Vinyl roof gutter trim

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HenrikI
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:45 pm
Car(s): Ford Capri Mk3

Vinyl roof gutter trim

Post by HenrikI »

Hi Folks,

I have a question for all of you, who have a mk3 with a vinyl roof. My friend is looking for the "rain channel/roof gutter" trim. We have tried the same part that eastkentsupplies sells. (http://www.eastkenttrimsupplies.com/roo ... 2x14883012)
But we've had no luck fitting the trim to the car. specifically the very last bend.
How have you guy's fittet the trim ? - Or what else have you done ?

Hope that you can help.

Regards,
Henrik
Lord Flasheart
Posts: 356
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 6:19 pm
Car(s): 3.0 Ghia

Re: Vinyl roof gutter trim

Post by Lord Flasheart »

In all of the nut & bolt restoration of my car, fitting these East Kent gutter trims to my Vinyl roof channels was the biggest bastard of a job of the all the work that was carried out.

We cut small lengths, formed & shaped them to do the rear end pieces as there is no way they will form all of the rear "C" shape in one go. The rest is made up of one piece running from the front of the car to as far round the "C" shape at the rear as you can get it.

It took many hours to get this right so Good luck ;)
HenrikI
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:45 pm
Car(s): Ford Capri Mk3

Re: Vinyl roof gutter trim

Post by HenrikI »

Thank you for your reply. luckly it's not me who have to do the work :xd:
Do you perhaps have a picture of your work ?..
Lord Flasheart
Posts: 356
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 6:19 pm
Car(s): 3.0 Ghia

Re: Vinyl roof gutter trim

Post by Lord Flasheart »

I'll have a look at work tomorrow, most of my resto photo's are on my work pc
Lord Flasheart
Posts: 356
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 6:19 pm
Car(s): 3.0 Ghia

Re: Vinyl roof gutter trim

Post by Lord Flasheart »

Found some pictures at work. If you want them PM me your e-mail address & I will e-mail them tomorrow ;)
Lord Flasheart
Posts: 356
Joined: Mon Feb 20, 2017 6:19 pm
Car(s): 3.0 Ghia

Re: Vinyl roof gutter trim

Post by Lord Flasheart »

Photo's sent ;)
HenrikI
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon Oct 29, 2018 3:45 pm
Car(s): Ford Capri Mk3

Re: Vinyl roof gutter trim

Post by HenrikI »

Thanks Lord,

If anyone else has the magic trick or any other input, they are welcome to let me know :D

- Henrik
slybynight
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2019 3:21 pm
Car(s): MkII 3.0

Re: Vinyl roof gutter trim

Post by slybynight »

Hi guys

First post here, but I'm hoping to make a big entrance.

I have solved the Capri II & III roof gutter trim bending problem!

No kinks, no cuts, no cracks and no ripples, just one nice smooth curve right through the full "rear-C" and all the way up to the front in one piece. I have just done 1 and will be doing the other side soon. I am not going to lie, this was a nightmare!! It has taken me the best part of 2 weeks to develop techniques and build jig, but once you are set up you can knock one out in about an afternoon.

You will need:

A custom made roller jig with a machined wheel (to match contour of trim) mounted on a bearing. (I machined mine on a lathe)
Household electric heater - Heat gun too much and hairdryer not enough. Hot water is useless.
8 lengths of 1.5mm steel wire about a foot long and very straight. Uninsulated - though a very thin plastic coating will be OK
Insulating tape.
Gaffa tape.
About 18" of coax wire. - grey stuff - just the right size to snap into the inside of the trim.

Here's how it's done.

Your trim will arrive as a coil, hopefully with no sharp bends.
We are starting from the rear of the car, getting the tricky bend out of the way first, that way if it goes wrong, you should have enough for 1 more try!
First identify which side you are doing and orientate the coil accordingly. There are thin and wide surfaces on the top side trim. the thinner side goes on the inside of the curve.
Uncoil about 18 inches from the correct end of the coil, keep the rest coiled for the time being with some strips of insulating tape - its much easier to handle as a coil.
You need to make this 18" section perfectly straight before attempting the bend.
Warm the trim up about 6" at a time - This is all about temp. - too cold and the plastic outer laminate will crack. too hot and it will bend too much and weaken, FAR too hot and it will go like red hot wet pasta and out of shape really quickly (ruined - no coming back from that)!
With the contoured wheel of the jig up inside the inner groove, grab the trim with a hand either side of the warm bit and roll back and forth over the wheel while pulling apart slightly. You are aiming to stretch the outer surfaces.
Take your time, check, bit more heat, bit more rolling, check again....
Nice and straight? on the the fun bit..
Press your length of Coax into the inside of the trim. This will provide support to the inner walls to stop them kinking during the big bend.
Now take one of your 8 straight 1' wire lengths. Lay it on the valley between the Coax and the trim on the INSIDE of the bend - probably best to leave a couple of inches of trim at the end.
Lay the other 7 right next to each other until the entire INSIDE of the intended bend has wires running down its length. The last one should go over the top ridge on the upper surface. The wires will support the outside walls on the inside of the bend and stop them kinking.
You can hold this whole assembly in your fist while you..
Spiral insulating tape all the way down - Holding the wires in place and checking they don't move position as you go..
Then do the same with Gaffa tape over the top of the insulating tape - cover all 12 " of the bend area.

Now put it somewhere warm and say a looong prayer....

Take your taped up bundle and bend freehand (check orientation on last time) about a 1.5 " radius.
You are going to bend all the way through BEYOND 180 degrees - Aim to get the ends touching and then some! It should relax back to 180 degrees.
Try to stop the bundle from twisting as you bend - that why we flattened it.
You should now have something that looks like an umbrella handle.
Remove tape, wires and coax. Notice how Trim relaxes back to about 120 degrees.
You will almost certainly have some level of twist which will have the effect of lifting the trim away from the car during the curve.
Correct the twist by running through the jig- same as when you were flattening it before but round a corner this time.
You will lose even more bend during this process but you must end up with about 90 degrees
Test fit onto the car.
Rewire, tape, bend and flatten a second time if needed
If all OK, extend another 18" from the coil, press the coax in again and "work in" the much more gentle curve above the rear window by hand using the heater. Go slow, be gentle - this bend does not relax as much so don't overdo it.
Offer it all up, mark where you are going to cut with your dremel.
Use the heating + Jig again to work in the slight negative bend at the very front.
Knurl the ends over some of the coax using very high heat - just on the tips.
All done

This should work for any of this type of trim for any shape - during testing, I got a ridonculous 90 degree bend with a radius of about 1/2 an inch with no kinks.

With hindsight, this might be possible using a heat gun and something to heat-shield the vinyl roof. - But I lacked the heat gun and the guts. If anyone tries it let me know.
If anyone wants me to do all the above, for them, then also drop me a line - I'm sure we can come to some arrangement 😉

I will try and get some photos up if I can work out how to.

Happy bending!!!
slybynight
Posts: 6
Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2019 3:21 pm
Car(s): MkII 3.0

Re: Vinyl roof gutter trim

Post by slybynight »

Replace the word "Coax" in previous post with "2 core flat wire"
Image
atomic4
Posts: 1077
Joined: Tue Aug 26, 2008 7:38 pm
Car(s): Ford Capri V8 Twin turbo.
W reg black 3ltr S
Location: Melbourne Australia

Re: Vinyl roof gutter trim

Post by atomic4 »

A very comprehensive and detailed description.

Nice one. :cool:
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