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Tue Mar 23, 2010 2:43 pm

alright so figured I'd see how many owners of the cimbria are on here and also see if anyone had ideas for the windshield and hinges , seals etc. any tips for anyone just getting started on rebuilding one.

Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:02 pm

Windshield is gonna be a tough egg to crack....

Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:09 pm

I see the 800 windshield option I'm just hoping somebody else is as broke as me and trying to put together one of these. I have to do fiberglass work on the windshield frame as is. hopefully will start working on this car soon but I have some time to figure out as the windshield is last.

Tue Mar 23, 2010 3:24 pm

BuggyBlues, welcome! I am a Sterling owner, not quiet Cimbria, but distant cousins at least.

Like the Sterling, I'm fairly certain the Cimbria used a custom windshield, aka no donor. There is a guy in PA who is making Sterlings now, he might be able to assist. I'm sure Letterman will pipe up soon with more information to add.

http://www.sterlingsportscars.com/

Tue Mar 23, 2010 6:25 pm

:) Thanks Nic! Yep, BB has already emailed me. Don't be shy on asking questions, but as you've probably already found, there are very few parts available for these cars. Yours doubly so, as it was the intermediate version between the first incarnation and the redesigned SS a year or two later.
Hinges can be made from just about anything. Later SS's had an integral steel plate embedded into the roof panel, with hinge pin mounts welded right to it. An almost identical design was used by the Aquila, which came out right after the SS (so that's probably where they got the idea!). At all costs, don't just bolt the hinges to the fiberglass. If you have to repair the windscreen frame, go ahead and design something strong for the roof for the hinges.
Seals... look at JC Whitney at their universal stuff. It's actually pretty good - I used quite a few profiles on my old Sterling and will again on my current project!

Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:38 am

so went to the junkyard today and looked thru some cars for ideas heres what I came up with for today.

fiero headlight motor also has limit screw to control up and down 5.00
s10 door gasket looks really close to what was left on door gasket. 5.00
might have worked out a deal to trade my ghia project for chassis and 1835 engine and a/c components.

thoughts on windshield

buy a sterling windshield and pay to have cut down 800 plus shipping plus cutting to fit

start measuring and find a big windshield at junkyard and get for 50 plus cutting to fit and fiberglass accordingly.

was hoping to see some other cimbria owners photos and tips.

keeping an eye on the two sites thanks so much for the info and build manual as I printed it out today. hope to start working on car soon and will take photos as I go.

last on road 1984 (inspection sticker on windshield)

Wed Mar 24, 2010 10:49 am

Traditional windshields "can" be cut...but most places don't want to. I went through this with a Speedster I rebuilt. The windhshield would not lay right when placed in the posts. I brought it to MANY places trying to get it "cut". The issue is you have to score both sides and melt the film in the middle. If your lines are not perfectly aligned you will crack the glass.

I did find someone...finally...that could shape the glass. I would suggest that you look into that before you spend the $1000 on the windshield.

With a junkyard windshield you need to look for relative shape AND the curve of the glass. The glass can't be bent so you need to not only have the over dimensions, but the correct curve as well. A paper template won't cut it.

Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:04 am

Regarding glass, I would suggest having Sterling glass cut down for the front windshield as well as the side windows, due to similar shapes. Your headlight motor idea is great, but due to the doors being gullwings, I would suggest either making your own gaskets with JC Whitney bulk weatherstripping, http://www.jcwhitney.com , or possibly modifying Bricklin door gaskets (still available to the best of my knowledge).

I would like to see more pictures of this car, including the rear (is this a Cimbria with the De Tomaso Mangusta-style split-pane rear window, the louvered panel similar to a Sterling's or one with nothing covering the engine-cover panel?), and the interior. Many other people here would as well.

And is this going to be a build thread or just bench racing and getting ideas? Not trying to interrogate you, just curious. :)

OG

Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:30 am

Order a catalog from Steele Rubber Products - www.steelerubber.com

https://secure.steelerubber.com/catreq_frameset.html

They offer a number of factory weatherstrips for cars & trucks & the catalog has some generic/universal weatherstrips available as well - catalog even has some dimensioned seal profiles...

bnc

Wed Mar 24, 2010 11:34 am

Look at Miata headlamp lift hinge/motor assemblies as well; they are small & the motor has a knob that you can turn to manually raise/lower headlights in an emergency. And they are usually fairly inexpensive as well on Fleecepay -

For a windshield, the curvature is going to be an issue on that large of a piece of glass. Also, there are some websites in the streetrod community that show how to cut-down safety glass windshields for use on other cars.

bnc

Wed Mar 24, 2010 12:36 pm

:roll: I know I'll be beat for saying this but... regarding the windshield: order the Sterling screen and be done with it. The body modifications are minor, needing only a 1/2" lip at the bottom to rest the screen into. Trying to get a Sterling glass cut to save the effort of fiberglassing doesn't make sense to me, nor does scouring the graveyards for a piece of glass that *might* fit. Windshields for these cars have been an issue since they were made. It's always been bespoke glass for these style cars, and there is always someone who is trying to cut corners and find a junkyard car to make one. And they always wind up ordering the glass anyway.

I do like Didget's idea of Miata motors for the lights. I might have to check into that myself! But I thought, at least on these versions, that the headlight doors dropped down. But maybe that was the first gen Cimbria...

R

Wed Mar 24, 2010 7:28 pm

well my worry on the glass isn't just the cost but if it gets broken or ever need replaced as I drive my cars everywhere so if I found a cheaper alt. and prepare for it now alot less worry later. 300 400 windshield cool. I found a guy that will cut them done but doesn't have the ability to make one. I hope to make this a build thread but for now we'll call it a motivation thread :) heres a rear shot.

thanks for some ideas and links and keep them coming I frequent the junk yard here often so I was just looking around trying to get some ideas and use parts cheaper and readily available even if just for mock and buy new when I get started

Wed Mar 24, 2010 9:15 pm

buggyblues wrote: well my worry on the glass isn't just the cost but if it gets broken or ever need replaced as I drive my cars everywhere so if I found a cheaper alt. and prepare for it now alot less worry later. 300 400 windshield cool. I found a guy that will cut them done but doesn't have the ability to make one. I hope to make this a build thread but for now we'll call it a motivation thread :) heres a rear shot.

thanks for some ideas and links and keep them coming I frequent the junk yard here often so I was just looking around trying to get some ideas and use parts cheaper and readily available even if just for mock and buy new when I get started

Looks like the Mangusta-style rear panel... the most attractive of all IMHO. Get some glass or plexi cut to fit the two larger openings and some black metal mesh screen material for the lower ones and paint the area under it, including the engine cover, crinkle-finish flat black, it'll definitely give it the exotic look and feel that this style deserves. This type of rear panel has a timeless beauty to it, methinks, whereas the Sterling-type louvers are extremely dated unless you want a total 70s look, and nothing at all over the engine cover looks unfinished. 8)

OG

Thu Mar 25, 2010 8:15 am

Mesh is a good idea for the lower sections of that panel. One of the reasons that hatch was phased out was that it cooked the engine due to next to zero airflow.
Your windshield...all I can say is keep us posted. There are a lot of guys out there with the same predicament. But really...$800 is too much? Insurance will cover a busted screen. Keep in mind some of the "regular" cars on the road today have windshields far and above that number - and they aren't all foreign cars!

Fri Apr 02, 2010 6:34 pm

Go to www.nationalsterling.org. Look under MARKETPLACE. There are some postings regarding putting a Sterling windshield in a Cimbria by Keith Klein (that is me). Then go to OWNERS, and under the Cimbria section, click on Keith Klein. There are 2 pictures of the windshield, particularly the lip that had to be built. That is a Sterling windshield in my Cimbria. The modifications were not difficult, and I now have a windshield that, while not cheap, is at least available. If you want specifics on what I did to make the conversion work, you can e-mail me at [email protected].

Sun Sep 26, 2010 8:27 pm

Buggy Blues I bought a 1989 Cimbria SS from Palumbo himself in Wisconsin. I have started and stopped the assembly many times. My plan was to use a Mazda RX7 engine..I have two RX7 engines but there is too much trouble with their setup. All the extras that the engines need to make them run. I am changing to a small block ford. Amore cars went bankrupt and I never received the windshield. SUCKS. That is the major reason I stopped working on it. I do have the original assembly book which has plans for numerous parts fabrication. I could copy them and send them to you if you would like.

Sun Sep 26, 2010 9:44 pm

It isn't as hard to cut windsheild glass as it seems.

Mask off the good parts of the window glass with sticky sided bituthene leaving the area to be removed uncovered. Fire up a sand blaster and blast the glass along the line to be cut.

You'll have to blast both sides of the glass and then cut the plastic in between with a razor knife.

I got this tip from Bugformance in Stockton. One of the guys working there chopped his own beetle roof and cut the glass to fit by himself.

Mon Sep 27, 2010 10:07 pm

It's not mine, but it looks like it has the windshield:

http://allentown.craigslist.org/cto/1975722154.html

Tue Oct 18, 2011 2:22 am

Hi everyone. I have an intact Cimbria windshield that molds are being made from by a very reputable company. New windshields will be available in January; hopefully sooner. These will be laminated, safety glass, with the exact curvature, cut, and size as the original windshield they are being molded from. If anyone is interested in having an actual Cimbria or Cimbria SS windshield for their car, please respond to me at [email protected].

Thanks.

Fuzz

Tue Oct 18, 2011 6:09 am

I have a question on those tail lights. What car did they originally come from?