25-05-2020, 01:06 PM
My apologies for what may turn into a lengthy thread and I crave your indulgence...
When I bought my trusty Box Saloon in 1970, It had a sliding roof panel, but the rear portion of the rails, behind the panel, had been cut off and a galvanised plate screwed over the whole rear portion. I ran the car for a couple of years before the late, much missed Ray Walker declared he coudn't stand it any longer and we removed the galvanised panel (to find the original roof covering still intact underneath), Ray made up the missing portion of the rails and I had an opening roof. However, the rather quick restoration of the roof was never really satisfactory and the roof was always a struggle to use and leaked from the rear. As with many others, this period of house arrest is leading us to tasks that we have put off for a number of years - in my case, 50.
I was fortunate in that the original sliding panel seemed in good-ish order and, remarkably, the original metal 'plate' that goes on the back of the panel, came with the car. I attempted to re-instate this, along with a wooden fillet I crudely made, but it never seemed to work correctly. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the design at the rear of the roof is this..
So, I am going back to basics and will make certain everything is as it should be at every stage. I am fortunate in that I also have under the bench, another portion of rails that goes from the front of the car round the open portion, so I can 'rehearse' all this on the bench. The first thing I want to check is that all is well with the panel. A series of 3 photos hopefully will illustrate where I'm starting from..
My first questions. From what you can see with the panel fitted to my spare rails, does this look right and, is the measurement from front to back of the panel correct? I have always wondered whether it is short, which leads to the issues with the metal pressing and wooden fillet not seeming to behave as expected...
Thanks for reading this far!!
When I bought my trusty Box Saloon in 1970, It had a sliding roof panel, but the rear portion of the rails, behind the panel, had been cut off and a galvanised plate screwed over the whole rear portion. I ran the car for a couple of years before the late, much missed Ray Walker declared he coudn't stand it any longer and we removed the galvanised panel (to find the original roof covering still intact underneath), Ray made up the missing portion of the rails and I had an opening roof. However, the rather quick restoration of the roof was never really satisfactory and the roof was always a struggle to use and leaked from the rear. As with many others, this period of house arrest is leading us to tasks that we have put off for a number of years - in my case, 50.
I was fortunate in that the original sliding panel seemed in good-ish order and, remarkably, the original metal 'plate' that goes on the back of the panel, came with the car. I attempted to re-instate this, along with a wooden fillet I crudely made, but it never seemed to work correctly. For those of you who are unfamiliar, the design at the rear of the roof is this..
So, I am going back to basics and will make certain everything is as it should be at every stage. I am fortunate in that I also have under the bench, another portion of rails that goes from the front of the car round the open portion, so I can 'rehearse' all this on the bench. The first thing I want to check is that all is well with the panel. A series of 3 photos hopefully will illustrate where I'm starting from..
My first questions. From what you can see with the panel fitted to my spare rails, does this look right and, is the measurement from front to back of the panel correct? I have always wondered whether it is short, which leads to the issues with the metal pressing and wooden fillet not seeming to behave as expected...
Thanks for reading this far!!