Fold-Down Windscreen for a BJ7

[tahoe healey]

What an interesting look with the BJ7 and 8 vent windows. I'm thinking stabilizer fins.

 

[Healey 100]

I concur with all the comments about the misery of driving a 100 with the screen down. That arrangement deflects all the wind right under your eyelids. One short trip with mine that way was enough, it has not been folded since.

When I got my car, the original windshield was cracked vertically across the center. I noted that the folded windscreen is nearly horizontal and flexed quite a bit when you drove over bumps. I wondered if that was how the original got cracked -- anyway, it was just another reason to leave the unit unfolded.

It is an interesting feature, but I can understand why Healey dropped the idea for the 100-6. It's more fun to talk about than to use.

 

[Genos2]

Sunglasses are required accessory for driving w/windscreen in racing position.IMHO the folding windscreen adds much to the uniqueness of our 100's,it wouldn't be the same without it!Also as far as the flexing, there are springs w/eyes attached, to secure the top of the frame(where top latches) to body.Mine fluttered much less with those in use.IMO its a blast to drive w/screen down! cheers Genos2

 

[nautoncall]

Sory everybody, I was away last weekend. Yes the 100 windscreen can be installed on the early 3000. I don't know how it would work with roll-up window car but it's really pretty straightforward on the earlier sixes. Anybody wanting more detail can PM me & I'll be happy to go thru it & provide pics.

The side pillar mounts are exactly the same on the bottom where they bolt to the car, so all the bolt holes line up.

To install the 'feet' the screen goes into when down, you have to notch the inner edge of the fender to make room for the mounting blade that goes between the fender & shroud. Note: the mounting holes for these 'feet' are already in the bulkhead, but not the shroud - I'm guessing that it was cheaper and easier to leave the holes in the dies for stamping these pieces when they changed the windscreen.

If you want to run a top, you need to assemble the 100 windshield using the top piece from a later six cyl. windshield. This gives the flange for the top front bow to hook over and then you drill & tap for clamp pegs on the rear side of the 100 windshield post (same location as the early sixes). This way you can use the early BN4 type top.

BTW the glass is exactly the same curvature, width and height - it's just the extreem side curves that are different. In other words the top & bottom channels the glass sits in are interchangeable.

I have this set-up for two reasons: I can easily remove the windshield at the track (my small screen does not need to be removed & does not interfere with the 100 windshield).
But mostly I have it because I originally fell in love with the windshield when I bought my first 100 in 1969. No other car in the world has one like a Healey. I will admit it is sometimes a bit difficult to see over & slightly obscures your view but the trade-off is wind in the face!!!!! I only have the glass up if its raining or below 40 degrees. It isn't even the wind in the face as much as driving through mountains and having an unobsructed view in any direction - closest thing to a motorcycle you can get. I have logged a lot of miles on my old Harley but now I prefer the Healey because, here in washington state we now have helmet laws and the bike just isn't as much fun anymore. Now I get the wind in the face and don't have to worry about falling over

Even my wife prefers the screen down.

My personal view: Driving a Healey with the windshield down through some twisty mountain roads on a nice sunny day is almost the best driving experience I have had - second only to racing a Healey.

Again, I ma happy to share the particulars if anyone has questions.

Dave

Dave, I'm refreshing this thread because I'm trying to do this on a BN6. So my question right now is: I have the two holes under the dash that bolts go through to hold the "feet" in place, but what actually holds them in place..the squeezing between the fender and shroud? The feet have 1/2 holes so they are not fully secured. Also, my fenders are aftermarket and don't have any captive nuts in the fender side, so I can see a bolt going through the fender as I look through the fender well, but how do i put a nut on the backside because i certainly can't run my hand up there. Hope this makes sense. Love some photos of your set up.

 

[red57]

Hi Rob, I'll try to help. I'm somewhat limited on pictures because mine is assembled right now & I didn't take a lot of pictures of details and I first did it to my BN4 25+ years ago. I did it to my BT7 a couple of years ago. As you work through it, ask for pictures and I will take any I can of the assembled car.

So first, the "feet" have slots for mounting, not holes and they are in a 'blade' on the bottom that is about 1/8" thick. The two bolts that go through them thread into speed nuts (aka J-nuts) just like all the other bolts along the top of the fender. These 'pinch' the blade - the only forces applied to the feet are downward and slightly forward, so it doesn't take much to keep them in place.

On the 100, there is a slight relief if about 1/16" stamped into the scuttle framework with a similar relief in the shroud - and a corresponding 1/16" relief in the fender. Pictures of a 100-4 scuttle and a 100-6 scuttle to show the difference.

The first time I did this installation, I did not worry about the indent in the scuttle and made bout a 1/8" offset in the fender - it worked but the spread between the two feet is about 1/8 wider that stock. So, this time I cut a section of the shroud flange away (1/16" thick) and only have a 1/16 offset in the fender - this keeps the foot-to-foot distance closer to stock.

 

[nautoncall]

@red57 thank you so much for the help. I am updating this post to tell people how to do this relatively easy. First, I didn't have to modify my car at all. The only modification was to the stanchions for the 100-4 Windscreen and the feet for the lay down windshield you sill see in the photos. The stanchions mount the exact same but the foot of the stanchion is not the same. To do this, you will need a complete 100-4 windscreen and all hardware. The first order of business is removing the 100-6 windscreen. The 100-6 has the 3 bolts in the stanchions and then one bold through the hood. That thru hood hole will not be used with the 100-4 stanchions. My car is a driver so I don't care that it's an empty hole. Next, you you have to get the "feet" for the windscreen to fit where they are supposed to fit. If you look inside under the dash you will see where the bolts go as the 100-6 has all the holes for the 100-4 windscreen feet. The fenders may or may not have the "speed nuts" like for normal body panels. My fenders had the holes but no speed nuts for the feet. I had to loosen the driver and passenger fenders to get the speed nuts over the holes. I used #14 speed nuts. I could have used 1/4-20 but decided to use the #14. The 100-4 has cut outs in the hood and bonnet for the feet to slide in. The 100-6 does not. This is where loosening the fenders comes in handy. (@red57 I think modified the fender and shroud, but I did something different to not modify my body panels.) At this time I used my grinder wheel to "thin" the thickness of the feet mounts. I think they are 1/8" in thickness as show in the picture above. I thinned them to they would easily fit in between the fender and shroud. Do not try to slide them between the fender and shroud unless you have screws/bolts from under the dash into the fender speed nuts otherwise you risk knocking the speed nuts off and have to take the fender bolts out again to put the speed nuts back on (ask me how I know this!!!) . Now replace all your fender to shroud bolts and don't tighten yet. Place the screws in where the feet will mount. Now test fit your feet into the location as they just slide over the bolts/screws. Now you know exactly where the feet go. Now you can tighten down all the shroud/fender bolts and tighten the feet screws/bolts and they are all snug and will not come out of their position. Now your feet are mounted. Next is to address the stanchions. I had to loosen a couple of the shroud to fender bolts as I couldn't get the stanchion mounting arm to slide down the hole. Once loosened, they slide down and now you will see how they have to be modified. The base of the stanchion is smaller than the 100-6 and does not have cut outs for some of the shroud curvatures. At this point look inside under the dash to see how far down it's going to need to drop for the holes to align perfectly. I used a Sharpie to mark on the base the areas I needed to grind. I then used my grinder only on the underside of the base to shape it to fit the 100-6 shroud. I took my time and would grind and test fit...grind and test fit seeing just where I needed to remove the underside. It's just like going to the dentist when they do a filling and crown and get you to "tap tap" your teeth together to see where to grind the filling or tooth down. Once you have it, you will see the holes under the dash align perfectly for your through bolts for the mounting arms. Slide your bolts in and the work is basically done. Now you just need to test fit your windscreen. Mine fit great as you see in the photos. If the stanchions aren't perfectly straight with your feet you might have to grind some more and just twist a few mm to get them straight I did a video I can post to youtube if anyone wants.

 

[nautoncall]

As you can see in one of the photos, I mounted the feet and made sure they would fit prior to removing the 100-6 windshield. Obviouisly everything is aluminum in my car so when grinding the feet, I was able to "slide" them between the aluminum panels even before loosening the fender bolts. If I had it to do over, I might could have just left them the 1/8" thickness then they would really tightly sandwiched between the fender and shroud but no way they would have fit without loosening the fender bolts. If you have a show car it might mess your gaps up.

 

[petnatcar]

It has always crossed my mind how cool a 100/4 windscreen would look on a 100/6 or 3000. I have discounted this project for cost/effort vs. result as well as the departure away from the original look. I came across this in a youtube video (Healey Heaven). Hey, not so bad.

Do you think this is an unmodified 100/4 windscreen? What do you think of the look?

As you can see in one of the photos, I mounted the feet and made sure they would fit prior to removing the 100-6 windshield. Obviouisly everything is aluminum in my car so when grinding the feet, I was able to "slide" them between the aluminum panels even before loosening the fender bolts. If I had it to do over, I might could have just left them the 1/8" thickness then they would really tightly sandwiched between the fender and shroud but no way they would have fit without loosening the fender bolts. If you have a show car it might mess your gaps up.

I always loved the way the HUNDREDS looked too with the windshield folded down and no door handles.
Being that my car will never be in a concours event I took the next step and decided to - Chop the Windshield 4"- and
"Shave the Door Handles".
Of course this creates it's own set of problems but "a photograph is worth a thousand words" and I'm glad I did it.

Peter C.

 

[nautoncall]

I always loved the way the HUNDREDS looked too with the windshield folded down and no door handles.
Being that my car will never be in a concours event I took the next step and decided to - Chop the Windshield 4"- and
"Shave the Door Handles".
Of course this creates it's own set of problems but "a photograph is worth a thousand words" and I'm glad I did it.

Peter C.

I love it. I looked at a MGA at one point and saw where they actually made a kit to chop the windshield so I knew all these 50's roadsters look so much better with a lower more race like windshield. When I read the 100-4 windscreen would fit with some "massaging" I knew I had to do it. Your car looks great. I also thought of doing the 100s windshield from Classic Car Performance but would have had to drill through the shroud but it does look great also.

 

[red57]

Hi Rob, Congratulations! I'm glad you have worked it out. I chose to rework the shroud a little by flattening the end of the raised area around the foot of the stanchions rather than grinding the base of the stanchion (also left a flat area for a foam rubber gasket to help seal against rain intrusion). I also welded the hole for the original vertical screw thru the base and bonded a wedge of 'kitty hair' body putty to the shroud edge to fill the small triangle opening not covered by the smaller 100 stanchion base (visible in your picture #9949).

Attached is an assembled picture of my BT7, I'm sorry I don't have any 'work-in-progress' pictures of those details of the shroud rework.

I do agree the windshield makes a very cool look (only car in the world with a windshield like this) but back in the '60s I originally fell in love with the wind in my face - like riding a motorcycle but no helmet requirement

 

[Editor_Reid]

Hi Rob, Congratulations! I'm glad you have worked it out. I chose to rework the shroud a little by flattening the end of the raised area around the foot of the stanchions rather than grinding the base of the stanchion (also left a flat area for a foam rubber gasket to help seal against rain intrusion). I also welded the hole for the original vertical screw thru the base and bonded a wedge of 'kitty hair' body putty to the shroud edge to fill the small triangle opening not covered by the smaller 100 stanchion base (visible in your picture #9949).

Attached is an assembled picture of my BT7, I'm sorry I don't have any 'work-in-progress' pictures of those details of the shroud rework.

I do agree the windshield makes a very cool look (only car in the world with a windshield like this) but back in the '60s I originally fell in love with the wind in my face - like riding a motorcycle but no helmet requirement

Very aggressive-looking Healey! It's amazing how different the front looks with the "bonnet scoop" removed - kinda Cobra-esque. I assume you have resolved any resulting issues with engine compartment air flow.

 

[nautoncall]

@red57 Great photos. So exactly what did you do to get the base to cover the exposed space that the 100-6 base left? You bonded it and then painted over it? I still haven't decided to paint or what. I like the all aluminum for now with just the hood, doors and boot lid steel. Yes your feet probably fit better because it's not perfectly flat where the shroud and fender meet so there is a little gap and not perfectly flat. I may need to make a rubber gasket to put under the feet. Also, am I correct that just the "squeezing effect" from the fender and shroud is holding the feet in place? Seems like they would have made those at least with a hole so there was no way for them to fall out.

 

[red57]

Thanks Reid, I always preferred the smooth nose of the 100. It always seemed to me the only reason for the scoop on the 100-6 and later was so they could move the radiator forward to fit the 6. I first made a fiberglass scoopless hood in the mid '90s for my BN4 and have never had any troubles with heat (beyond any other Healey), even when racing it. For this BT7, I finally made a proper one out of steel. The only heat related issues for me is stop & go traffic - if I can keep it above 25-30mph or so, it never overheats.

In fact, I have known some to block the hood scoop to prevent incoming air from overpressuring the engine compartment. I also have installed baffles around the radiator to force the incoming air through the radiator and not around it. So, if anything the lack of scoop is actually a plus for cooling I think.

 

[red57]

Rob, So, I guess my description was poorly worded - I built up bondo on the vertical flanges of the shroud in front of the holes where the stanchions go - built up (out) far enough that the smaller 'foot' of the 100 stanchion covers the opening. I also welded closed the hole where the vertical bolt would go thru the base of the 3000 stanchion.

Yes the 'squeezing' is all that is needed - it's the way the factory did it. The only loads are down and forward, I've never had one move. I do have the notches in the shroud and fender and full thickness blade on the bottom of the foot, but as long as there is a pinch you should be good.