71 Coupe

I've taken the t-top trim halo thingy off a couple of times trying to fix an interior rain water leak. It leaks from the mirror and surrounding area. Everything looks good and dry under the stainless halo piece, but I made sure the front of it sealed against the bird cage with some windshield ribbon sealer. Still leaked badly.

So today, after putting it all the exterior back together, I hosed down the top of the windshield and it immediately started leaking inside. There's no water on the inside of the windshield itself at all.

So I've come to the conclusion that the seal is good against the windshield but pulled away from the frame. I've seen absolutely no rust on the windshield frame at all. Perhaps just the sealer they used at the factory shrank? Anyways, I plan on just pulling the halo back off and cramming some ribbon sealer in the trough to seal the old sealant. I can't really justify pulling the original windshield and probably breaking it.

Does this sound like the right thing to do, or should I just bite the bullet and pull the windshield?

 

My,

You pulled the upper stainless steel T part off the car? I'm not sure what you are calling the halo... Post again, I'll be online for a few more minutes and I have real good knowledge of windshield frames.

Willcox

 

Yes, I have pulled the upper stainless T part off the car. Right now it is back on the car, but I plan on taking it back off to give me good access to the top of the windshield so I can seal it. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Myk7,

You can't seal the windshield from this vantage point. You can try this two ways.

Remove the outer upper molding and possibly the side pillar retainers. Then the upper T and seal it. Or you can remove the upper header molding and inner pillar post moldings and attempt it from the inside by trying to force the beading upward to the top of the glass.

Removing just the upper T molding will not allow you access to the actaul windshield glass to frame area.

You know all it really takes is a tiny hole to cause you problems.

Willcox

 

I'm here

 

did you get it! I had to pull it down. . If you didn't get it, let me know and I'll send it to you another way.

Willcox

 

Got it.. thanks a bunch. I'll read it very closely :-)

 

Good... I really don't want to give this away to everyone and the copy I posted was not the final revision.

It was the only copy I had here but it is a good enough copy to help you. I pulled it when I saw the hits on it in three minutes...

I should have done this by PM, but this was the only way I had to know you were online.

You have any questions post again. . . I'll keep watching.

Willcox

 

I can't see what the seal looks like but if its original the seal it has some days on it. If you can get it cleaned up really good across the top ( paint brush works good for dusting it out) you can do a reseal with auto primer less urethane from a auto glass shop. Urethanes can be purchased that are primer less and some can require separate primer. Clean up the top area and run urethane across top and smooth back and forth like icing a cake. Make contact with glass edge and window frame all the way across the top of windshield. After that you can take a single sided razor blade and trim off extra urethane from windshield before it dries. Also try not to get to so much urethane in there that you can not put top molding back in. If you want to reinstall top molding before urethane dries spray the back side of molding with silicone spray so that the molding does not get stuck in glue for future removal if needed. If decide to go with removing the windshield, its not a real hard one to remove with piano wire by someone who knows what they are doing. Windshield new is about $200.00 new. R&R about $120.00. Hope this helps.Good luck with it. Water leaks can be a pain.
THANKS RAYZZZ MY CORVETTE LIKES MY MONEY

 

Thanks Rayzzz, are urethanes compatible with the original sealing compound? I had planned on using ribbon sealant after a good cleaning.
I may attempt to remove some of the old sealant just to check for rust under it, but it's so hard I won't try too hard for fear of breaking the glass. The only water this car sees is a washing every couple of months, although I did get caught in the rain during a car show a couple of weeks ago.

 

Your car had urethane if it was an original windshield. First generation urethane tended to get e little more brittle over the years than current day urethanes. You can also get some liquid butyl from your local autoglass shop. It will seep into areas that have a void.

A lot of autoglass shops have a leak detector. It is an ultrasonic transmitter with a receiver that they run on the perimeter of the glass to detect a seal breakdown. Unfortunately since you have t tops it may just detect bad weatherstripping.

Good luck.
Dave

 

Yes the primerless urethane will stick if surface is clean. PADDDLE URETHANE GOOD.
THANKS RAYZZZ MY CORVETTE LIKES MY MONEY

 

MYK7 I am having the same problem You did, with my 79 the, TT is letting water through and is creating a big mess in my floorpans I was checking this post and it seems You were able to fix Your problem with
WILCOX help. Any hints on how to do it? Appreciate the help..
Regards.......

 

I ended up having to remove the windshield to reveal the rust damage to the windshield frame. The section that was giving me the leak was in the center top.. it hadn't rusted through the frame, but rusted enough to ruin the frame seal. I had considered just trying to reseal it without taking the windshield out, but decided against it. After pulling the windshield I discovered 2 or 3 spots on each pillar that needed repair. I cut them out and made patch pieces and welded them in and ground them down. After paint, you couldn't tell there was ever a problem. After a new windshield install, I'm very happy with the results and peace of mind... just wish I hadn't destroyed the original windshield.