I have to pull my windshield out to fix some rust on the top

of the frame. I've read a lot of stories about botched installs, so would it be acceptable to have a shop just set the windshield in place and I do the rest? I'd leave it in, but it's not attached along the top and at least one side anymore.

 

here's my 2-cent opinion. i'd pull the windshield and clean up the rust, eval the structural integrity of the frame before installing new glass. if the frame is sound, a rust converter, followed by something like POR-15, before new glass install.

 

How hard is it to pull the windshield and trim oneself?

 

I guess I do half assed things sometimes. I would clean up the rust with the windshield left in. Clean the joint of the glass and steel with small tools and a shop vac. After clean carefully caulk to seal it. Removing the glass would scare me. Dan

 

Exactly how I did mine years ago.

 

That's my plan. I could leave the glass in place and clean the rust I can see, BUT the glass isn't attached along the top and both sides, which to me means rust under the 'shield.

 

Having done it and then dealing with what someone in the past did in the process (weather-strip adhesive quite literally on everything) I would gladly pay a professional next time around should it ever need one again. The top trim is reproduced. The side isn't as far as I could find and is pretty hard to find used, at least when I called around to determine if I should be really really careful or just really careful. I was able to salvage the sides no issue... the top there was no saving. My frame hardly had surface rust luckily. I hope to not have to do it again anytime soon. (hopefully never)

 

Aside from the parts being hard to find, from what I know it's a bit tricky to find someone who knows how to install these windshields correctly. This is something I need to do (windshield has a small crack and is due for a replacement) but the situation makes it very tricky as either a "pay someone else" job and a DIY job. Really, has anyone made a definitive guide on doing these windshield swaps? Or at least a diagram with all the part numbers involved?

 

I have a friend who did it for GM for 40 years so he helped with the placement. But he refuses to touch them anymore... which I understand why. We marked the original out before pulling the glass so the new one dropped into place more or less. I was in a frenzy of doing other things so had I had the time I would've documented it better but it wasn't horrible but rather more tedious. No leaks as of yet.

 

As it stands, I'll probably be the one replacing my glass sometime this summer... Would you mind terribly if I could get a write-up sometime? I plan to scour the internet as much as I can before doing this, might have found a guy on facebook (ech) that has experience with it, but I'd rather have as much info (and experiences) possible so I can compare them and really do this right. Hopefully when I do mine, I'll make a proper "guide" with pictures so people in the future might be able to effectively do it themselves.

These cars are in a particular position of being tricky to work on on some places, and everyone with experience doing so is moving away from doing the work for one reason or another. A lot of the big problems are becoming "DIY" problems due to that, so we're effectively stuck being our own support network. The ABS modules are another nasty thing on these cars, and the options are pay a grand for a rebuild or get lucky and find a good used unit.

 

So while not a detailed writeup, this is what we did and I will preface this with saying it may not be "correct" either:
Cut out weather stripping. Mine was glued or cemented in so there was no saving it. Once removed we gained access to the screws holding the trim.

Using various cutters, scrapers and pry tools we carefully removed all trim and weather strip tracks. Once removed we then pulled the windshield wiper arms.

Next I wire brushed the surface rust that was present and covered with a rust inhibiting paint like por-15. We then let it sit for a day or two to cure.

We used a paint pen to mark exactly where the windshield rested on the frame to help index the new one. Then using the typical tools, cut and removed the old windshield. We then scraped and prepped the frame. Luckily the only rust on mine was under the tracks, the rest was fine so we cleaned and prepped like your typical windshield job with the paint and adhesive. We used the 3m Single step primer IIRC.

We laid the bead then set up the glass on the holder. You do have to angle it into place to go under the little "Clips" (don't know the exact name) on the cowl. Then we just aligned the glass to our marks and installed the trim, making sure not to stress the glass or trim. Then I installed the weather strip and it was done.

Notes:
It didn't seem much different than a typical glass job. but there are more parts to remove so it was tedious.

I've read of people saying they did the glass from the inside. I have absolutely no idea how that is possible as the glass is bigger than the frame in every direction. I don't doubt it, I just don't understand how.

You may want to pull your dash pad. If your foam track between the pad and windshield is in tact it can get damaged. Mine disintegrated long ago so we left the pad in place. IT would've made doing the bottom edge a little easier.

Try and order new screws for the trim. Chances are yours are rusted and you may as well replace them. All 80s gm cars seem to have used the same screws for their trim so it was inexpensive to get a replacement kit.

Good luck and I am sure the brass will be around to tell me how incorrect it was and everything. But it worked and lines up fine. It is better than who ever did it last but it is what it is... IT's what I had to work with.