Windshield gasket tips?
Thread Starter
Melting Slicks
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 2,965
Likes: 419
From: Melbourne FL
Windshield gasket tips?
Anyone want to share their tips for installing a midyear windshield so that it doesn't leak? I've done mine at least 3 times unsucessfully and need to put it back in again after painting.
I'm fairly confident I understand the problem, I just haven't solved it. The gasket does not fit tight to the body flange; the slot in the gasket is wider than the flange is thick. Water will enter the space between the two at the top and then travel down the sides and puddle and spill over on the inside. In a heavy rain it will also drip down from the top just in from the top corners of the windshield.
What I tried in addition to new gaskets:
1. 3M body caulk on the outside of the body flange - result was it was displaced by installing the new gasket. It ended up smeared all over the part of the gasket on the inside of the car.
2. Same caulk tediously placed down the in the groove of the gasket. Similar result as the first attempt, when pulling the gasket over the body flange, much of it came out of the groove and didn't seal.
I considered silicone sealant installed from the outside after the windshield and gasket is in place but that would most likely interfere with the re-installation of the trim, there's little room there in the first place.
So what words of wisdom do y'all have?
I'm fairly confident I understand the problem, I just haven't solved it. The gasket does not fit tight to the body flange; the slot in the gasket is wider than the flange is thick. Water will enter the space between the two at the top and then travel down the sides and puddle and spill over on the inside. In a heavy rain it will also drip down from the top just in from the top corners of the windshield.
What I tried in addition to new gaskets:
1. 3M body caulk on the outside of the body flange - result was it was displaced by installing the new gasket. It ended up smeared all over the part of the gasket on the inside of the car.
2. Same caulk tediously placed down the in the groove of the gasket. Similar result as the first attempt, when pulling the gasket over the body flange, much of it came out of the groove and didn't seal.
I considered silicone sealant installed from the outside after the windshield and gasket is in place but that would most likely interfere with the re-installation of the trim, there's little room there in the first place.
So what words of wisdom do y'all have?
