Installing the windshield is a complex process best left to a professional, apparently. Even the BAMA hardcore sub this job out. So, as usual, I decided to have a bash myself, with some help - this is not a task that could be accomplished independently, and I speak as a someone who lifted an engine block onto the bench on my own.
I studied half a dozen YouTube videos in advance, and came up with my own composite method. All the supplies we needed were purchased from Ellis Ace Hardware on MLK. Window seals and a few extra clips came from NPD, and I got a great deal on a replacement windshield from my friends at Mostly Mustangs (also on MLK).
We got started by removing the speakers and the package tray that were installed a year or so earlier (more on this later), and then I laid the new seal on the trunk lid and checked for any damage. Most people lay the seal out in the sun for 20 minutes to warm it up, but we were were doing this in a garage in November so I gave it a light going-over with the heat gun instead.
My assistant gave the original back glass a good pre-install cleaning. We used **** glass cleaner which comes in an aerosol can and produces a white foam; it worked great. The back glass has been moved from attic to basement to garage to attic to garage a few times since I took it out in 2010.
Installed the rubber seal onto the back glass and a bead of **** was laid down in the channel that meets the edge of the glass. Samuel Bear's old Spiderman blanket was a perfect backdrop.
A bead of **** was laid down into channel that meets the edge of the car body. You can add more of this once the window is in place.
I prepared the opening by installing the clips for the trim pieces and marked the location of each clip with a piece of tape - this is important because you need to see the clips to install the molding, and they are obscured after the window goes in.
This is with the window laid on top of the opening and with most of the bottom edge of the seal installed correctly. We tapped one end of the rope to the inside of the window and hung the other end outside. The rope was very carefully pulled round the perimeter of the seal while the second pair of hands pressed on the glass from the outside.
Came back from lunch and did the same thing with the windshield. This was a little bit more difficult because we were installing a modern replacement (with tinted glass!) and the glass was about a third of the thickness of the original and thus felt much more fragile. I had to be even more careful with the roping-in, but the windshield turned out to be suitably robust.
The inside got a good clean. At this point, the protocol is to add a lot more caulk to the junction of the rubber seals with the car body, however we skipped this step for now as I will probably be taking the windows out again when the car is painted.
Time to put the package tray and speakers back together. When I wrote about customizing the package tray in January 2015, I stopped at the photo below...
The next step of that particular project can now be revealed:
Followed by:
This is how it looked the first time it was installed:
This is how it looks through glass with the rear window trim all put back:
All in all, an excellent day's work.
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