Side Windows - Black Finish?

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Kevbuts
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Side Windows - Black Finish?

Post by Kevbuts »

Hi All,

I have a set of side windows for my BRA, the frames for which are bare aluminium as shown below:
IMG_1371 (Large).JPEG
.

I have a seen a few Cobras which have the side window frames in a black finish which looks good (example below). Is this a painted finish or a coating which is bonded to the aluminium frame?
FIA 289 13.jpg
I would appreciate any guidance that can be offered on how the black finish is achieved.

Many Thanks,
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clive
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Re: Side Windows - Black Finish?

Post by clive »

Most are covered in mohair.

Image

Image
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StewbieC
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Re: Side Windows - Black Finish?

Post by StewbieC »

The frames are covered in black Mohair.
A good trimmer will be able to sort that for you
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Kevbuts
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Re: Side Windows - Black Finish?

Post by Kevbuts »

Thanks for the help chaps.

Makes sense now :-)

I didn’t think they looked painted, and that’s why.
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David Large
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Re: Side Windows - Black Finish?

Post by David Large »

Mine are not covered in mohair but in a black sort of vynil cloth. My hood is not mohair either but is an equally lightweight vynil sort of material. Roger King told me that my hood was just like the original hoods - there's a stroke of luck!
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Re: Side Windows - Black Finish?

Post by nikbj68 »

As David mentions, the original Sidescreens and soft top (and the bag for stowing the screens in) were a ‘leatherette’ vinyl, but mohair is almost exclusively used now... has anyone actually priced the difference between vinyl & mohair? I’d be interested to know how much more (or less!) vinyl would be.
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peterc
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Re: Side Windows - Black Finish?

Post by peterc »

Not forgetting it’s the man hours that’s probably the biggest cost.
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David Large
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Re: Side Windows - Black Finish?

Post by David Large »

The big advantage for me is that the vynil hood takes up far less space when folded up and stored in the boot.
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Re: Side Windows - Black Finish?

Post by KevinW »

Before I started on my hardtop project I got some quotes, and it was about £150-200 difference between mohair and vynil IIRC.
Significant difference in material cost, but dwarfed by the labour cost which is the lions share.
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Roger King
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Re: Side Windows - Black Finish?

Post by Roger King »

David is correct - original Cobras of all varieties had hoods made of black Vynide. Tonneau covers were also Vynide, and the sidescreens should be trimmed in Vynide also. I was lucky enough to get detailed information on the construction of these parts from a couple of 1964 cars in the US, giving information on stitch lines, size of segments etc. so could copy the original spec as closely as possible. The original hoods were, as ever, made down to a price and were not made to last, but several are in decent condition to copy as they haven't been used much.
The biggest difficulty now is that nobody makes a leathercloth with the correct pale cream backing material - a light grey is as close as you can get now.
The cost of having these items (hood, tonneau and sidescreens covered) made to the original patterns would be considered prohibitive to anyone with half a brain. Unfortunately that doesn't include me. My work was done by Simtrim in Spalding, but if you contact them for a quote be sure to sit down first.

US original:
5.jpg
Mine, with sidescreens:
Cobra 650.JPG
Detail of how tonneau fixes around mirror to press stud, if closed on one side only:
Cobra 656.JPG
Hope that helps,

Roger
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