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Anyone in the Minneapolis area with experience in installing windshields?
I have the chroming done and am waiting on the polishing to come back. I have never installed a 1959 windshield and want to make sure it is installed correctly and without leaks before I start installing the new wiring harnesses and reinstalling all the under dash items.
I have looked at videos and posts from people who have done it, but just have a fear I will screw it up somehow.
Car is now an empty shell on the new chassis.
Are you talking glass in frame or complete window on car?
I was going to try to assemble it myself and then get help with the assembly onto the car, but smart enough to accept accrued knowledge from someone who has the experience.
Anyone in the Minneapolis area with experience in installing windshields?
I have the chroming done and am waiting on the polishing to come back. I have never installed a 1959 windshield and want to make sure it is installed correctly and without leaks before I start installing the new wiring harnesses and reinstalling all the under dash items.
I have looked at videos and posts from people who have done it, but just have a fear I will screw it up somehow.
Car is now an empty shell on the new chassis.
There are several useful posts explaining how to do this:
When you order the weatherstrip that goes around the windshield, make sure you get the one with the narrow channel at the bottom. There have been some extrusion problems and some have come out with a wide channel and it's impossible to fit.
The most important tool in your toolbox for this job is patience. Good luck.
No leaks! How much or little is the difference. Good luck, not an expert,take your time, think about what you are doing, review the other posts,you will be surprised how good you did.
I was going to try to assemble it myself and then get help with the assembly onto the car, but smart enough to accept accrued knowledge from someone who has the experience.
This has the reputation of being the most difficult job on these cars. I had my 62 for only 6 months and had a stone fly back and destroy it. I shopped it out to many glass people and most declined and those that said they would/could, when push came to shove, had no idea of how to do it properly.
So---I takled it myself.
There are two pfd's posted here on the forum and with these two-and some careful study you should be able to do the job.
It took me about 10 hours total =. One of those hours was spent running to the hardware store to getTWO screws to replace two old ones that simply would not behave and another THREE hour trying to reinstall the damn package tray that a former owner had Bubba'd.
Two things to pre-plan---if the windshield has never been replaced before-- there is a very strong chance that the bases of the two side posts will be cracked due to torsion while driving. This is very common. The best solution is to send them out to Corvette Central that has a service dedicated to repairing these. It is not outrageously expensive and I had mine back in 10 days. The workmanship is superb----second is the "four Nuts from Hell" that hold these two posts in place. I got lucky here i tat a previous owner had already done a replacement and had pockets cut out that gace simple access to these bolts---these cut outs are well hidden by the side panels.
Go to Google and do a search on "Corvette Forum replacing windshield on a C1 Corvette" It will lead you to the two pdf's.
I found this job to be quite enjoyable and had no plrblems at all--except for the package tray.
Okay, so I have followed all of the instructions, have everything even and centralised and have my door gaps pretty well spot on and same for windshield post to door post alignment amd all screws are tightish BUT ....
... the channel for the glass is about 1/2" deep in the rubber seal, I marked this on the glass prior to assembly..
BUT ... on the btm channel as it gets closer to the middle, the glass has pulled out of the seal approx 1/4" (leaving 1/4" of glass inside the channel; is this normal?
I've had a devil of a job getting the hardtop, the deck lid, the door posts, the door windows, the windshield, the windshield channel and all the moldings to fit together properly on my '61, When I tried adjusting one of them, it threw all the others out of wack and I had to re-jiggle everything. It's almost impossible to get everything perfect and you have to come up with a compromise that you're happy with. Looking at your pictures, you've done a great job and if the bottom of your windshield doesn't leak, I'd be really happy with it.
Okay, so I have followed all of the instructions, have everything even and centralised and have my door gaps pretty well spot on and same for windshield post to door post alignment amd all screws are tightish BUT ....
... the channel for the glass is about 1/2" deep in the rubber seal, I marked this on the glass prior to assembly..
BUT ... on the btm channel as it gets closer to the middle, the glass has pulled out of the seal approx 1/4" (leaving 1/4" of glass inside the channel; is this normal?
It might be that you have the two bolts closest to the center of the windshield a bit too tight relative to the rest. Just a guess. When I did mine I tightened the bolts as if I were tuning a drum. start at the center and take a half turn on each bolt--working outward. Also making a conscious effort as to the "feel" of the tension at each bolt and not getting overly enthusiastic and tightening too much. I was also afraid of cracking the windshield during this process. Dont quite know why. Every few turns I would crawl from under and check the look and set of things as I went.
It sounds pedantic, I know, but for me at least, it paid off.
If you dont see a gap between the glass and the wx stripping and it does not leak, leave well enough alone.
Best.
Eddie
Thanks All,
Rich5962 suggested that I needed a few more rubber shims under the posts, so rather than use full shims I progressively cut four shorter (x1 full + x1 60% + x1 45% + x1 30%) and that pulled the posts forward so the is about 1/8" out from the btm of the rubber seal, which I can live with.
BTW to refit the top trim piece, I eased one end over the end of the post and then used external circlip pliers to open the gap a bit on the other end to get the trim over the top seal track support. For the initial installation of the frame to the car, I slipped 2" lengths of clear hose (3/16" dia) of the thread of the T-bolts to help guide them through the holes in the body as I found a couple kept fouling as I tried to insert/fit the frame. The hose made it super easy and because it was smaller than the threads on the T-bolts and screwed on to them, I could also give them a bit of a tug from the underside when the frame was fitted to expose more thread for the nut.
Windshield installation
