72 FST Door Bow Question (1 Viewer)

[Guster]

Hello,

Tried searching but could not find a clear answer for my issue. I have a 72 FST that came with a hard top installed and some FST parts. I recently bought some bows and tried fitting today before sending them off for blasting and paint or powder coating. The pictures below show the passenger side with what I already had and the FST door bow. You can see the different shape at the end that is preventing the yellow bow from fitting.

The drivers side came with an extra bow because the yellow one is in bad shape. The mint green bow fits correctly while the yellow has the same problem as the passenger side.

Are the door bows different for certain years? I suppose I can easily cut to make fit but don't like cutting original parts. I'd rather find the correct part and get this to someone else. Thanks!

 

[Guster]

Looking closer at the red bows that came with the 40, it looks like they cut off the original rail for the soft top. There are little grooves in every spot there would have been a spot weld. Still weird that the yellow bows don't fit but I suppose I can either make the yellow one fit or remove the rail and weld to the red bow.

 

[Living in the Past]

Not around my bows but do not remember any type of bends in the FST door header bow. Like the door header on hard top nothing bend in or out as well as up or down. Just be until January before I'm around them again.

 

[Guster]

Nice collection of bows. I went out to the shed to dig through parts and found the rails they had cut off the original door bows. Never knew what they cut them from until now. I'm going to weld these rails back to the original bows.

 

[V8FJ4078]

I notched mine where you show they hit the windshield to fit my truck. Then I painted them.
The person before me had bent the metal so I had straightened it and then they didn't. That is when I notched them and radiused them nice.

 

[Living in the Past]

Question, does your B pillar bow have a bend onward about 1/3 of the way up above tub? There is a version made for hard doors that bend in. US version up to 73 (orange bows are off my 2/73) were straight for soft doors. Door header for soft doors the angle would be off at the windshield with a B pillar bow for hard doors. Had all my bows for years before bows were being imported are have straight B pillar bow for soft doors.

 

[Guster]

Question, does your B pillar bow have a bend onward about 1/3 of the way up above tub?

No bend on the B pillar. I don't have the hinges on my soft top doors but everything looked good when I held them up to the opening. Weird that those yellow header pieces have a different shape at the end where they meet the windshield. I think I'm good now since I found those channels that had been removed, just have to get them welded back on.