SilverHorse-----Racing

They aren't - they are slightly recessed, like OE.

There's the issue - you can literally squeeze the seal out just like a tube of toothpaste, and once it has made contact all the way around, any real pressure is just going to squish it out. The pins really wouldn't change that, but there are spacer blocks the factory uses (or attempts to from what I've seen) that try to alleviate this. The pins just keep the glass from "drooping" until the seal sets up - the spacer blocks attempt to keep it at a consistent height - but seem to not do much good from what I've seen.

More keep in place during drying, but the problem with the pegs is unless you have them installed by a robot, the piece to piece consistency is not there, and then the louver is also "stuck" in one spot - there is no adjustment room - hence why replacement OE glass (which I have laying around just because ) does not have the pins on it.

Yes, but where do you put them is the problem.... miss the location by .010", and you can't fix that when you lay them in place, as they will hold the window in whatever position they are vertically - add the normal "stacking" of variances, and you can see why we didn't just mold the pins into the part. - it's also a weight thing - within a few minutes of being in place, there's no worry about the louver falling out. The same can't be said for the glass, simply due to weight, and why the pins are there, during line assembly.

Well thank you. And please understand, I am taking everything you say (as well as our other customers) very seriously (why else would I be here on Sunday morning...) - it's just that sometimes there are reasons why we do and do not do things, and unless needed, I really don't go through every design detail. But I'm happy to hash out why we do things like we do, and while our product isn't changing, I've already made some tweaks to the installation directions, and plan on making more to help customers get the best result possible. It's hard when you've done the job a bunch of times to think of all the little "tweaks" you use to put down on paper - plus initially, it seemed like everyone was going to take this in to have done, and now that others are trying the installation, more will want to, hence the directions have to get more detailed, instead of just "overview" in nature.

SilverHorse-----Racing

Machine, BTW - the reason for going from the outside with the paint is that many of the pieces get "flow" marks in the opaque areas that show through if painted from the back, and only black can work from the back - every other color gets "distorted" coming through and would not look right.

As to weathering, they should hold up at least as good as headlights - but better due to the tint used in the color (it's there to aid in UV stabilization as well as for appearance.)

Machine

Marcello,

Of all the people I've bought parts from (and I've bought lots of parts from lots of diff folks), you produce one of the highest quality products, and provide the most intensive involvement/feedback/discussion from your customers. I have absolutely ZERO complaints about my louvers.

My only purpose was to give those who purchase them an accurate idea of what to expect. I would hate to think someone be unjustifiably dissapointed and be discouraged from buying from you again.

I've got your catalog flier in a file, your website in my Favorties, and your phone number in my speed-dial now that I've gotten a taste of Silver Horse Racing products. If I hadnt promised my wife I'd STOP buying stuff for my car, I'd be placing another order as we speak.

But trust me...I'm working on it.

SilverHorse-----Racing

Machine, it's all good - like I said, I'm happy to go through these things especially during the release phase, and your comments, as well as other DIY'ers out there will be incorporated into the instructions as we go forward to help others, just like how in the beginning of it all, we took feedback from a lot of potential customers before finalizing our product's design. I honestly think that if someone wanted to go 100% flush it can be done, but it was always our intention for the fit to equal the OE, which is slightly recessed to catch the "fold in" radius around the edge and not end up catching the airstream on the leading edge.

I was not trying to be argumentative, and was trying to point out things from this side of the fence as well WRT to why we do or do not do certain things and how / why the fit is what it is. Let me tell you that even though I have to go work today, this is a dream job, one that is only possible because of people like you - and I make it a point not to forget that.

So there are no worries on this end - and no problems rationally discussing any concerns / questions anyone may have.

RedDragon777

all i can say is Ford knows how to seal a window, Machine's windows were hard to take off, we even busted the cutting wire trying to take the window off, but after that it was a brezze for everything else

Redfireshaker06

Well if Marcello didn't take 400+mb of photos, we would have been done 1-2 hours sooner. lol. J/K. Anyways, I took the tint off today and cleaned off the adhesive. Put the interior back together. The things looks a lot better from the inside with the interior in. It was harder to put back together than it was to take it apart. I am in the process of detailing the car. I just polished it, I still have to glaze and seal before the day is over. **** this is a lot of work.

Machine

I feel your pain...I got my interior back together eysterday, but I am in deesperate need of wash and wax...

ford4v429

I like it

gotta get back to the garage, just had to share some pics

Redfireshaker06

Very nice, **** you can fit 2 cars in your garage one behind the other. I'm jealous

ford4v429

Thanks-we just got it done- 40x40, 11' walls ,and theres a 3 car attached already to the house- too broke to insulate and drywall the new one yet, so its cold as heck out there! found out that you cannot push the seal tool thru cold adhesive- at 30~40 degrees was like a rock...moved the heater closer and let the garage/car warm up, went thru like butter...

thanks again to marcello! will try to get some pics in daylight if I can dig out enough snow- hoping the color match aint horrible, can never tell till you see it in sunlight... I'll be the first to admit I'm, no painter (I painted my camaro long ago and sagged/ran the clear all over- suprisingly it blocked down and looked great- deltron is very 'newbie friendly' for fixing mistakes) did get some-quite a few- specks of dust in the paint, but give the clearcoat a few days to harden, they should polish out OK.

SilverHorse-----Racing

That's typical - has been that way for 30+ years that I know for... Luckily the wire is inexpensive, and if you burn it or hook it and it breaks, its just the time lost to loop another piece in.

You should try a big sloping windshield in a full size truck where you can't reach the middle of it!

LEO_06GT

So far the pics I've seen the colormatch seems to be off. Were the TR and VB painted by SHR??? Has anyone with a black stang installed a painted version yet???

SilverHorse-----Racing

No, none of ours have gone out yet - but the real thing I think you're seeing is the way a camera tends to catch light from the metallic colors - the laydown of the flake, the angle of the part vs. surrounding sheet metal angles, etc... all play into what you're seeing. We looked at the louvers on the red car for a bit, and in some light it's perfect, and in others it looks deeper, but it's just the way the metallics tend to go. Short of painting them on the car and dusting in the quarter panel, I think metallics will be susceptible to this. Also, you're looking at paint that isn't even days old at this point on cars that have months (and maybe even a year or two) on them already. That's a lot of catching up to do and will require some time in the sun to level out.

Also, I have to go set up a photo gallery of the red car - and in a lot of the shots the color is spot on. In a few others, it is darker. I think in solid colors this is not a problem since the solids don't have to have some amount of translucency to them like the metallics and therefore don't flip and fade as quickly. The red car in question, close up every piece that has been added is a different shade - all the same color, just the way they were applied...

Machine

I came to a dreadful realization today...something Marcello warned me about...

If you dont paint the exterior you can see the adhesive bead pretty clearly. I guess I didnt see it until it cured and hardened.

Long story short: I removed them and painted the exterior as well.

SilverHorse-----Racing

Ah, while I can feel for you, I do have a very important question...

How did the removal of the louver go? Did it get damaged removing it, or did it come out relatively well without any damage to the edge? While it may be a very strong material, I know that the cutting wire can make a mess of the resin, so hence my question. All of our prototypes / pre-production parts were held in with 3M tape, so it was easy to get them back out without damage.

BTW - time to update your sig You've got the mac-daddy of new exterior upgrades to add to it !!

ford4v429

I was wondering about that too...the louvers on the inside alone would make pushing the wire thru very difficult, plus the lexan edge...a painted set would surely be destroyed unless some kind of 'wear edge' could be slipped over it, but I doubt that would be possible...

I was kinda worried about the adhesive drying time, but that stuff appears to set up pretty darn quick- I still have tape holding mine 'up', but about 1/2~1 hr after doing the passenger side it seemed solid already- I'll still wait to remove all the tape tomorrow though...about bedtime here, but think I'll run back out for one more look

ford4v429

yep- drivers side set up too...must be about an hour or two to set up pretty firm(still leaving taped overnight).
cant wait to see it out in the sun- err, snow...

Machine

Apparently, the bead was so thick that the middle hadnt cured completely, so a little bit of direct heat, and it was fairly easy to pop them out with a little bit of pressure. I just cleaned up the back surfaces on the louvers, and reapplied the adhesive after the paint dried.

ford4v429

couple pics in overcast daylight...

ford4v429

and a couple more...thanks again Marcello- I LOVE the way these look- Ford REALLY needs to offer these from the factory - I hope you sell a million sets of them- a few hundred thousand anyway