The Ford Barn

Kevin in NJ · 10-12-2014, 06:42 PM

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This only really matters to 68C owners.

The 68C uses a door stop on the face of the door which hits on a tab on the bottom of the window frame. The earlier cabriolets used the trim piece on the top of the door.

I had noticed that the tab on one set of door window frames was longer then the set I took off my early body.

The set with the longer stop tabs were in better shape then the others I had so I used them. I have found out why they are different.

Turns out my windows with the longer stop tab on the frame bottom were about 3/8" short from going up high enough. When I marked off the tab for the cut point it got interesting.

The early tabs were abot 5/8" long and the other ones were about 1" long. The mark for the cut would make my tabs be 5/8" long like the part that was original to the door.

I believe this is why. I have not proved it by talking to someone with a later body yet, but I am pretty confident this will play out.

The door latches on the early bodies were ground down on the top to make clearance for the stop piece that is mounted on the inside face of the door. They were ground down about 3/8". As a labor savings, that is not paying a guy to do a crude grinding of the door latches, they changed the location on the door up 3/8" and added 3/8" to the stop tab.

Now I just need to have someone with a late body to look at their doors and tell me what they find. By late I think it is later then body 2543. All the bodies I have owned had 3 hole mirrors.

BTW, Non of this can be seen when the car is together so you do not have to worry about JS changes. This is just a curiousity and slightly important to be aware of if you restoring a 68C as you will need to mod some parts if you end up mixing them. It will just be nice to be aware of the problem before you go down the road.

10-12-2014, 06:42 PM	#1
Kevin in NJ Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: South East NJ Posts: 3,398	68C Owners, I believe I have found a new production difference. Sponsored Links (Register now to hide all advertisements) This only really matters to 68C owners. The 68C uses a door stop on the face of the door which hits on a tab on the bottom of the window frame. The earlier cabriolets used the trim piece on the top of the door. I had noticed that the tab on one set of door window frames was longer then the set I took off my early body. The set with the longer stop tabs were in better shape then the others I had so I used them. I have found out why they are different. Turns out my windows with the longer stop tab on the frame bottom were about 3/8" short from going up high enough. When I marked off the tab for the cut point it got interesting. The early tabs were abot 5/8" long and the other ones were about 1" long. The mark for the cut would make my tabs be 5/8" long like the part that was original to the door. I believe this is why. I have not proved it by talking to someone with a later body yet, but I am pretty confident this will play out. The door latches on the early bodies were ground down on the top to make clearance for the stop piece that is mounted on the inside face of the door. They were ground down about 3/8". As a labor savings, that is not paying a guy to do a crude grinding of the door latches, they changed the location on the door up 3/8" and added 3/8" to the stop tab. Now I just need to have someone with a late body to look at their doors and tell me what they find. By late I think it is later then body 2543. All the bodies I have owned had 3 hole mirrors. BTW, Non of this can be seen when the car is together so you do not have to worry about JS changes. This is just a curiousity and slightly important to be aware of if you restoring a 68C as you will need to mod some parts if you end up mixing them. It will just be nice to be aware of the problem before you go down the road.