Wind Shield Replacement 88 911

[pkpenny]

I have a 88 911 coupe and would like to replace the front windshield. I have located a number of good used ones but I am not sure as to which years are interchangeable. Any help is appreciated.

[geoz]

good question, mine looks like it has been sandblasted and i almost ran off the road the other day when driving into the low sun, therefore i'm also very much interested.
are there other good options?

[afterburn 549]

What do you want to know ?
Just a mater of physics..Use a blade, cut old seal out, remove glass and old rubber, clean up with solvent,
rope in new gasket, place on car, pull it in

[JerryL]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

What do you want to know ?
Just a mater of physics..Use a blade, cut old seal out, remove glass and old rubber, clean up with solvent,
rope in new gasket, place on car, pull it in

Yes a very simple replacement BUT I think the question was what years interchange and honestly I dont know, as a quick check try Stoddards website as if you were buying one they will have a date range matching your car.

Regards

[Talewinds]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

What do you want to know ?
Just a mater of physics..Use a blade, cut old seal out, remove glass and old rubber, clean up with solvent,
rope in new gasket, place on car, pull it in

The bolded portion is the part I'm most confused about. I searched many threads a few months ago looking for a lucid description of using the rope method to reinstall the glass, but I just still don't get it.
My windshield looks sandblasted as well and the seal leaks letting water into the car. Heck, I'd even keep the original glass if I could just understand how to change the seal

[Tim L]

I had my window replaced last year by some hacks. I bought a new seal and want to replace it my self. I also would like a detailed description on the process.

[euro911sc]

FIT: Pretty sure all long wheel base 911s have the same wind shield. Differences among years are related to having the radio antenna in the glass or not.

INSTALL: USE OEM PORSCHE SEALS ONLY! Aftermarket ones just don't work... The seal has a flap that is supposed to go on the inside of the body lip. When you place the glass and trim in the seal it is impossible to get this flap on the other side of the lip that is on the body... ergo the use of rope (not string!) I have used some that is about 1/8" thick. When your window is assembled wrap the rope in the seal groove on the inside side of the seal. Sorry, no access to pics at work. You want to make at least 2.5 loops as the rope will tend to slide out instead of pull the seal flap over the body lip as it gets toward the end of the rope. This is very frustrating to 1st time glass jockies I also will use a plastic spatula to help the process along. It also helps to have a friend pushing the glass down from the hood. You will be on the inside pulling rope. Took us 3-4 tries the 1st time we did it.

Some will also put some plumbers putty in the corners to prevent leaks and help the seal fill the corner gap which can be large.

If, when you are done, the outside seal flap escapes into the body groove (usually in the corners) you can fix this. Take a wood shim (like you would use fitting a window or door frame) and round the thin edge in the shape of the trim corner. Use this tool with a hammer and gently re-shape and stretch the metal trim out toward the body until your seal no longer falls into the body gap. There is a post on here somewhere with great pic/how to.

The above does not apply to 964 glass and seal installs in pre-'89 cars.

Best regards,

Michael

[KTL]

Your first step is to make sure you get a good replacement windshield. Factory glass is Sekurit that fits nicely- also a bit expensive. The reason a quality windshield is key to fitment is because fitment of your NEW SEAL (don't even think about reusing the old seal) is dependent on the windshield. If the windshield is a little small, the seal will fit a bit loose around the glass. You obviously want a nice tight fit.

If you do a search, you'll find that 911, 964 (1990-1994) and 993 (1995-1998) will fit in your '88. The upside to using the later seal and glass is in the seal itself. The 964 and 993 seal does not use the metal trim band in the seal, which makes for one less thing to hassle with. The absence of this trim band is a nice deletion in my opinion because that metal trim is easy to bend (fragile, so remove gently) and after 20+ years the trim can be a bit mis-shaped, requiring you to reshape it in order to make it fit nicely in your new seal.

Roping: Michael gave a good description. What you're doing here is using the rope to pull the inner seal lip into the car and over the inner edge of the car's windshield opening. By wrapping the rope around the seal 2.5 times, you're pulling in the seal lip twice (in case the first pass didn't get it all) and pulling it in different directions which also helps get it in. The one key trick is to soak the seal and the rope and the windshield opening with liquid dish soap and water solution. The solution should have PLENTY of soap (i'm a Dawn kinda guy...... ) and then have someone firmly, but not too firm, press on the windshield in the area the rope is coming into the car, following you as pull the rope around the perimeter of the windshield.

[Pazuzu]

http://www.ih8mud.com/tech/glassinstall2.php

Do a general google search on "install windshield rope" and you'll find all sorts o pictures. Once you see what is meant by roping a windshield seal, it'll make perfect sense to you.

[afterburn 549]

Rope in the seal; I have done this several times and once alone. A helper will be nice to have.
I use about 1/4 inch in size rope go around once,with slight overlap at bottom (some do this different ) With helper pushing where the rope is being pulled will help ( the P car is so small you can reach out to the outside with your other arm if alone )
IF you elect to use the trim , I am not a expert in that area ...But I am sure you install it B4 the rope pull deal.
( I got rid of the trim and installed 3/16 brass rod to take up the slack ) (out of sight out of mind) Looks better to me then the trim

[KTL]

Yep, metal trim gets installed in the seal groove before you rope the windshield into the car. Trying to install afterward is somewhat futile because you have to push hard on the trim to get it to take hold in the seal groove. Hard pushing is required because when the windshield and seal are installed in the car, the seal groove is being pinched shut by the seal's tight (hopefully) fit against the glass and car frame. Hard pushing usually bends the fragile aluminum trim and then you've got trim that's all bent & bumpy looking like poo, that may or may not be secured in the groove.