Hardtop Build (part three)

Side screens

By including curves which made the leading edge of the door a nice shape, Basil had given himself a lot of extra work when it came to making the doors and side windows.    I got round the door problem with two inch thick solid oak units (made by Leopold Modris Zakvics)(!) but the sidescreens had to be fabricated.    I chose stainless steel for the frames;    design was complicated by the simple fact they needed to come apart to fit the glass.    Furthermore, the driver's side had a bite taken out to the door to give room for hands on the steering wheel - this had to be reflected in the sidescreen frame.    In turn, this limited the amount the screens might slide, so the two sides are assymetrical.

Starting with polished 16g sheet, I experimented with alternative sections folded and then wheeled to give the edge a nice look.    Here are pictures of the WiP.

To create the bend in the frame, the section was 'thinned' to the point it could be bent;    curved pieces are welded in, smoothed, trimmed and edged to create both front frame pieces by cutting into two parts.

I decided upon a sub frame to carry the poles (which fit into sockets in the door) and to which the screw clips are welded to retain the units to the doors.    The front and lower pieces are offered up to the door and pillar.

Retaining screw seen before welding and after with ply blanks for final glass cutting.

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