Printed in The American Tri-Five magazine in Volume 9 : Issue 8

Glass upgrades are a great way to make your car look better. With the install of the glass comes the replacement of your Fur Channel Kits. While the instructions of those kits are great for the placement and pre-bent channels, the installation of Moleskin or Mohair Channel Liner used in the front doors and rear quarters of hardtops, Nomads and convertibles is not part of the instructions. We will cover the proper installation of Moleskin this issue.

We are using the rear channels from a convertible, but the procedures are the same if you are working on the uppers and lowers in a hardtop or the rear channel inside the doors on a hardtop, Nomad or convertible. Be sure to pay attention to the installation instructions that come with your fur channel kit for anything that may be model specific. Also, the upper sections of a hardtop are not actually replaced with Moleskin…but the installation is similar.

TOOLS NEEDED:

• Workbench

• Fur Channel Kit

• Moleskin or supplies from Fur Channel Kit

• 3M Contact Cement

• Disposable Paint Brush

• Single Edge Razor Blade

• Front or Rear window installed in it’s frame

We will assume that you have already removed the channels you will be working on from the car and have bead blasted or cleaned them up, checked for problems and painted them. When you are cleaning your channels be sure to get all the old glue and material out of the inside of the channel or you may have problems later. Remember to chase all screw holes with a tap after painting to assure the screws won’t bind when you reassemble the channels in the car.

Lay your channel out on the bench and unroll or unfold your moleskin.

Lay your moleskin out next to the channel and cut to length leaving a little over on each end.

We will trim it once installed. We are using material from a roll which needs to be cut to length. If you are using the material that came in one of the fur channel kits your material may already be the correct length.

Once you have cut your material you will fold it in half and work it into the channel.

When it is fitted, loosely, take the window and fit it into the channel.

At this point you are checking to be sure you don’t have to adjust the channel itself. If someone pinched the ends of the channel together when the old material in the channel started to wear out to stop a rattle you need to fix this before you install the new material. Once you are satisfied with the fit of the window frame in the channel (it should be snug but not tight and the frame should slide easily in the channel without binding) .

Using your disposable paint brush (we had to trim our paint brush to fit in the can) paint the contact cement into the channel making sure you cover the sides and the bottom of the channel evenly.

Set the channel aside and cover the back of the mohair with contact cement. Let the channel and mohair dry a bit to get the contact cement tacky.

Like before, carefully fold the mohair in half and push it into the channel making sure it goes in evenly.

With a wooden paint stick, starting from the center push the mohair into the channel until it bottoms. Then work the paint stick into the channel starting from the inside and working toward the sides. You are forming the mohair into the channel at this point. Continue working the mohair into the channel with the paint stick until the mohair conforms perfectly to the inside of the channel with the inside corners nice and sharp. The ends of the mohair will be hanging up over the ends of the channel.

When you have the mohair formed perfectly take your single edged razor blade and trim away the excess mohair. Take your time and trim slowly.

That’s it. Your newly rebuilt channels are now ready to provide many years of service.

Whether you're looking to install a new set of glass, or upgrade your suspension, Woody's Hot Rodz is now doing service in their shop in Bright, Indiana, which also is the headquarters for the American Tri-Five Association.

We know that there is plenty of upgrades in the aftermarket that not only help your car perform better, but allows you to cruise safer. With half a dozen cars already through our Highway Series shop work, we are helping members of the American Tri-Five Association get their Tri-Five(s) on the road with a full list of upgrades and installs including: