Rumble seat/ rear glass question?

[Dbolter]

Hello,  I have a 1938 Chrysler with a rumble seat and roll down rear window. {going into the trunk area} The rear window regulator that rolls down the glass has a stop in it that leaves the glass sticking up about 3~4 inches above the bottom of the window channel when it's all the way down.  So my question is does your rear roll down window do the same, or roll down out of sight?

I took mine apart drilled out the stop and made a new one so it can roll down that extra few inches because it bugged me sticking up.

 

Thanks For any replies ~d.b.o.l.t.

 

[Dbolter]

[JohnS48plm]

My dad always said the roll down window was so you could pass beer to your friend in the rumble seat.

[John Reddie]

That car is rare. As I recall, the company made many more trunk style coupes than rumble seat ones. Could you maybe post some more photos of the car, I'd love to see it. Thanks.

John R

[John Reddie]

Here is a photo of a friend of mine's '37 Dodge coupe. It was originally a business coupe with a full trunk but he fabricated a rumble seat into it instead. It looks factory installed - a fantastic job.

John R

 

[Jerry Roberts]

On 3/7/2018 at 1:43 PM, Dbolter said:

  ... I took mine apart drilled out the stop and made a new one so it can roll down that extra few inches because it bugged me sticking up. ...

 I did the exact same thing , only mine were on the door windows of my truck . 

[Dbolter]

[Dbolter]

[Dbolter]

Here are a few more photos...

 

So anyone else out there with a rear roll down window?

[T120]

The rear window in my 1936 Desoto RS coupe also does not open completely out of sight.

Edited March 9, 2018 by T120

[Dbolter]

Thanks for the reply.  You never know what mods previous owners have made over the last 80 years.....

[Dbolter]

21 hours ago, JohnS48plm said:

My dad always said the roll down window was so you could pass beer to your friend in the rumble seat.

HA!  we keep the Beer in the rumble seat and the passengers pass it up to us....

[John Reddie]

 Great looking car. Thanks for posting the pics.

John R

[John Reddie]

16 hours ago, T120 said:

The rear window in my 1936 Desoto RS coupe also does not open completely out of sight.

Another super rare gem. Could you post a few photos of this? Thanks.

John R

[T120]

On 3/9/2018 at 10:37 AM, John Reddie said:

Another super rare gem. Could you post a few photos of this? Thanks.

John R

       Plenty of room to pass beverages both ways. 

 

Edited December 2, 2019 by T120
Removed attachment

[DonaldSmith]

I wonder why the rear windows of a rumble seat car would not retract fully, but Dblter was able to make his window retract fully.  Did he rework the channel under the glass that catches the water that gets past the weatherstripiing? 

 

Mercury for 1967 and 1968 1957 and 1958 had a Turnpike Cruiser, modeled after a dream car of the same name, with a retractable rear window.  These and later "breezeway" models started out with a reverse-slanting window that retracted fully, albiet with fixed glass segments beside the retractable pane.  My dad's 1967 Mercury, which I bought from him, had a conventially sloped rear window with a full width pane that retracted just  a few inches.  Good enough to suck sun-heated air out of the cabin, but otherwise much ado about nothing.   

 

The Mercury had a channel below the glass to catch water leaking in, and drain hoses to the bottom of each fender, where drain holes would continue the process - except if the drain holes got plugged by trash or whatever.  Before final rust-through, I discoverd ponds of water slushing around at the bottom of each fender.  Not good.

 

A caution to you rumble seat people:  Make sure the drainage system works properly. 

Edited March 9, 2018 by DonaldSmith
correction

[T120]

2 hours ago, DonaldSmith said:

I wonder why the rear windows of a rumble seat car would not retract fully, but Dblter was able to make his window retract fully.  Did he rework the channel under the glass that catches the water that gets past the weatherstripiing? 

 

Mercury for 1967 and 1968 had a Turnpike Cruiser, modeled after a dream car of the same name, with a retractable rear window.  These and later "breezeway" models started out with a reverse-slanting window that retracted fully, albiet with fixed glass segments beside the retractable pane.  My dad's 1967 Mercury, which I bought from him, had a conventially sloped rear window with a full width pane that retracted just  a few inches.  Good enough to suck sun-heated air out of the cabin, but otherwise much ado about nothing.   

 

The Mercury had a channel below the glass to catch water leaking in, and drain hoses to the bottom of each fender, where drain holes would continue the process - except if the drain holes got plugged by trash or whatever.  Before final rust-through, I discoverd ponds of water slushing around at the bottom of each fender.  Not good.

 

A caution to you rumble seat people:  Make sure the drainage system works properly. 

You have raised a good point, Donald. There is indeed an enclosed tray that the window rolls down into, with a drain hose on the passenger side. You may notice in the photo that the tray has a slight slope in that direction...

[Dbolter]

wow thanks for pointing out the window drainage! I never would have thought of that on my own without driving through a rain storm at least.....

My car is missing the tray/ drain hose....    If anybody has one in their parts pile I would be interested in purchasing...

Many Thanks for the replies! Very helpful.  ~d.b.o.l.t.

[T120]

In the 1936 parts manual I have, it is called a "rear window drain trough". Probably it would be difficult to find this part for your car and you will have to fabricate one. That is a very nice car you have.

[HughForrest]

Leaving aside the openable rear window- 'cause I don't have that- is there drainage for the mini-trough that the edge of the rumble lid closes into? I couldn't think of a way to weatherstrip around the rumble lid that won't leak.