Hi,

I have a 1999 C5 coupe (not FRC) that I use as a track-day car (fairly heavily modified). I got a ping in my windshield which radiated to a fairly large star crack. I got some horrendous quotes on replacement, and then found that some companies didn't even want to take it on (one prominently said "No Corvettes"). Several quoted that you had to buy a new molding for over $500. I think they mean the weatherstrip, which doubles as the top reveal molding.

I did a bunch of trolling on forums to see if anyone had done their own disassembly or replacement, and came up pretty dry. I learned that some people had paid as much as $1500 for a dealer replacement of a windshield with a HUD.

I got into the service manual and studied the disassembly process. There are a lot of steps, and as is pretty normal, you have to jump around a lot. But nothing really looked like rocket science. I called around and found an installer who would do the basic windshield R&R for $200 total (using an after market windshield, which I was fine with). I decided to tackle it.

I was slow and careful with the disassembly process. It took me about 2 hours, and I found a couple of mistakes in the service manual process that slowed me down (a sequence error and an unnecessary disassembly step). If you do it wrong, you can damage the weatherstrip, but armed with some knowledge and working carefully, you should be able to avoid it and be able to reuse everything. I was able to.

I had the company I selected come out and do the windshield replacement. That only took about 45 minutes, and the total bill was $213 (I'm really happy with this guy, so I'm including his information below for people in the area).

I have a lot of pitting in the windshield of my 2003 convertible, and I asked him for a quote on that one. It has a HUD, and does not have the radio antenna as my coupe does. Same price.

If there is interest, I would be happy to document the process (it will take me a couple of weeks to get to it). I think it will save the do-it-yourselfers a lot of money. I know I won't hesitate to do this again.

If you are in the greater Cincinnati area, here is the company I used. He's a one-man company. He had 20 years experience as an employee in a larger auto glass company, and then went out on his own. As I said, I'm very happy with my experience with him.


F.M. Auto Glass, LLC.
1193 Teakwood Drive
Milford, OH 45150
513 382-7336


Mike

 

Heck yeah post a write-up! A PDF would be even better. A lot of us have older C5's that need, or will need a new windshield, so it will be greatly appreciated.

 

Yeah, do the procedure.