Series 3 OTS Window/Hood Alignment

[panamacarrera]

Dear All

The rear edge of my driver's side window sits proud of the rubber seal on the hood frame by 5mm at the bottom, 8mm at the top. At the front of the glass there is a good seal. The glass on both sides is 15° from the vertical. On the passenger side there's a good seal along the whole glass.

Looking at the alignment of the hood relative to the body on either side of the car, the hood sits further inward on the driver's side than the passenger side (See photos).

I don't know the history of the car, the hood frame looks original but I do know the car had a respray in the last ten years and, from photos, the hood was removed for that.

Has anyone had a similar problem? Is there a cure? Is the hood frame adjustable?

Cheers

Nigel

The gap

IMG_2851-Hood alignment.JPG (111.66 KiB) Viewed 1993 times

Drivers side hood alignment

IMG_2852-Hood Alignment.JPG (91.8 KiB) Viewed 1993 times

Passenger side

IMG_2853-Hood Alignment.JPG (92.85 KiB) Viewed 1993 times

[lowact]

When I first bought my car I had issue with the fact that the edges of the glass did not touch the rubber seals.
Reportedly it was fitted with a new hood back in the 80's. The cantrails (behind the chrome) had been installed each on the wrong side. Correcting this made huge difference but did not eliminate the gap between the glass and the rubber. Looking at web photos, it seems this gap is common. Is this correct?

Oddly, it doesn't leak. Unlike my previous car, Alpha Spyder, with electric roof and built-in lining, slick as, when the rain got too heavy for the slipstream, pause under an overpass, push the button and in less than 3 minutes be back up to speed. Except, when the rain was prolonged, it leaked, despite that there were no gaps, the rubbing of the glass on the rubber transferred water which dripped onto my leg...

I investigated what it would take to eliminate the gap on the e-type; partially remover the hood, also looked at adjusting the angle of the window frames. I concluded that there is no adjustment, to perfect the fit I would need to completely strip the hood, remove the frame and, in a trial ad error process, make subtle adjustments to angle and pitch, relying on a hydraulic press because the hood frame is very tough.

Maybe one day I will do this, i the meantime, it doesn't leak. I imagine that the apparent commonality of this gap is due to the individual attention required was not conducive to production line economics.

[MarekH]

The chrome window frame is attached to the bottom of the door casing in two places and so adjusting the rear outwards at the bottom should force the top inward.

kind regards
Marek

[lowact]

I found the door window frames need to align with the "A" pillar (edge of windscreen), you don't want to tilt them any differently. Means u can't tilt the door window frames to correct any gap that is only at the back of the window.

[MarekH]

That's right.... so if you'd adjust the rear mount ouboard a bit then the entire assembly will angle in at the top at the back, pivoting about the top of the door. The frame remains fixed at the front but that doesn't mean the frame can't twist. Washers under the winding mechanism might also have an effect.

kind regards
Marek

[lowact]

I couldn't twist the frame without the glass jamming. I found that the bottom mounts have to be in a perfectly parallel plane to the top slot that the glass slides through. After i ensured this my window, which had been cranky and difficult to wind, was like a new one.