Home 
Home Search search Menu menu Not logged in - Login | Register

 Moderated by: Greg Fletcher
New Topic Reply Printer Friendly
Windshield Top Trim  Rate Topic 
AuthorPost
 Posted: 06-08-2006 01:45 pm
  PM Quote Reply
1st Post
jcdean
Member
 

Joined: 02-22-2006
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA
Posts: 169
Status: 
Offline
The black trim at the top of the window frame and surrounding the convertible top latch points is not staying under the chrome.  The yellow foam underlayer is now very obvious and seems to be swolen from exposure to the elements.  Any suggestions for fixing this or do I need to start looking for an alternative?

Joey

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 06-08-2006 04:21 pm
  PM Quote Reply
2nd Post
John Kimbrough
Member
 

Joined: 03-12-2005
Location: Washington USA
Posts: 116
Status: 
Offline
Good question Joey.  I have the same situation and would be interested in any answers.  To mask the obvious, I used an indelible magic marker to blacken the yellow foam underneath.  It looks better, but is no long term fix.  John.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 06-09-2006 02:31 am
  PM Quote Reply
3rd Post
Mark Rosenbaum
Member


Joined: 03-12-2005
Location: Kingman, Arizona USA
Posts: 532
Status: 
Offline
The part is called a 'crash roll' for some reason.  I've seen an average of maybe two a year show up on eBay.  Most sold for more than twice what I was willing to pay for a used one that I hadn't personally examined.

Companies that restore padded dashboards could restore crash rolls, but this would be pricey.  At one time Delta Motorsports offered a fiberglass replacement which unfortunately tended to fall apart at the seams, and in consequence they no longer stock the item.  Jim Medland has mentioned that Delta may revisit the issue some day.

The crash roll on my car has split along the front edge and the vinyl is cracking in many places.  To repair it, I first tried black duct tape.  This worked nicely for a year, after which the tape's adhesive began to fail, leaving me with a rather unsightly mess that was difficult to clean off.  I then tried black electrical tape.  This sticks fairly well when held in place with a heavy-duty (waterbed bladder) vinyl cement in addition to its own adhesive, but looks tacky.  The vinyl cement is generally effective at keeping the cracked vinyl from disintegrating completely.

Perhaps one might fabricate an assemblage of plywood or hardwood of suitable shape and size, add a strip of dense foam rubber to the upper surface so the convertible top or hardtop will seal, then cover the whole thing with vinyl fabric for appearance.  However, this is just idle speculation, as I've never looked into the practical aspects.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 06-09-2006 02:52 am
  PM Quote Reply
4th Post
jcdean
Member
 

Joined: 02-22-2006
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA
Posts: 169
Status: 
Offline
I spoke with Jim (Delta) today and he mentioned the old fiberglass ones.  He said they were not the quality that they were supposed to have been.  He also mentioned that if he had a very nice example he had a place he could send it and perhaps have some made.  If anyone is in the midst of a restore and could do with out for a while, it may be worth giving Delta a call.

 

Joey

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 06-09-2006 03:11 pm
  PM Quote Reply
5th Post
colinw59
Member


Joined: 02-14-2006
Location: Bloomfield/Hebron, Connecticut USA
Posts: 147
Status: 
Offline
This crash roll is now obsolete. On 15851 the gap between the padding and the stainless frame was uneven, with the edge of the padding being ragged in places. I pondered this for a while. In the end I found an extruded soft flexible plastic sealing strip in the weather stipping/sealing isle of Home Depot. It's shaped like a tennis racket, but without the strings! There's a donut bulb shape on one end of about 3/8" dia.  attached to a thin flat section which is about 1/2" in lenght. Double sided tape is attatched to one side of this flat section, which held this seal inplace while I positioned at bolted the crash roll to the windshield frame. This seal material comes in white or brown. I chose brown and painted it with black vinyl dye (as I did the to crash roll to freshen it up). I sandwiched it between the front face of the crash roll and the rear face of the stainless frame, with the donut bulb on top. The bulb is large enough to cover both the iregularities in the gap between these parts and the ragged egde of the padding, and soft enough to flatten when the soft top is put up. It probably aids water tighness to.  From the pics linked below, this seal can just be seen.

http://jhppg.com/gallery/74-Jensen-Healey-15851/2006_0522_19

http://jhppg.com/gallery/74-Jensen-Healey-15851/2006_0522_07

 

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 06-09-2006 03:57 pm
  PM Quote Reply
6th Post
jcdean
Member
 

Joined: 02-22-2006
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA
Posts: 169
Status: 
Offline
Colin,

So the weatherstripping's flat part is under the chrome and the round section comes back and covers the high/jagged/yellow parts?  Does it also cover, somewhat, the metal portions that the top frame latches cam into?

Joey

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 06-09-2006 04:18 pm
  PM Quote Reply
7th Post
John Kimbrough
Member
 

Joined: 03-12-2005
Location: Washington USA
Posts: 116
Status: 
Offline
Colin.  Looks like a pretty nice fix.  I will look into it for mine.  John.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 06-09-2006 05:52 pm
  PM Quote Reply
8th Post
John Finch
Member
 

Joined: 08-01-2005
Location: Minneapolis MN
Posts: 122
Status: 
Offline
Colin, where did you get the visors? Sharp Car!

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 06-09-2006 06:39 pm
  PM Quote Reply
9th Post
colinw59
Member


Joined: 02-14-2006
Location: Bloomfield/Hebron, Connecticut USA
Posts: 147
Status: 
Offline
The visors were from Delta. They rebuilt my old ones. So for those of you that want new ones, don't throw the old away. Thanks for the compliment.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 02-23-2007 09:21 pm
  PM Quote Reply
10th Post
jcdean
Member
 

Joined: 02-22-2006
Location: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma USA
Posts: 169
Status: 
Offline
All,

Still not satisfied with the crash roll piece on the car. British Masters has one that is "in pretty good shape" for $150.00.  I'm thinking there must be a way to make a suitable replacement for this piece.  Anyone had any luck over the winter with this?

Joey

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 02-24-2007 05:37 am
  PM Quote Reply
11th Post
edward_davis
Member


Joined: 07-06-2005
Location: Eugene, Oregon USA
Posts: 162
Status: 
Offline
I'm no expert in upholstery, but it seems like a dedicated worker could take off the old piece, fill in the broken parts with suitable foam, and recover the whole unit with black vinyl purchased from the fabric store.  It would take some skill to get it all around the edges.  I'm just suggesting a modification on Mark's original idea: instead of starting over with a new bunch of plywood, use the original crash roll as a basis.  That's the best idea I've been able to come up with.  Fortunately, mine has been protected by the hardtop for most of its life, but it, too, is starting to come apart at the edges.

Edward

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 10-01-2007 11:43 pm
  PM Quote Reply
12th Post
dthewlis
Member
 

Joined: 10-01-2007
Location: Dow's Prairie, California USA
Posts: 72
Status: 
Offline
I've a related question on the crash roll.  After years of not having a Jensen I recently purchased 19299 which has completed an engine/drive train rebuild and now needs more L&C in restoration.  The crash roll came with the car but not attached, and it doesn't have the visors.  My question is how the crash roll is actually attached.  From the evidence it looks as though the visor pivots themselves helped to hold it on, but it isn't clear what else there was and I haven't yet been able to find any definitive doc or pics.  Any help?  Thanks, Dave Thewlis

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 10-02-2007 05:58 pm
  PM Quote Reply
13th Post
Greg Fletcher
Administrator


Joined: 03-11-2005
Location: Lake Nacimiento, California USA
Posts: 430
Status: 
Offline
Crash roll, what a great name for this part! Someone from Monty Python must have been working on the parts book that day.

Anyway, it attaches at the visor bolts AND the two screws that hold the rear view mirror. All you need to do is remove those six screws and it will fall off and bonk you on the head, as it did for me.

I have seen these recovered and a good upholstery shop will make this part look much better than new.

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

 Posted: 10-02-2007 06:12 pm
  PM Quote Reply
14th Post
dthewlis
Member
 

Joined: 10-01-2007
Location: Dow's Prairie, California USA
Posts: 72
Status: 
Offline
Thanks.  Mine seems to have a couple of extraneous places where someone might have put a screw in at some point, but knowing those are the real mounting points helps.  On to refinishing, and finding sun visors (alas!)

Back To Top PM Quote Reply

 Posted: 03-30-2008 03:10 pm
  PM Quote Reply
15th Post
dthewlis
Member
 

Joined: 10-01-2007
Location: Dow's Prairie, California USA
Posts: 72
Status: 
Offline
Follow-up on the crash roll (Colin's vinyl stripping worked by the way, and thanks for the idea).  My crash roll is not in horrible shape and vinyl dye works well.  But it has some cracks and splits of course.  Haven't been able to find anyone in this area that would tackle recovering it.

Has anyone found a substance (sort of analogous to wood putty) that could be injected into the cracks and would fill them and provide a smoothable surface that could then be dyed?  It would need to NOT interact with the foam or vinyl (other than adhere to it), and dry with some flex (preferably) -  and be shapeable and able to be colored when dry.  I keep thinking there ought to be something that would do the job but haven't found it yet.

Last edited on 03-30-2008 03:13 pm by dthewlis

Back To Top PM Quote Reply  

Current time is 08:34 pm  
> Jensen Healey & Jensen GT Tech > Body & interior stuff > Windshield Top Trim Top




UltraBB 1.172 Copyright © 2007-2011 Data 1 Systems