During replacement of the windscreen we found a little rust, so my vette is at the panelbeaters getting that repaired. I have new weatherstrip to fit and so I've brought the windscreen trim pieces home to clean.

I was surprised there are 2 pieces to each side when I expected one, but thats OK. It looks as if maybe there is some kind of paper or thin rubber strips glued between them, in some places? Can anyone tell me what that is ?

Also what advice can the experts give me in advance for when I or the glass shop refit the trim?

 

The foam tape is a type of sealer,you need to put something between the two pieces when they go back on the car.Im surprised you got these off the car without destroying these.There are 6 pieces total,3 WS retainers and 3 pieces of trim.The retainers are stainless I think but the trim is flimsy aluminum,dont bead blast it,it warps really easy.

 

Thanks for the reply. Yes I think you're right about aluminium and stainless - I guess the foam tape is to prevent them touching and causing electrolysis . One side had the tape, the other one didn't and the aluminium is corrdoded, but repairable.

So this foam tape should be BETWEEN the two pieces- what about UNDERr the first piece as well?

Makes me wonder how the heck I can get a watertight seal with all these pieces under the weatherstrip.

 

On the top strip that is fitted first and has the black edge trim you can see above the windscreen, there is some thin plastic around the curve.

I haven't removed it yet because I doubt I could replace it - any advice?

I have removed all the old thin foam tapes, I'm sure I can find new for that.

 

I think its the foam tape that gives you the seal.When I replaced the windshield in one of my cars years ago I didnt think I needed the foam tape and water came past the trim and into the car.I went and used silicone sealent on the trim to seal out the water.If I remember right the 2 sided tape held on the WS retainer to the car and the one sided foam went on the trim.Ive got one new piece I bought for paint reference.

 

Haha, don't know about the windshield trim. But you need to put something inbetween the trim and weatherstrip retainers, or you will get A pillar water leaks that drip out of the A pillar inside plastic trim. I don't know if you can get sealer tape or just use a sealant or something.

I don't know what goes under the windshield trim, but you can get a water leak that goes under the windshield trim and gets to the A pillar.

The PO had the windshield replaced in my 89, and I later found that I was having some pretty good A pillar leaks as I noticed rain water dripping on the Bose speaker cover in the passenger door. I took it to the dealer, their glassman was supposed to find all the leaks and fix them.

The windsheild wasn't installed correctly, so he had to push it up more. Then he ran sealant all around the windshield where it touches the windshield trim. Then he ran sealant inside under the bottom of the windshield trim/retainer. This area is inbetween the A pillar plastic trim and weatherstripping.

Though, a couple of years later I was doing some water leak checks, and found I had a good A pillar leak on the driver side. I looked and that guy had sealed up the bottom of the passenger A pillar, but didn't do the ****ing driver side. I've got that mostly fixed now. Though I still had a leak down at the bottom coming in on the Windlace. So, I pulled back the bottom of the weatherstripping and plan to reglue that back down.

I also noticed water would come in the A pillar where the top windshield trim overlaps the A pillar windshield trim. I resealed under the driver A pillar again as I guess I missed a few spots. And I squirted some sealant in gap where the top windshield trim overlaps the A pillar windshield trim. I was running the water sideways at the spot and got the leak, so it may not have leaked in normal rain. But with wind and all, it might of leaked, so I went ahead and sealed it up so I know for sure water can't get in there.

 

The piece your referring to is part of the trim and this trim is very expensive,when you could still buy this is was about $450 for the 3 pieces.Heres the fun part,the holes for the mounting screws were drilled after the trim was on the car,so if you had to replace a piece of the trim you would have to re drill new holes.

 

I still don't see why GM couldn't of had a better way of doing this. Does the C5 and C6 have this problem as well?

 

Thanks again for the replies. It seems there is a lot involved here to ensure all is watertight

1. New windscreen position
2. Tape
3 Sealant

It is very tempting to slather new silicone EVERWHERE when I fit the trim and new weatherstrip

Would that be the best idea? It would make it very hard to pull apart again

 

When questioning anything about the car you need to look at the source,G.M.These cars are cheap,built cheap and the engineering was cheap.The only thing NOT cheap are the parts.These cars are crap,simple as that.

 

When I replaced the WS in my 84 years ago I didnt use anything to glue the WS in place,the retainer did a pretty good job of holding it in place so I left it at that.I would get some thin foam tape and put that between the retainer and windshield frame and then a piece of foam tape between the retainer and the trim.You might want to put some black urethane at the corners but I wouldnt use anymore than was needed.

 

What are you guys using behind the weatherstrip trim in place of the factory sealant tape to seal off water? I can't find any and I've called all of the windshield shops I can find.