Is a rear window seal replacement THAT daunting????
 

Hey Gents,

My recent 'refresh' on my 88 Carrera is nearly complete, with the exception of replacing my front windshield and rear window seals.

I decided after searching this site and asking a few others that this was something I was going to farm out and not attempt by myself.

Problems is, no one in my area will attempt the rear window seal replacement on my car due to the difficulty of routing the defrost wiring to get the seal set correctly.

I have tried 2 reputable Porsche mechanics here in Jacksonville, (Seth at Technical Dimensions and Frank Eisenman at All Euro) as well as my body shop and a glass company off their recommendation. And no one is willing to take on the task. I wasn't comfortable doing this job before and certainly aren't now, considering what these folks are saying.

For those of you who have done this or had this done, are there any recommendations of shops that have experience doing this in North Florida? Is it really as difficult as they are making it out to be? (Is this a 'white unicorn' project, or are these guys just too busy to do something thats just tedious...?)

Thanks for the advice... Alex

If I can do a (no leak, well positioned) Targa seal using great advice here from the Pelicans - you can do a coupe.

Pretty sad... but this seems to be the common denominator for everything in the service industry these days. It seems the 'least work I have to do...the better' is the current moto for today's standard of customer service.

Agreed. At this point I'm happy if they just return my call....

Jack did a nice one man write up if you can find it here

check the home made by jeff youtube channel. he has a thread here documenting his build and he struggled with his windows some. check those episodes of his build video series as he has some great tips. like the authentic Porsche rubbers are far better than the repros.

jeff is MDX here I believe.

Did it by myself, with the help of an ATV tire and large rock. The wiring is about as difficult as remembering what hooks up to what. Invite a PCar buddy over and do it. Mine took about 2 hours solo....

I'll have to check that one out. Thanks!

We do those all the time, unfortunately Fort Worth is a little far for you. Be sure to find the plug for the rear defrost back at the rear of the relay board, take the plug apart and remove the wire ends, then the whole harness pulls up thru the rear deck. DO NOT cut the wires and use butt connectors! The glass should be removed either by levering the rubber back over the frame edge if the rubber is still pliable, or cut the edge off but always pulling the glass and trim out together. DO NOT pull the trim from the rubber !!!You will bend it!! Place the glass on a saw horse trim side up, then pull the rubber away from the trim,,,,,DO NOT touch the trim. Take pictures of the wiring and the cuts in the rubber to allow room for the spades,,,,,pay close attention as to which groove is for the rubber and which goes around the glass. USE ONLY Porsche rubber, not a place for aftermarket. DO NOT push the trim in the new rubber,,,,use a good lube like Wurth clear silicone lay the trim on the rubber and OPEN the rubber to accept the trim,,,finger force only on the trim. Roping it in is the easy part.

Easy to do on a coupe.

Good tips/advice from Ed, above.

Shop near me, 40 years working on Porsches, the owner said it's about a 50/50 chance that the glass shatters trying to remove it. When HE does it. PO thought the seal on my car looked iffy so he bought a new one and gave it to me with the car. But this mechanic said, if it's not leaking, just leave it alone for now, so that's what I'm doing.

It was his writeup that convinced me to replace the rear window seal on my 88 coupe myself. My install went even more smoothly than his. Yeah, the defrost wire routing was a little tedious, but not a big challenge.

I've got the same situation going on. Was going to replace my windshield and rear window seal and had a new windshield. Went to get it out of storage and noticed it had a small chip on one side. Out in the sunlight there was a crack about an inch & a half long into the windshield, so now I needed another new one. In looking around for a place to buy one, I talked to a Pcar guy who suggested I call some of the local, independent Porsche shops to see who they used. I located a guy that way & decided to just have him install both front & back. Not cheap & I have to supply the rear seal, but the actual windshield will only cost $60, which is a fraction of what I expected to pay.

Even in the small town I live in, the local glass shop had no real problem that I remember installing mine after car was painted. I got all new rubbers from Pelican. Find a shop that does glass in hot rods and older cars who have more experience with gasket held glass vs glue in. Since my paint job, I've found another shop that is in that category who seems to be the only person who can get 911 windshields without a problem.

Exact situation here. when I bought the car the PO handed me seals and trim and said, "I never got a chance to get these in". Now I understand why...

It's not that bad. It is a challenge to do by yourself but if you can have some help (ideally one person in the car and one on each side on the outside to keep pressure even and hold steady while you make the connections) it is definitely doable. The front is pretty easy comparatively so you could always start there and see how it goes/get a feel for it before you cut out the back.

Jesse, I have a place just south of you, and was thinking about opening my search to include NC when Im back up there in a few weeks. Can I ask, which shop did yours?

Having trouble finding his write up, does anybody have a link or his user name?

I agree. If you've done a front windshield successfully then use Jack's writeup for a successful rear installation.

X2.

I need to replace both front and rear seals also. Front seals have been out in the sun too long and the rear seal looks like it shrunk, also from sun exposure. Ive got a lead on some places near me that are willing to do it.

Is replacement rear glass relatively easy to source (just in case)? I don't mind replacing the windshield as its got some pitting.