Installing windshield

[Chuck Moreland]

Trying to get the rubber and trim onto the windshield.

According to 101 projects, put the rubber on the windshield first then install the aluminum trim. Quote " this is not an easy task". You can say that again.

What are the tricks to getting the metal in place?

[Glasgow 911SC]

The only trick I know is use new aluminium trim. Kinks can be a nightmare to work with. Apart from that you could get (pay) someone else to do it. Sorry, not much help.

[Rot 911]

DTW wrote this in a previous thread. Hope it helps:
Just thought I'd boost the tech content and report on my experiences this weekend doing a 911 windshield install for the first time.

It actually was very straightforward and easy, but there are a few things you must do in preparation to ensure an easy job.

-When removing the old seal, cut a "V" in the gasket first so that the aluminum trim pieces just lift out, with absolute zero stress placed on the trim. The "V" is two cuts all the way around the gasket, on either side of the trim, that meet each other under the trim. Then the trim is easy to take out. Exercise extreme care in handling the trim. Don't bend it. No no no no no no.

-When installing the glass into the gasket, use some superlube or vaseline, same goes for the trim pieces. Make sure to install the trim pieces into the gasket before trying to install the windshield in the car. Carefully line them up and then press them in bit-by-bit with the base of your palm. The trim pieces should fit snugly all around and in the corners especially. They will serve to tension the gasket up around the windshield.

-I would recommend that you NOT use any lube in the gasket for installing it in the car. This could play hell with any adhesives that are needed after installation to fill trouble spots in the install.

-Use heavy twine or cord to do the install; cross the ends of the twine at the top center of the windshield and begin there. Pull BOTH ends of the twine to get the gasket started, it will pop into place then you can go halfway around with one end, then meet it with the other end. Exercise care when going around dash vents with the twine- you're going to be pulling on the twine with a great deal of force.

-Last word on factory using adhesives: (?) we just pulled an original windshield from a '78 Turbo with 50,000 miles. There was a great deal of adhesive material in the windshield channel, especially in the corners. We had no reason to believe this was not a factory install.

Hope this helps some of you thinking of doing this install-

[plain fan]

Working on this myself this weekend.

Kurt,
I'm having problems getting the bottom of the windsheild to seat properly on the car. I've been trying to start at the bottom, haven't start at the top yet, is that the trick?

My dad found that using Joe's Hand Cleaner greatly simplified getting the locking ring in. He showed me how slick it makes it, the trim just pops right in, no amount of effort required. It dries out easily and leaves some residue but comes clean easily with water.

[john70t]

I hired AR mobile glass. 650-826-9714. Those guys were on time and good. Front and back in about 45 minutes with seals. I cleaned up the windows before with a razor blade.

Not sure about the rope used but they had one inside working the seal over the lip while the other moved the window around to help. They used two suctions with strait thick brass handle and pushed on it. They recommended fixing the trim I bent up with a piece of soft wood and light hammer tapping.

[Wayne 962]

I've wrestled for about six hours with my back window and a bent piece of trim - never got it installed. The previous comments are correct - use new trim, or completely unbent old trim. To use a piece of bent trim is going to give you great headaches, and it may not be even feasible to install it at all.

The job of replacing the headliner (which requires removal of front and rear glass) is tougher than an engine rebuild, in my opinion.

-Wayne

[dean]

It helps to put the trim on with the rubber warm. And you are supposed to use sealant for a leak proof job

[LeRoux Strydom]

Having also done this recently, I think most of the important points have been covered in the replies. Only two I can emphasize are: lubricate the trim groove in the rubber, and start pulling the cord from the top centre of the windscreen while pressing from the outside. It can be done by one person, but having a helper around to press on the glass is useful.

Good luck

LeRoux

[arrivederci]

Noah hit the nail on the head regarding fitment of the trim piece. I don't use any lube for this as it makes stretching the seal in difficult. From my experience, though, you shouldn't need new trim if you're careful when removing the windshield. New trim often isn't a perfect fit. You should see how it's stored at the dealer...very easy for it to get bent out of shape. I bend it to fit while attaching it into the seal. Its very important to have the trim snug all the way around the outer edge with the seal

I've done probably 7 windshields and a back window, so I think I've figured out the process of installation. The actual install takes 2 people. I put a nylon laundry cord around the outside edge of the seal...it is smooth and just about the right size (found at Home Depot). Its easier to install the cord when its been lubed up with a little soapy water. Install the cord so that the ends overlap 4 inches or so at the top of the windshield...in the center.

I usually lube up the body as well by way of a spray bottle with soapy water in it. Now place the windshield onto the body, making sure that the bottom lip of the seal sits outside the windshield cavity on the body. Ensure that you have even gaps on the left and right side. The person on the outside will apply light pressure to the windshield while the person on the inside of the car will slowly pull the nylon cord. The goal here is the use the cord to pull the lip of the seal over the rim of the body. If at any point, it looks like the lip doesn't pull over the rim of the body, its time to pull the windshield out, reset the cord, and restart the process.

Pull each end of the cord down to the lower corners of the windshield (and thread the cord around any antenna or heater leads you may have). Now work across the dash very carefully...with light to medium pressure from the outside of the windshield. You'll need constant pressure otherwise the lip of the seal may not cover the rim on the body. This is where things usually fall apart, so be careful. Constant pressure from outside is important. Sometimes the lip of the seal gets caught up on the dash. Before continuing, I try to get it to fall into place (between the dash and the inside body rim) by prodding/poking at it with a screwdriver or credit card. Once the cord is out and the seal is properly seated, you're done. Time to clean up and let the whole assembly sit for a day. This gives the soapy water time to dry and the windshield time to firm up.

[Formerly Steve Wilkinson]

No matter how badly bent the trim is, you can get it back to the original shape (which indeed is absolutely necessary) by laying it atop the glass, without the gasket in place, and absolutely matching it to the configuration of the glass. The worse the bend is, the more work it'll be, but it's doable. when I took my windshield and back window out, I was entirely unaware of the importance of keeping the trim, striaght, so you can imagine the shape they were in. I didn't pretzel it, but I didn't take any great care either, and Iw asble to get all the trim back to its original shape.

Dishwasher soap is a great lubricant, too.

Stephan

[Zeke]

I found this thread in a search and I'm bringing back because I just did the first half of the job. Maybe it was more than half, we'll see.

There are many threads found under a search "rear+window+install." This one is short and to the point. What I'd like to add is that there are techniques to be used getting the aluminum trim dialed in so that it will be easy(ier) to put in and have a better chance of staying put. Formerly SW has it right when he says it must absolutly lay flat on the glass before anything else. And, any twists in the orintation of the one sided hook tang must face perpendicular the the edge of the glass.

The first thing I did was wrap the jaws of my bench vise with duct tape. I very gently bumped the metal that I received from a donor car that was improperly removed and distorted badly, but not bent in kinks. Going bach and forth to the glass from the vise began to show promise. But, I found some tricks and that's why I posting.

It was mentioned the the ends of the trim at the center should be slightly biased downward. Well, the whole top and lower runs could have a little spring in them, but the ends must meet level to each other and oriented the same. The real fight is in the corners. they must be bent down if they have become distorted due to the prying type of removal (which is just wrong in every respect).

Using the vice and line of sight, you can bump the aluminum back and forth as you run down each length. Just put the "apex" of each bend right at the end of the vise jaws and bump or pull it straight. No need to cinch the vise, just use the open jaws as a jig to hold the trim on the good side of the bend. Every now and then, you can tighten the vise on the trim to take out a little wow in the line of sight. The overall finished product will have a smooth gentle arch on each of the 3 sides.

It's easy to get the metal to lay flat on the glass and still have the corners out of whack. So if the trim you intend to use needs straightening, pay attention to how the corner bends look. If they lean it toward the glass as they curve, you must get the very corner in the vise and bring the runs off the corner at the correct angle to keep the trim oriented the same all the way around, which is perpendicular to the edge of the glass.

Once the tirm is perfect, I found that starting the open ends into the rubber first and then going next to the side was the hot ticket. I sprayed silicone thru one of those straws you get with WD-40 into the channel only, keeping it off the surface for grip. (Another good piece of advice from the search.)

Working the rubber over the hooked tang from the side towards the corners and from the open ends to the corners and doing them last got the trim situated where it needed to be w/o much adjusting or shoving back and forth to line up with the edge of the glass. I used more duct tape to hold things in place as I went along.

After getting the metal straight, I did this operation in about 45 min and I set it aside to let the rubber stretch and shrink where it needs to to comform nicely. There is a little bunching of the overlay in the corners which I guess will go away with some time (I hope).

Soon, the glass goes back in. I'm doing this just to have taken a look at the rust situation in the body. Wasn't bad compared to the rest of the car. I have to wonder, but I'll take any luck I get get. I didn't run the glass heater wires because the glass comes back out for painting later this year. so, I don't have any tips on how to accomplish that.

HTH someone someday.

[Purkinjefibre]

As with alot of fun things, lubrication is the key.
For pesky window trims dish washing liquid in some water works well. Trim can be bent back to shape- carefully though

[mingmong]

Just going to add my experiences to this thread. I successfully installed both front and rear screens with trims that where a little bent up (after they'd been sent to the anadisers and back). My method (after reading all the threads here) was RATCHET STRAP and large foam pad!

Put the rubber on the glass. Clipped the trim into place. Placed nylon cord in groove and lubicated. Placed the whole lot onto the car. Alligned screen so even gaps all round then used the ratchet strap to apply pressure and pull the screen into place (Foam pad in between strap and glass to spread the load!) Only tensioned strap a little (sort of finger tight ie you could still get yourt fingers under it) and then pulled cord from inside of the car to pop the rubber seal into place. My trim popped out in a couple of places but by pulling on the screen (Outwards) with a glass sucker and wacking the trim with a rubber mallet I got it all to pop back into place. Fitting the new headliner was definately harder to do and one of those '**** why have I opened this pandora's box of hell' jobs!!! Hope this helps M

[RoninLB]

I measured from frame lip and marked a similar distance all around to use as a guide when centering gasket. I used dum dum in the channel under lower and side gasket area where it sits in the tub to help maintain centering. I wrapped cord 2X.

2 guys outside pressing is better than 1

[Zeke]

I just finished the install. the only other glass I have installed was a Targa rear glass and I wonder how I did it alone in 5 hours. I was a lot younger, that's how.

This rear coupe glass is going to give me a hard time. The trim popped out on one corner and the seal is bunched up in all four corners, both on the outside and the inside. I thought if might stretch itself out when I left it for 3 days. Then I though it might stretch out when installing. No dice.

It looks like *****. Well, it only took a half hour to rope in, so I guess I'll pull the whole thing, make some adjustments to the trim, and rope it in again. I have the quarter windows out, so I don't need to get inside the car and the roping is a POC. I use a heavy tool box sitting on a towel as my helper. Still, I can reach inside and out on most places with the quarters out. The tool box just keeps a constant pressure on the lower center which goes in last.

Anyone have this "bunching" problem?

EDIT: Turns out it was an inferior seal, not a genuine PCNA part. I did take it out and put it back in after reworking the aluminum trim to perfection. That's truly the key. I still have one corner where the alum popped out of the seal. Best to start over if this happens. Best to keep it from popping out in the first place. This is where the 2nd person can be very useful if he/she is watching for the various problems on the topside while you're in the car dealing with the rope and headliner.

[Randy Blaylock]

The function of the aluminum trim piece is to give the rubber seal form. Specifically, you can use it to put the seal where you want it.

For example, on the front winshield, if the corners of the seal dont go far enough into the windshield opening in the pan, leaving gaps for water to run in, if you take a small rubber mallet, and VERY CAREFULLY strike the aluminum trim, you can drive the rubber seal in any direction you want. The aluminum holds the rubber seal in whatever shape you want. Another tool you can use would be a small piece of wood, like a shim wedge, with a small curve sanded into the end that will be applied to the aluminum trim.

On the rear glass, the same principle applies. Just be careful, swinging the mallet so that it's almost sweeping over the surface of the glass, trying to lightly impact the edge of the aluminum trim, driving it in an outward direction, especially in the corners.