WINDSHIELD FRAME FOR '31-'34 Royales
At the July, 2013 Reo Club of America Meet in Geneva, NY I hosted a forum on the topic of 'Rotting Windshield and What To do About It'. I could hardly get anyone to pay attention. I plan on hosting this forum again at the 2019 REO Meet in Kerrville , Texas.
After replating a beautiful looking original windshield frame TWICE only to have rust bubbles appear on the outside surface TWICE within 6 months of the frames being replated , I began investigating what the problem might be. I eliminated the idea that the chrome shop was doing something wrong because I used two different chrome shops with the same dismal results!
The windshield frame is not a single piece of metal machined out. It is a piece of metal pressed together into a "H" design, with a grove in the upper part for the glass and a grove in the lower (or outside) part which is a channel for the water to escape and for a windshield rubber molding. In the middle of the two, the glass channel and the water channel, there is a 1/4" x 1/2" hollow area.
MY CONCLUSION: It is my conclusion, confirmed by my two chrome shops after a forensic examination examination of a cross section of my failed windshield frame that when the frame was plated in the early 1930s and each time it has since been plated, during the plating process ACID WAS TRAPPED IN THAT HOLLOW AREA! After time, the windshield frame is rotting from the inside out!. I think in time, all of these frames will give trouble. Three of my four 'finished' Royales have shown signs of this problem.
SOLUTION: The folks at N/C Industries Antique Auto Parts, 301 South Thomas Ave, P O Box 254, Sayre, PA 18840, (570)888-6216 can reproduce a windshield frame which is nearly identical to the original Royale windshield frame. The current cost is $685 for the unplated frame. For an additional $700 they will chrome the windshield frame and mount the glass. I have done it both ways with them, both the unplated product and the turnkey finished product...both with satisfactory results. I prefer dealing with Kevin! Currently they are taking orders for April, 2019 delivery.
MAKE NOTE OF THIS: The little molding that fits between the two halves of the windshield frame and covers the gap IS NOT INCLUDED. Someone needs to have these little pieces reproduced......HINT....HINT......HINT
I have had them lost at the platters and the frame just doesn't look finished without those little moldings.
What I have also discovered is that no two Royale windshield frames are exactly the same. The glass from one frame will not fit another frame! They all fit nicely within the indented area of the Murray body, and they all attach to the screws in the side windshield pillar (one screw in each side), but the clearances top and bottom, side to side are all a little different. Also, a frame from a sedan, victoria, or coupe will not work on a convertible because of the mounting screws on the top side of the frame (which are not on the convertible frame) and the convertible's windshield wiper attaches directly to the windshield frame.
