Cockpit Rear Window Construct

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Major System Category: Body (Shell)
Task: Finalize rear cockpit window
Parts:
Prerequisite Tasks:
Additional Costs: Set Belt restraint bar  $200
Time Requirement: 2 hour
Date Started: November 1, 2014

Date Completed:  January 11, 2015
I needed a break from the wiring problems, so I started working on parts of the car that I could finish and put aside. The rear cockpit window is such a part. One design change I made was to go with a racing 4 point restraint system rather than the Corvette 3 point system salvaged from the donor vehicle. To make that work I needed a restraint bar.

The seatbelt restraint bar.

This is a hefty piece of gear with attachment points welded for easy bolt on to the chassis.

Painted black.

I purchased a restraint bar from one of the other GTM builders on the Factory Five Forum. The restraint bar bolts through the rear cockpit window frame and directly into the chassis. It is a great design. I started on this on my final 2014 trip down south to the new build site. The build manual calls for the application of a cloth covering. I decided to just paint the frame and the restraint bar black. I had a small paint booth already established and proceeded to the paint the parts

Rear cockpit frame. I would suggest mounting this in the car, before working with it so you understand the orientation.

Painted black.

On mt next trip down, I moved all the glass to the new build site. This included the cockpit rear glass. Some people have replaced this with clear Lexan, I decided to stick with the glass. The hardest part of the installing the gasket is in the half circles on either side of the frame. I started the gasket on the straight portion of the frame and worked my way around.

Gasket tool provided with the Factory Five kit. Use it. It makes the job easier.

Gasket installed.

Factory Five provides a gasket tool. It works to a point. The trick here is to get as much of the window into the gasket as possible. I tapped the edge of the cockpit frame on the floor to drive the window further into the gasket. This got it far enough into the gasket so it seats into the gasket. A friend suggested you could uses soap to ease it into place. The gasket tool comes in handy to pull the lip of the gasket over the edge of the window. 

Rear frame, window and restraint bar. Obviously, the blue tape is there for protection. It will be removed on final assembly.

Everything bolted together.