1915 Touring windshield rubber gasket in between glass?

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Model T Ford Forum: Forum 2013: 1915 Touring windshield rubber gasket in between glass?
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Alex Dragone on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - 09:42 pm:

I am just finishing restoring my 1915 Touring car and I was told that there is supposed to be a rubber gasket in between the upper and lower windshield halves. Is this true? if so does anyone have some pictures of how it goes on and where can I get the correct rubber?

Thanks


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jay - In Northern California on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - 09:55 pm:

Here's the rubber windshield strip installed on our 15 roadster. Any of the Model T parts suppliers will have these in stock


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Alex Dragone on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - 10:00 pm:

Thanks jay. But do you know if the cars actually had this rubber from the factory?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jay - In Northern California on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - 10:12 pm:

Alex, I am not an expert but it would make sense that they did.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - 10:16 pm:

There was no rubber gasket originally.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barry Fowler - Anchorage, Alaska on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - 10:33 pm:

When upright, the top glass should slightly overlap the lower glass.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Steve McClelland on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - 10:35 pm:

No rubber that I know of....ever.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Alex Dragone on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - 10:38 pm:

Thanks everyone for the quick responses. I was just confused because Ive personally never seen a model T with windshield rubber, this was new news to me. Thanks for clearing this up.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jay - In Northern California on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - 10:43 pm:

So does anyone know when this gasket was first offered as an accessory?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Erik Johnson on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 - 10:45 pm:

To add to Royce's post:

The reason that there is no gasket or rubber channel is that the upper pane sits forward of and slightly overlaps the bottom pane when the windshield is in the fully upright/unfolded position.

Also - my opinion - eliminating the parting channels in exchange for exposed glass edges reduced materials, cost and weight and streamlined the windshield design. It's not just a major change in the windshield design, it's extremely clever. Also, the 1915 windshields use less glass (they are narrower and the bottom panel is shorter) than the various windshields used in 1913 and 1914, which also would have resulted in a reduction of weight.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Walker, NW AR on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 08:33 am:

Original equipment or not, those rubber strips from the vendors do help to keep rain out while you're driving.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By John F. Regan on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 08:38 am:

If on tour and the weather is going to be really rainy - I just place a single piece of duct tape from top glass to bottom across the crack from side to side. It keeps you nice and dry... somewhat.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Walker, NW AR on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 08:50 am:

Oh, John -- That's just tacky! :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Strange on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 08:52 am:

Red Green says, don't cast dispersions on the handyman's secret weapon!

red_green


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hal Davis-SE Georgia on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 12:37 pm:

I put one one on my wife's '18 Touring, thinking it was original. Just didn't know any better, I guess. I had a local glass shop cut new glass, which I installed. I now have cracks in both pieces of glass which started at the corners of the retainer clamps. My first thought was that it was caused by small scratches or chips caused by the metal to glass interface at the retainer clips, but then I began to wonder if maybe that rubber was too thick and when the windshield is flipped up abruptly, it gets into a bind. Now that I know the rubber wasn't on there originally, I am going to toss it. When I get around to putting in new glass, that will remove one variable if it cracks again.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barry Fowler - Anchorage, Alaska on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 03:20 pm:

We drove our 15 runabout across country in the Ocean to Ocean tour, and yes, during heavy rain water splattered though, but it really was not a big deal. We have not experienced any glass cracks.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Bob Coiro on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 05:49 pm:

When I bought it, my '15 Touring had the rubber thingamajig between the two panes.



One thing I've noticed is that when the windshield is partially folded (one or two click-stops worth), there's an odd wind-whistle and wind-beating. Haven't tried that without the rubber whooziewhatzis. If I remember, we'll do that on the next warm day. Hopefully, there'll be a few more of those before the county dusts the roads with rock-salt.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Strange on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 05:52 pm:

So, if the gasket is incorrect for the earlier cars, did it become standard equipment on the later cars at some point?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Strange on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 06:01 pm:

Looking in my Ford Price List, there is a 9066x center windshield channel listed for 1922-25 Touring cars and Roadsters, priced at 35 cents, I wonder if that is the center gasket?

I searched Google for "Model T Ford 9066X" and drew a blank, I'll try other word combinations.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Barry Fowler - Anchorage, Alaska on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 06:16 pm:

Bob, we drove our 15 with the top partially folded as you described and did not experience any odd wind-whistle and wind-beating. The partially folded windshield created less resistance against strong headwinds and still afforded us some protection.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Menzies on Thursday, December 12, 2013 - 07:38 pm:

The rubber was offered as an accessory through Western Auto Supply in the 20s and earlier.
The U rubber would fit all the earlier cars as well and was advertised as a weather strip to keep the rain out. Not a standard Ford part.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Roger Karlsson, southern Sweden on Friday, December 13, 2013 - 03:44 am:

The 26/27 open Fords had the rubber gasket between the windshield halves from factory, don't know about other years, but I would think the 1923-25 cars both open and closed models had them too?

window grommet


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Scott Conger on Friday, December 13, 2013 - 11:44 am:

Jay

slightly OT, but that sure looks like plate glass in there...


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Jay - In Northern California on Friday, December 13, 2013 - 08:22 pm:

David, Thanks for your input as to the early use of the windshield gasket as an accessory.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Saturday, December 14, 2013 - 09:52 am:

I've driven my '15 a lot of miles in rain, snow, sleet, cold, what ever kind of weather. There's really no need for a rubber seal. It doesn't seem to be a problem that needs fixing.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mark Gregush Portland Oregon on Saturday, December 14, 2013 - 11:49 am:

I have a crack in the corner where the clip pushes down on the glass. It cracked when I was installing the new glass, too much pressure when tightening up the clip.
I installed the gasket on my 21. Keeps working up on the passenger side, guess it does not want to be there! :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By David Menzies on Saturday, December 14, 2013 - 07:09 pm:

Looking at the 27 (fifteen millionth) I wonder if it has some additional accessories. I had a very original 26 and there was no wiper or rear view mirror. It appears that the worker is fitting a top bow saddle and mine did not have the saddles only factory rubber plugs. The licence plate is attached to the light bar and not under the crank. The licence On the light bar can cause over heating problems. I don't know if the licence plate clamps were Ford or accessories. I had a pair of clamps and mounted the plate on the bar and it caused over heating on a long hill.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Alex Dragone on Tuesday, December 17, 2013 - 03:51 pm:

Just to ad some additional info. I asked Langs and they notified me that the rubber gasket was originally put on the 1915 cars from the factory. Its a different shape than the later cars. What does everyone think of Langs response?


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Royce in Dallas TX on Tuesday, December 17, 2013 - 05:54 pm:

I think they are mistaken.


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hap Tucker in Sumter SC on Tuesday, December 17, 2013 - 10:11 pm:

Alex,

Lang's is a great parts company and a strong supporter of our hobby and for all of that I am very thankful. It is also possible that they have some information we do not have and that in fact Ford supplied some open cars with rubber between the opening halves of the open car windshield during 1915-1922. If so, I would welcome that new information.

But I suspect the individual who stated that is misinformed. I do believe Ford offered a rubber channel for the open car windshields 1915-1922 and so far I have not yet found any evidence that Ford USA ever offered one for those years.

I looked in Bruce's price list of parts and I did find a "Windshield Channel Center Rubber" part number T-9066 factory number 9066X but it was only used on the CLOSED cars and NOT the open cars.

By the way -- I assume Lang's is still run by humans so just like us, they have the right to be wrong every now and then and just like many of us, I'm sure they will be open to making a correction if it turns out is is warranted.

From Bruce's Price List of Parts (available as part of his Model T Ford Comprehensive Encyclopedia" available from: http://www.mtfca.com/discus/messages/331880/333725.html?1357665853 ) he has:





Respectfully submitted,

Hap l9l5 cut off


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Hap Tucker in Sumter SC on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - 06:34 am:

oops -- above should have read "But I suspect the individual who stated that is misinformed. I do "NOT" believe Ford offered a rubber channel for the open car windshields 1915-1922 and so far I have not yet found any evidence that Ford USA ever offered one for those years.

(It looked good last night when I posted it in a hurry...how did that happen?)

Respectfully corrected,

Hap l9l5 cut off


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Mike Walker, NW AR on Wednesday, December 18, 2013 - 09:48 am:

Hap -- Maybe you're human after all. :-)


Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Alex Dragone on Thursday, December 19, 2013 - 04:47 pm:

Hap,

Thanks for the info. I looked at all of the factory photos and period photos of open 15-16 cars that I could find and could not find any with a rubber gasket. So I think you are definitely correct. And yes, Langs is a great business and I'm sure it was just a mistake. Thanks again.


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