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Doing a little "dry-fitting" today on my '63, and installed the windshield gasket without any difficulty.
Looking through the original molding clips I took off, I found 8 usable, 2 different styles.3 other clips are too corroded to re-use.
The lower row clips have an "L" shape, and the top 4 seem to be wider in the area that would clip onto the frame.
Don't exactly remember where each type went as they were smothered in a sea of black goop when I cut out the glass last Fall.
Maybe it's time to buy some new clips, but did I hear that the reproduction ones are tricky to use?
The 4 on top are 63 coupe rear window molding clips.The same clips are also used for the upper rear window moldings on 63-67 hardtops. The lower ones are 63 windshield clips, but they're all missing a tab (they should have 2 tabs, and not be "L" shaped).
My ONLY bit of advice is to use CR Laurence CRL-7708 sealant instead of the 3M bedding/glazing compound . It is far superior to the 3M by leaps and bounds.
I had used the 3M product on many windshield installs for the mid years and in time they began to leak even though they passed water testing at the time of install...and I had to go in and get it out due to it seemed to have drawn up and use the CRL 7708 in its place and no problems since. I use 3M's 8984 for clean up due to this stuff is really gooey but will be able to be wiped off.
You can also use it as the sealant between the weatherstrip and the glass all the way around AFTER you get the glass installed and set correctly or you can also use the CRL 1716 in that area if you want to spend more money.
I custom made an attachment that I can place on the cut tube of the 7708 so I can get the sealant all the way down where it needs to be pumped in at where the clips are on the pinchweld of the frame...and then back fill it. I made it due to the space between the weatherstrip and body can be rather tight and the plastic tip of the normal caulking tube may not be able to get it down in there.
But as always....use whatever sealant you want to.
Here are better pics with some of the sealant removed. If someone could take a look and let us know if any of these clips would help the OP out or not as I'm not knowledgeable about '63 windshield molding clips.
For the 1963 corvette there are 15 clips used for the lower windshield trim weather convertible or coupe, all the clips have a sniped off tab so they appear to be broken. Eleven clips have a thin section where they fit over the pinch welt and four clips (two each side) have a thicker section where they fit over the pinch welt at the area where there is three laps of metal. Look at your windshield frame and you will see what I am talking about.
The side reveal molding has a slide in clip that attaches to one of the thin clips, that last thin clip goes on the pinch welt after the two thicker clips and aligns so it will catch the slip in clip on the side reveal molding.
I hope I did not sound to confusing, search because this was discussed last fall I think and there may be some pictures.
The convertible top moldings attach with different clips than the coupe but I think the years 63-67 are the same.
I forgot to add the thicker section clips look just like the thin section clips.
That is odd due to the last two 1963's I did did not have clips that were snipped off. Hmmmm....very Interesting.
DUB
Do your windshields show signs they have replaced in the past?
Another forum member, Pat, posted some pictures of his lower 1963 windshield trim and clips and they may show up in his restoration thread, I am curious what the clips you worked with looked like. I know on my 63 coupe the thin clips have a sniped off tab and almost 100% the thicker clips are sniped also I am just too tired to go out and look.
I need to correct my post about the 1963 windshield clips.
I was in error when I stated the 6 thick clips (coupe)/ 4 thick clips (convertible) were sniped off just like the thin clips, they are not, all the thin clips are sniped off.
On my coupe lower molding there are 11 thin clips and 4 thick clips, total 15.
I think the number was a moving target because the assembly manual calls for 13 across the bottom and 11 on the top molding.
The link in post #4 shows the clips, their number and where they go -- on a coupe...
That article does not jive with the assembly manual with respect to the location of the wider clips, four bottom two top. It seems what you are looking at are reproduction clips.
Also, no mention of the slide in clips that go top and bottom on the side reveal molding and there location relative to the last thin clip on each side.
When my windshield was installed last winter, the used clips I got back were a mix of 2 designs: one with the clips off to the side, some broken off. And some that were solid with a hole in the middle. Those seemed like repro. Pic below:
I have had mine in and out twice (63 Coupe) and the lower molding on each end will not engage, I used all my original clips plus additional Paragon clips on the second try. It engaged at first but later came loose. Not sure whats wrong, except the newer rubber is thicker than original. Funny thing is no problem with the lower engaging the first time when the uppers would not engage. Life of the Corvette owner.
Wow, thanks a whole bunch for all the info and leads.
Thanks to Rick (post #2 above) I will shortly have enough original and repop clips, that I may be able to hold the moldings on the car again!
You guys are the best!
"I'll be back" as Arnold would say, as I know I'll need some more help
Bill.
Do your windshields show signs they have replaced in the past?.
NO...They were original dated glass and the w/strip was original and began to split in the corners due to being so old and hard. The factory sealant was still there when I peeled it out They never looked like they had been touched and no indication that the clips were removed where you could see they had been removed and replaced.
Now in all fairness. I could be having a brain fart...but I generally remember those oddities when I notice them and remember them if clips were different due to I notice when bolts and screws are different lengths when I remove them.
So — what’s the definitive answer ? How many clips of what kind in what positions to secure the 63 coupe windshield? Including the sides if those are needed.
Even though this thread is primarily about rear glass install, there’s a number of posts that have to do with 1963 windshield install and clips. Worth looking through:
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
C2 windshield molding clips
