Chrome screen surround.

[Alastair Gregg]

Hello All,

I am currently looking for the above for what has ended up being a bare metal restoration on my Dads Javelin. The chrome I have looks like someone used it as a skipping rope. I know they are rare but help would be appreciated please.

[Chris Spencer]

Alastair - Not rare but exceptionally rare - They are delicate to start with but the vast majority of them have been mishandled / twisted / sprained mostly through removal by the inexperienced or by the rechoming process - I have one good one set aside for a future restoration of one of my own cars but I've probably had 20 surrounds pass through my hands that I have rejected prior to finding a good one - good luck

[Alastair Gregg]

Thanks Chris,

I think I have found a "respectable" one.

[Nick Webster]

I may be teaching you to suck eggs but they are brass and should be annealed before attempting to smooth out out any dents or bends when there is a risk cracks can occur. Ideally the chrome should be removed first so you can see the colour of the brass when heated. A chrome shop should not charge much to do this because that stage is not labour intensive like polishing. It is so thin, annealling presents problems in avoiding melting and distortion. A skilled metal worker could work wonders.

Nick

[Alastair Gregg]

Hello Nick,

It is safe to work on the basis I know little of the surround building process. But if what you and Chris say is put together maybe we should ask JCS if they could investigate. I am assuming you haven't thrown all the damaged surrounds away Chris? I still have mine we could donate to JCS they get the process Nick describes completed and charge for something that is now not rarer then hens teeth. Unless of course the cost is prohibitive.

Your thoughts please?

[David Morris]

Hi Alastair,

I also have found one for you. Not perfect, but it looks restorable?

I have the matching rear window one too, if you need it?

Do let me know if you still need either surround? They are so delicate, it might be handy to do a swap at the National Rally?

Best regards,

David

[Alastair Gregg]

Hello David,

Thanks for your response. My rear screen surround is near perfect. I believe I have found an acceptable front one. But I may call on you if its not.

Thank you

[David Morris]

Hi Alistair,

Thanks for your post. No problem! I will pop them both up in the loft and they are there if you need them.

Best regards,

David

[Chris Spencer]

I looked into getting these reproduced a few years ago and the tooling costs alone are horrific - Now there is another project on the cards that will delate the original chrome trim surround for the front screen - That project is to bring to the market a laminated windscreen for the Javelin - in doing so it will require a jig - The laminated windscreen would also dictate another and far easier method of fitting the windscreen along with a different windscreen rubber which takes a chrome type trim but is plastic - both the rubber & trim are off the shelf and fitted to a lot of 1950 onwards vehicles - Yes, used old style toughened windscreens are still available - JCS holds 30 plus of them in stock - I went through the stock of them about 18 months ago in search of a good one only find that every single one was scratched / chipped / damaged / scored by wiper marks etc (They are after all 70 + years old) - Having new laminated windscreens put into production will allow Javelin owners the opportunity to have the safety benefits, ease of fitment and will delete the original chrome trim problems along with the fact that the original windscreen is a complete nightmare to fit - The new windscreens are probably still a good 12 - 24 months away yet and is currently a work in progress but watch this space

[David Morris]

Hi Chris,

Sounds like a good idea!

I bet almost every Javelin owner has a spare toughened windscreen gathering dust in the attic! I know I have at least one!

Never tried to fit one though. From the stories I have heard, it's tricky?

All the best,

David

[Nick Webster]

I am not sure making a case for increased safety with laminated glass can be justified in classic cars which are best described as driving a calculated risk, especially those without seat belts where lamination can bring a danger all of its own.

This aside, this project sounds like a development of the type of rubber used on the Morris 1000 and some other cars. My experience of chrome effect plastic infils is that only the best - i.e. most expensive - can be expected not to tarnish after a couple of years and this alone warrants careful research.

Is this a JCS project? I hope that investment in standard screen rubbers is not neglected.

Nick

[Keith Clements]

A batch of laminated screens were made around 1990 One was fitted to the rally Javelin I recall.

[Chris Spencer]

The laminated windscreen replacement is completely justified or would you rather drive with a scratched windscreen that when the sun defects off it glares / impedes your vision or likewise oncoming vehicles headlights should you be driving at night - it would also give any owner that wished to use a Javelin in competition the benefits (The current race Javelin has to rely on perspex in order to meet race regulations) The rubber would be of the claytonwright type with the chrome infill locking strip and I appreciate the comments that these can degrade but its a locking strip and its readily changed within a few minutes for little expense. Any owner that has attempted to fit an original factory toughened glass windscreen will fully appreciate this step forward - has will any one with factory windscreen that is leaking and difficult to reseal, along with anyone that has a Javelin with a poor fitting windscreen along with a poor fitting / poor quality chrome trim or no trim at all, then anyone who has suffered a toughened glass windscreen shattering whilst driving. I'm an experienced high quality restorer, I'm all for quality & originality but I'm also strongly for reality and if areas can be improved that add a strong safety factor along with ease of fitment that are available off the shelf then it should be supported. I spent over a decade in a technical role with one of the UK's leading manufacture, supplier & installer of automotive windscreens - never have I known laminated windscreens to be of a safety risk either with or without seat belts fitted to a vehicle - I have also studied the testing & benefits of laminated windscreens vs toughened windscreens along with having attended several live vehicle impact courses to study improvements to inbuilt vehicle safety. The original windscreen rubber section is available on a endless roll and cut to length - it fits various vehicles of the era and whilst ever the manufacture has demand it will be produced.

[Nick Webster]

Woa! Chris, don't get so exited! I did not say that that I was against production of laminated windscreens, just that to make a strong safety case for production is actually pretty flimsy with vehicles that have precious little by way of other safety features. A compromise on outright safety is a decision we choose to make when choosing our classic cars and of course is an incentive to practice safe defensive driving.

Jowett car spares will have to make their own decision as to whether demand for windscreens will recover investment costs. Incidentally, I was not aware that the original windscreen rubber was common to other cars. Which ones?

Nick

[Chris Spencer]

Nick - Firstly it will take lot more than this to get me exited (try a nice classic V8 race car at 5,000 RPM and you might just peak my excitement though) - I'm pretty confident that your approach 'That we have taken an accepted or calculated risk' when taking ownership of a classic vehicle is not at the top of every classic owners list and more to the point especially when driving it - To the vast majority of owners they are simply reliving their past & enjoying their passion - Now in going back to the windscreen issue its far from a 'pretty flimsy' case for the production of laminated windscreens - I think that you will find that with the advancement of modern vehicle technology that the production of toughened glass windscreens ceased a few decades ago to the point that no new vehicle is installed with a toughened glass windscreen (Although toughened glass is still used in side & rear window fitments on the vast majority of new vehicles) - Therefore the production of a toughened glass windscreen is now impossible due to the fact that no factories are capable of production. That leaves the scenario of fitting what is available to the market via owners own used stock or JCS used stock which I can guarantee in the vast majority of cases is unusable. So do we sit on our hands and do nothing / ignore the fact that the lack of usable stock may well start to place our cars in a unusable state in our lifetimes / or find other reasons to simply build a defence to do nothing. Being the proactive type my vote goes for addressing the situation before we are forced to confine our vehicles to the garage rather than the road - I have no desire to appear conceited but I'm quietly confident that the proactive route is also the will of the vast majority of Javelin owners too.