Hi everyone,
I just finished restoring the slightly rusted windshield frame. The frame received a good coat of anti rust paint, new clips and screws.
Now it time to reinstall the windshield.
I'm in need of the rubber windshield spacers. Where can I get these?
The normal corvette suppliers seem not to have them.
Or can I use something else?
Thanks

 

 

 

I did this about 2 years ago and searched all over the country for the "Corvette Specific" spacers - to no avail!

A friend of mine found a few in his stock room that I used - they were just standard windshield rubber spacer blocks. Everything worked out fine. Because I used 3/8" "windshield tape", the spacers were not as critical as if you just used the butyl, etc. adhesives.

I did a write-up and it is on Corvettefaq.com. Here is a direct link

http://www.speakeasy.org/~pws/Corvette.htm

Good luck!

 

 

Hi pws,
I saw your instructive write-up and have been following it.
Do you remember how thick the spacers were? 3/8"?

 

I just finished mine. I purchased a new window and what a glass installer friend of mine called a glass kit. It consisted of:

a tube of Urethane adhesive
a role of butyl gasket

I also purchase a bottle of window frame pinch weld primer / sealer. He advised me not to paint the pinch weld but to use this primer / sealer instead. Somthing about paint eventually pulling away or seperating from the metal frame. Safety issue.

The role of butyl gasket comes in different thicknesses for different vehicle applications. The gasket serves as the correct spacer. I believe Corvette uses 3/8" diameter.





After priming the widow frame pinch weld area,
The butyl gasket rope is carfully positioned around the inner edge of the windshield frame. I started at the bottom center, making sure I overlapped the ends so there was no gap. I then applied the Urethane adhesive around the frame just outside but still touching the butyl gasket rope thick enough and in such a way as to adhear the cleaned window inner edge to the pinch weld frame. I spread a thin amount of the urethane on the top of the butyel gasket so the window could be adjusted slightly for perfect alignment....but be accurate cause there is not much time before the window is set. Be sure to clean the inner surface of the winshield before setting it.

How bad was the rust on your windshield frame and how did you approach the repair?

Bullshark

P.S. A tongue depressor like tool is used to clean a channel around the window edge so as to provide a water drain channel around and off the window frame. I also used a single edge rasor blade to clean the excess off the window front surface at the edge after cure and prior to installing trim. The rasor blade was also useful for cleaning the excess out of the j-clips that hold the top stainless trim piece. Guess this is common knowledge for you glass guys

another note of clarification now that I read this post The butyl gasket rope is positioned along the first raised surface on the bottom..... not the inner edge of the frame......should be obvious since the inner edge doesn't touch the windshield




One other thing!!!! I am not a professional glass installer and all this is provided as input as to how I did it. In other words, its a disclaimer

 

as you can see from the pictures, not too bad.

the problem was that the windshield was no longer glued to the frame.
the windshield just lifted off without any effort!
the glue was very old.

the rust has been ground away, the frame primed and painted black.

the frame is structually sound. could the windshield frame be original? i have no idea.

outside


inside top


no seal top to frame

 

Did you try Dr. Rebuild?? I'm not 100% sure this is what you need but he shows some windshield spacers here:

http://docrebuild.com/dr-r-web/68-82dr-ws-cpe.html

Bill

 

Yes, they were 3/8". There is no trickiness to the spacers it turns out - even though two of the bottom ones are dubbed as "special spacers". Lots of things were "special" back then!! The whole objective is to have the glass end up at the correct depth all around so when you put the molding back on, you don't have it touching at the top and a 1/4" or more gap at the bottom. This is a very common screwup on these over the years. I have even seen some molding with additional screw holes drilled in them to compensate for sinking the glass too deep! If you use the 3/8" butyl tape and Urethane adhesive (ONLY), you will end up with a well sealed and correctly spaced windshield.

ANd a strong word of caution - NEVER, NEVER use silicone.

 

thanks for the all posts
one last question
what's the size of the spacer? i have the thickness 3/8"
lenght? width?
how hard is the rubber?

with the above info i can then look for some rubber and cut to size

 

I'll be doing this job soon on my '77.
I got a windshield seal kit from ecklers which consisted of a roll of butyl seal and two small spacers.Its a 3M kit.

A mate of mine who's a windscreen fitter will be removing/fitting my screen. He told me to paint the frame using etching primer, or the paint will eventually pull away from the frame. He did a friends trans-am screen recently,he didnt use etching primer and the paint came away within weeks.

 

Excellrny paper...thank you very much

 

I've put in a number of windshields using the tape and with urethane (caulk). Modern urethane systems have superior adhesive and sealing characteristics. I personally think it's a better way to go. You get a stronger hold, better seal. I'm going to use it on my 81 windshield when I go to install it this spring. You should use spacers when you use the liquid urethane ...don't need them with the tape. As noted above, the priming system is also very critical to do right for a good hold. Best luck

Mark G

 

Are the spacers used to space the glass from the frame? I thought there were also spacers to position the glass in the frame. My 68 has an upright "tab" (in line with the wiper door actuator) that the bottom of the glass rested on. I believe there is a rubber spacer on that "tab" that spaces the glass up in the frame. Maybe a few other places also.

 

The 3/8" diameter butyl tape gasket provides the correct spacing between the window pinch weld frame surface and the window. I centered the glass from right to left when I set the windshield
On my 70 there are two clips on each side of the window that are screwed on the firewall and provided the proper windshield alignment position top to bottom, in additon to the bracket that acts as a wiper storage rest. see pics below.






Bullshark