Cabriolet 68C Belt Rail Fit Up
 

I have placed the belt rail back from the body moulding 1/4 in. to allow for proper fit of the top fabric and hide-um welting. This will move the wood into the passenger compartment. This will also move the package tray forward and the seat forward, decreasing the distance allowed for moving your feet into the car.


My question is this: How far should I have the belt rail wood extend past the edge of the body metal at the front of the belt rail? Also, I don't want to weaken the belt rail by making it too thin where the package tray screws to it. Thanks for your help, Ed

Re: Cabriolet 68C Belt Rail Fit Up
 

the outside of the rail should set about even with the top of radius. I took a couple pictures of my 68B the rail set in the same location on both.

Re: Cabriolet 68C Belt Rail Fit Up
 

What about the bolt up of the lower top iron pivots? I'm not sure why this adjustment is necessary or how it will affect other fits. It was designed to be in a specific place. To change that may make things difficult and have an odd look to it. If the wood is oversized then it should be adjusted to fit as intended. The fabric and welting isn't all that thick. There does have to be a taper to the rear edge of the tack rail to get a good fit to the slightly forward swept line of the rear section of the top and back light curtain. I've heard folks mention 4 degrees of slant forward off of vertical but I've not done a 68C. My experience is with the earlier Sport Coupe. The early Sport Coupe has the steel trim pieces that cover the bottom edge so no hidem welt is needed on the belt rail portion.

Re: Cabriolet 68C Belt Rail Fit Up
 

1/4" Is going to be too much. Trust me...
I'd say no more than 1/8th. And it will diminish as the setback moves forward and approaches the 'B' pillar. It will depend a bit on the size/thickness of the welting used to finish the lower edge of the top. [FWIW: When you finally are ready to fasten down the belt rails, please don't glue/epoxy anything too soon...Everything hinges (sorry for the pun!!) on the Landau bars... And Everything will need to be adjusted, repeatedly...!!!]
Enjoy
John