Getting the windshield replaced on my 73 to get through inspection. Where is the best place to buy replacement rubber for the windshield? Thanks.

 

Hello, I'm not sure there is a rubber gasket that gets replaced. I think the channel is cleaned and they lay a bead of glass cement around the channel and then the glass is pressed on top of that.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but I think that's it.

Frank

 

Not sure exactly what you are referring to as I have a 68 and 73 is probably different.
I use Corvette Rubber for anything rubber I needed fro my restoration. Also, the shop that is replacing your windshield may have the item you are looking for if they have any experience with Corvettes. If they are not experienced, I would find a shop that has done other Corvettes. I learned that lesson back in the seventies when an auto windshield shop did major damage on my 68 Corvette in the process of replacing a chipped windshield. It cost them a lot of money to undo the damage.
Just my 2 cents,
Kurt

 

Is there any hardware or clips that should be replaced?

 

I am not sure how the moulding is held on around the windshield but you may want to have those clips looked at to be sure they are not all rusted. Again, if the shop has Corvette experience, they should know all this and do it automatically but I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask.
If memory serves me correctly, my windshield on my 68 was supported by rubber pads or spacers around the perimeter. Ask some of your Corvette friends in the are or local Corvette clubs who they use for Corvette glass so that you are not the guinea pig for a shop that has never done a Vette before. Let them learn on somebody else's car, not yours.
Kurt

 

What damage did they do? The place that is doing it has done work for us in the past and are very reputable. I don't think they would take the job if they couldn't do it. Thanks.

 

The place that did my windshield was a reputable dealer but had never done a Corvette before. They are still in business so they were not a fly-by-night business.
I drove the car in with a chip in the wiper area of the windshield. They said it would be done in one day, took three days. When I picked it up there were small pieces of broken glass all over the interior and under the hood. Some of the glass had cut into the dash pad , some had chipped the paint on the steering column and on the shifter console. They also had to replace the driver seat bottom because they melted it with a drop light. This was on a car that spent most of it's life in a garage, (still does) never driven in rain or snow, in other words, my baby. I still have the car and it only has 45,000 miles on it and I just spent the last 10 years restoring it at a cost of $35K. I tell you this only so you can appreciate that I did not bring them a daily driver or a beater, it was a car very carefully cared for but I was more trusting in those days. Now, no one works on any of my cars unless I know them personally and know what quality their work is. Like I said previously, I learned that lesson many times the hard way. It finally stuck in my head.
Kurt

 

I had the new windshield installed on my 68 part way through it's resto, so all the mouldings were already off the car. The installers brought the glass to my house, and after doing some fit checking, laid a bead of sealant with a caulking gun and set the windshield in place. They did a good job, did't scratch anything or get sealant everywhere
So a couple weeks later I was putting the mouldings on, and while tightening a screw for the pillar mouldings, the tip of the screw caught the edge of the windshield and cracked it. I then had to buy another windshield
The screw was apparently too long, but I made d---med sure the next ones were the right size!

 

Rubber ... well you will probably need new weatherstrips on the
front of your side windows.
New clips for the top molding ? Yup ... some people say 3 on each side (6),
while others say install all 10 clips (I did).

Make sure the installer doesn't just put the urethane down and squish the glass down hard.
This will set the glass too deep, and you will end up with a large
gap between the glass and the stainless moldings.

 

Your car probably used butyl tape to seal the glass originally.

 

Not certain where you line in Va, but I had a fella from Powhatan County replace my windshield sealant. He came to my house and did the job. He does alot of older cars and had done several Corvettes. The windshield molding clips may need to be replaced depending on how much rust they have. My 73 only needed the water channels cleaned and repainted. The original sealant had almost blocked the water runoff channel on the A piller on the drivers side. I had removed the stainless trim around the windshield before the fella came so I had a good idea of what needed to be done before he got there. He helped cleaning out the water channels and he had his assistant clean the windshield to get the old sealant off too.
Roger