[C1] Hardtop side window installation
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 547
Likes: 264
From: Quebec, Canada
Hardtop side window installation
I'm having an awful job installing the side windows on my 1961 hardtop. The new tape is quite thick and, even when I bang the window in with a rubber hammer, it doesn't want to go in and it cuts up the tape. And once it's part way in, it's a devil to get out.
I seem to recall a thread in which the suggestion was made to soften the tape with paint thinner (or varsol or kerosene, they're all pretty much the same thing). I put some paint thinner on a small piece of the tape and it does soften it, but it makes a gooey black mess that gets everywhere.
I've thought of another couple of options and would like your opinions. I could put a bead of urethane in the channel but this would create difficulties if I ever wanted to take it out again.
The other one, which I'm leaning towards, is using dumdum. It goes in easy, it squishes very nicely, it's easy to trim the excess and it doesn't make a mess.
What do you think? What's your experience?
I seem to recall a thread in which the suggestion was made to soften the tape with paint thinner (or varsol or kerosene, they're all pretty much the same thing). I put some paint thinner on a small piece of the tape and it does soften it, but it makes a gooey black mess that gets everywhere.
I've thought of another couple of options and would like your opinions. I could put a bead of urethane in the channel but this would create difficulties if I ever wanted to take it out again.
The other one, which I'm leaning towards, is using dumdum. It goes in easy, it squishes very nicely, it's easy to trim the excess and it doesn't make a mess.
What do you think? What's your experience?
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2013
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From: Arlington TX
2024 C1 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
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2023 C1 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
What is your glass thickness? Where dod you get the glass? I got mine out of a scrap barrel at a plexiglas place, turned out there are many different thicknesses and I just lucked out in getting the right one. I got some tape from a glass place and it went in, very tight though. I’m not sure if they have different thicknesses of tape, too.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 547
Likes: 264
From: Quebec, Canada
I'm re-installing the original plexiglass window in the original channel. Everything is original except the tape. I got the tape from Corvette Central and it's listed as being for the door windows. I asume it's the same for the window I'm installing, as I can't find any supplier who has a tape specifically for my window. The original tape seems to be the same material as what I have because it also is softened with paint thinner. It's much much thinner though, so either my tape is too thick or the original tape was squished unmercifully.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Apr 2013
Posts: 5,001
Likes: 1,056
From: Arlington TX
2024 C1 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
2023 Restomod of the Year Finalist
2023 C1 of the Year Finalist - Unmodified
Check with your local glass installers and see if they have the tape you might need.
Thread Starter
Pro
Joined: Jun 2007
Posts: 547
Likes: 264
From: Quebec, Canada
Well, what do you know? I followed your suggestion and contacted a local windshield installer, whom I have known for many years, and in a dusty cabinet at the back of his shop, he found two rolls of window tape, thinner than the one I have. They were just what I needed and I've just installed the first window and it went in like a dream.
Thank-you for waking me up. Sometimes, when we're so deep into a problem, we overlook the obvious.
Thank-you.
Thank-you for waking me up. Sometimes, when we're so deep into a problem, we overlook the obvious.
Thank-you.
