Windscreen angles and soft top

hi all....I’ve got a dammed annoying problem....I’ve just got a pair of new door tops for my 76 III, up til now I’ve run it without door tops ( we lived in the Canaries until April) now the difficulty is the door tops won’t close right and it looks like the screen is too far back by a fraction...is there much chance of making a fine adjustment to the screen angle? I’ve not ever worked much with a screen, although I did have this one flat for a while then put it back up when I attached a Exmoor frame for the soft top....have taken the front bit of the hood frame off and will have a go at aligning it right tomorrow, any tips appreciated! Thanks!

to alter the screen angle you need to adjust the bulkhead

I thought it was with the bolts at each side? In the cab I mean

does you screen have the hinges and the brackets that bolt it down?

On mine i did the bolts down to tight (they run parallel to the screen) and it made the top edge out by a bit enough to catch the door, i eased them off eased off all the bits that hold the soft top up (hoops, above door bits etc) and got it all in position then bolted the soft top bits up tight then jsut snugged down the screen. Now all works but its damn close on the passenger side but i am not faffing with the bulkhead lol

That sounds like exactly what’s wrong with mine. Mine has hinges and brackets and the little square washers! I’m pretty sure I screwed them up,tight when I put the screen back up. Reckon that’s a plan. Thanks Flat!

Fatrover said:

That sounds like exactly what’s wrong with mine. Mine has hinges and brackets and the little square washers! I’m pretty sure I screwed them up,tight when I put the screen back up. Reckon that’s a plan. Thanks Flat!

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Give it a try, your bulkhead could still be out thougj

Adjusting the bulkhead if it is needed is not an enormous job. just loosen the bolts on the support plats bolted to the chassis rails and then tilt the bulkhead and re-tighten them. It will only need to move a fraction to make a large difference at the top of the screen.

After an afternoon with the spanners it looks like everything that could be out is out. I managed to adjust the rake on the screen a bit, so that clears the door tops but now, with the door tops on the doors won’t shut....shut fine wit the tops off. Think it’s the body shop next cos I’m beat and Mrs Fatrover won’t like it in the winter with no tops on!

Fatrover said:

After an afternoon with the spanners it looks like everything that could be out is out. I managed to adjust the rake on the screen a bit, so that clears the door tops but now, with the door tops on the doors won’t shut....shut fine wit the tops off. Think it’s the body shop next cos I’m beat and Mrs Fatrover won’t like it in the winter with no tops on!

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have you slackened bulkhead hinge screws and tried adjusting door angle

I loosened them at the door end and got a bit of play at the (door end )of the hinges, has made a difference, haven’t tried the bulkhead hinge screws as they look well seized and I think the heads might strip easily....would you get much of an angle change at the bulkhead then?

Why do they not close? Is the door tip hitting before the rest of the door is closed? If so do not be afraid to use a bit of force to bend and twist the door top and bottom to get it to close. This was done on the production line somis nothing new!

Yes that’s it, the door tops catching on the soft top frame at the top, as it were...I am sure I’d shatter the glass if I tried bending them....it’s nearly there, I’ve had the frame off and adjusted it right out to its max,it’s an Exmoor, so am confident in its construction....hmmmm

don't be too ham fisted with the screen, it isn't that hard to break the panels, don't ask me how I know

I thought that. Think I might have to admit defeat....

Fatrover said:

Yes that’s it, the door tops catching on the soft top frame at the top, as it were...I am sure I’d shatter the glass if I tried bending them....it’s nearly there, I’ve had the frame off and adjusted it right out to its max,it’s an Exmoor, so am confident in its construction....hmmmm

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Bend the whole of the frame out, not just the top of the frame. Hold the top with one hand and press against where the doortop joins the bottom with the other. You will be surprised how little force it takes to adjust the angle of it. The glass should be perfectly safe as you are not bending that the frame itself, rather the join with the door bottom.

Ok, I almost tried that yesterday...if the door top came out a small way, that would do it I think.

Fatrover said:

I loosened them at the door end and got a bit of play at the (door end )of the hinges, has made a difference, haven’t tried the bulkhead hinge screws as they look well seized and I think the heads might strip easily....would you get much of an angle change at the bulkhead then?

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theres a lot of movement to alter angle of door ie if door latch is too low or high or gap at bulkhead isnt equal top to bottom, hinge were it joins door can be shimmed to alter angle if top or bottom of door slope in or out, rear sides can be adjusted by slackening the side to roof bolts,obviously you cant do the last adjustment on a soft top

My small brain is trying to work out whether sticking a couple of shims under the hinge to bulkhead part would take the door out a bit....or maybe it would be more straightforward to shim the door hinge on the door but I think that would push it in?....aaahhh I don’t know

Fatrover said:

My small brain is trying to work out whether sticking a couple of shims under the hinge to bulkhead part would take the door out a bit....or maybe it would be more straightforward to shim the door hinge on the door but I think that would push it in?....aaahhh I don’t know

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put some pics up it might be easier to for people to advise

Right I’ll go out in a minute and get some when the rains off