Then I used two small spring clamps at each end to hold the felt, SS and molding together and I drilled through the felt, SS and wood molding. I put in five staples on each strip. I did all my drilling first before I started putting in my staples. I used my needlenose to bend the staples (bend the staples together like a stapler would) that seem to secure the felt to the molding the beat for me).
I also ran my beard trimmer over the felt, just in case.
My problem is in the front of the window where the felt stem attaches to the front window channel. I'm not sure if Mike suggested that I pinch the front window channel bead to reduce it's size?

[Jim K.]

Re: 1960 installing new window felt

The reason your 1.5 mm drill keeps braking is because your using metic tool on a standard type car (only kidding):),

[Rob M.]

Thanks Jim, I didn't thought of that! ;--0 *NM*

[Jim K.]

Re: 1960 installing new window felt

Mike, What about using vise grips and pinching a small portion on the front channel bead where the felt strip snaps over it to make the bead a little thinner?