Gap between Rubber Windshield Seal & Body

randywebb · 02-12-2007, 08:20 PM

This pic shows the gap I have between teh rubber seal that holds the windshield in on my 1973.5 911 and the newly painted body.

The windshield was removed by the guy who painted the car.

This pic is the condition existing AFTER I carefully pull the rubber out of the gap so it covers as well as it can.

I am worried about water getting down in there and rusting away the bottom of the lip that hold the glass in....

Any thoughts??

afterburn 549 · 02-12-2007, 08:40 PM

well 2 thoughts, there is suposed to be metal trim in the Grove to help expand it ( i dont as I use 3/32/or 1/8 round brass rod from Ace cant remember what size ) I f you use a new gasket it will help a lot

Rouxzy · 02-12-2007, 08:53 PM

Mine looked the same way before being removed for paint. I figured it would be fixed after installing new windshield and gasket. Nope! Damn gap is still there. I never was able to find answers myself.
Tom

joefrantz · 02-12-2007, 08:59 PM

Randy

It looks like the windshield is slightly off center.

What does it look like on the passenger side in the same spot.

I've only got hands-on experience with one W/S install, but we had a similar condition that required us to remove and reintall the glass about 2-3 times until we got it right. Sometimes you can slide the glass while in place if the seal was lubed and still wet, but it looks like yours has been in place long enough that it would be tough to slide it around.

Good Luck

Joe

Jim Sims · 02-12-2007, 09:14 PM

Compare gaps side to side; was the windshield properly centered prior to "pulling the cord"? Was a new OEM gasket used? The reproduction gaskets don't fit and an old one likely has shrunk some over time. A compound (sold for this purpose by 3M) can be used to fill the cavity and keep the gasket pushed out. However no matter what you do, some water will likely find it's way down to the lower part of the windshield gasket area. The gasket and windshield opening flange if clean and in good condition will keep this water out of the car. If the old gasket removal by cutting was carelessly done with a knife and the paint scored or a metal scraper was used to remove old sealant/filler from the windshield opening gasket flange and damaged the paint, rust will occur from this water. Sadly this is often the result of a windshield replacement by professional glass operations; they don't have the time to carefully remove the old sealant with a wood or plastic implement without damaging the paint on the flange.

mthomas58 · 02-12-2007, 09:34 PM

I noticed the exact same thing in same place on my newly replaced windshield!

randywebb · 02-12-2007, 10:45 PM

There is no gap on the other side - but there is no excess there either. My guess is that the windshield might be off several mm.

Do people think there may be something missing from the install - some metal trim that goes underenath what you can see?

Or could this be an aftermarket seal that is too small for the opening?

aigel · aigel's Garage

The windshield likely sits too low in the frame, at least as much as it is off horizontally. The factory centered it with some fairly thick gunk, without actually gluing it in. You may need a bit of help from some caulking like that.

There is nothing there, only the seal, the trim and the glass and usually that should be enough. You need to bring it back to whomever installed the windshield. It is not done correctly.

Note that that first lip is only one in about 10. It's more cosmetic than anything else, IMHO.

I have installed a couple of windshields and a rear coupe window as well.

George

paul b · 02-13-2007, 12:04 AM

randy

I had an identical scenario with my car. This came to light after a glass company replaced the windshield that was cracked. In the end I had the new screen taken out and re installed wih OEM seal at a very good body-shop here in London.
As the chap here was installing he explained that the seals make a big difference but as above its all about centering and positioning the screen. This guy did carefully clean out all the grooves and prior to putting in the screen explained he was going to use silicone as used on the 3.2 , 964/993 etc.....he said it helps as there is nearly always water ingress on the older cars. It does however make removal harder and the seal cant be re used.......Hope some this helps in so much as least you're not on your own with this !

Kobus Brits · Kobus Brits's Garage

I had the same problem and replacing the windshield rubber solved it. It seems that the rubber shrinks with time. It was however quite a process during the installation of the new windshield and rubber to get it to sit nicely in the center without any gaps.

bigchillcar · bigchillcar's Garage

new windshield seal in my '74 a couple years back and saw the same thing. from what i understand, even with the oem seal, this is a common problem - i think all have it.

david914 · 06:39 AM

I have a similar problem and I used a new, factory seal purchased from our host. It sure would be nice if someone, factory or aftermarket, would make a new windshield gasket with a slightly larger lip around the outside.

Mine also leaks when it rains, but the installer didn't use any kind of sealant. Is it common practice to use some sort of caulk/sealant?

K9Torro · 04:48 AM

I purchased a factory OEM seal and I have the exact same problem, I shifted the windshield several times when I did the install, (you can look back and read the post under my name) no matter what I did I had a gap on one side or the other and I was using the original windshield.

I have heard someplace that a 964 windshield and seal are slightly larger so I was thinking that using the larger seal might just make the difference ???

I did not replace the metal trim on my car but used a aluminum ground wire which is perfect in size/shape and is very malable to fill the gap, once installed it is invisble and does the same job as the metal trim.

Todd

bigchillcar · bigchillcar's Garage

it's always in the same place..upper driver's corner. problem for everyone.

Ron.G · 02-13-2007, 04:57 AM

I just did front and rear glass in December. The rear glass went in very nicely with plenty of material around the edges.

The front was a little more work. We had to rope it in and take it out several times. Each time it fit better and better.
On the last shot we had just enough of a lip all the way around.

IMHO the factory seal needs to be it bit wider to cover the opening properly. Even with it perfectly centered the rubber is just barely covering the opening.

Randy Blaylock · 05:35 AM

Guys, the soft aluminum trim insert in the rubber is what gives the seal it's shape, especially in the corners. It's not critical to have the glass itself perfectly centered, within reason of course.

You can easily close this gap, or gaps at any of the corners, so the seal lip covers the gap. There is enough overlap in the channel of the seal where it wraps around the glass to accommodate this process.

I usually use a piece of wooden shim material like you can get at any hardware store, used for framing up doors and windows. It's a tapered piece of usually pretty soft wood, around 1-1/2 inches wide. Take a file and put a small edge on the thin end, maybe 3/16 to 1/4 inch, with a small radius shape to it width wise that resembles the shape of the aluminum trim in the corners. You could also use the rubber end of a mallet handle, or anything that isn't very hard and has a rounded shape.

Place the tool of your choice so that it contacts the aluminum trim piece on it's inside edge, aligning the tool as flat as you can against the glass while still maintaining a "bite" so to speak against the trim, and using a rubber mallet very gently, strike the tool as needed to move and shape the trim as needed.

Obviously you want to do this gently, using short swings mostly just with the wrist, and make sure to keep the impact vector as close to parallel to the glass as possible. You're basically just sliding the mallet over the glass towards the "persuader".

Along the straighter edges, like the top, bottom and sides, just push the seal out a bit with your fingers to cover the edges of the opening. The seal is designed to take up the space between the edge of the glass and the the opening in the body, and doesn't need to be tight around the glass itself.

I have used this method for years and have yet to break the glass, and have never had a leaky seal.

khamul02 · khamul02's Garage

New glass, New seal,about a year ago and mine looks just like yours Randy and it worries me as well.

aigel · aigel's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by Kobus Brits
I had the same problem and replacing the windshield rubber solved it. It seems that the rubber shrinks with time. I

The shrinkage is another problem. This is a new seal Randy has here.

George

KevinP73 · 02-13-2007, 07:32 AM

+1 what Randy wrote. It's simple to nudge the seal over and get the proper fit. I too have been using this procedure for years with total success.

Zeke · 02-13-2007, 07:46 AM

No one mentioned the dum dum packed into the corners to help back fill the void. Also, if that metal trim gets distorted due to improper removal, or improper placement into the seal while the glass is still on the work rack, it's hard to get the exact contour that was original to the car.

I bought a used metal trim set from a guy building a race car. I begged him to not pry the metal out before removing the glass, rather cut the seal and remove the glass with trim still in place. He didn't heed my advice and basically ruined a perfect 1973 window trim. I got rid of it never using it. And the main problem is in the corners when the metal gets distorted.