At last got the windscreen in. A job I was dreading and rightfully so. Turned out to be a hateful task but happy with the result after a lot of sweating and cursing.
Just happy I don't have to do it again...... oh .. wait a minute
Around the windscreen is one of the worst places for rust on these cars so to try and prevent this happening I ran a thin smidge of sealant (Sika 255 FC primerless sealant) all the way around the recessed lip that the windscreen sits in first, also going over the clips as these can also rust out. I then fitted the screen with a 10mm deep V profile of sealant and let it fully dry. Once the screen was set in place I filled the gap with more of the same sealant and smoothed it off to the level of the glass so water couldn't pool anywhere around the windscreen.
Very important to thoroughly clean and degrease both the lip and screen with alcohol before applying the sealant.
The foam dam turned out to be too thick and had to be halved in thickness with a razor blade to ensure the windscreen sat at the proper depth from the body.
The windscreen itself was a new one as the old one (also not original) had a stone chip.
To stop sealant going everywhere I taped off everywhere I didn't want it to go!
Thin layer of Sika applied to lip to ensure there was no way water could get through to the paint/body. Clips then installed. I also ran sealant along the gap between the body and the interior lower trim piece to prevent condensation on the inside of the windscreen from running down into the metal U shaped channed that holds the trim piece on as these also rust out because of this.
Once the screen was in and dry, the gap was filled with more Sika and levelled off. I used more masking tape to prevent mess.
Getting the stainless trim on was a b$%t&*d of a job as the clips were so snug to the bodywork that you couldn't just push the trim on. A good solution seemed to be to pry these open with a plastic tool so as to not damage the paint and slide a fairly thick piece of insulated electrical wire or strimmer cable into them so there is a gap between the body and the clip. You can then push the trim into position and pull the wire/cable out. The cable needs to be sitting on the inside (windscreen side) not the outside (bodywork side) of the stainless trim so you can pull it out.
Even with this method, the trim popped off several times, usually just before the last clip, meaning you have to redo several clips that then pop off. I also did this before the sikaflex that I used to fill the gap between the screen and the body set as once dry this could stop the trim going into position if any of it was proud of the windscreen surface.
Just happy I don't have to do it again...... oh .. wait a minute
Around the windscreen is one of the worst places for rust on these cars so to try and prevent this happening I ran a thin smidge of sealant (Sika 255 FC primerless sealant) all the way around the recessed lip that the windscreen sits in first, also going over the clips as these can also rust out. I then fitted the screen with a 10mm deep V profile of sealant and let it fully dry. Once the screen was set in place I filled the gap with more of the same sealant and smoothed it off to the level of the glass so water couldn't pool anywhere around the windscreen.
Very important to thoroughly clean and degrease both the lip and screen with alcohol before applying the sealant.
The foam dam turned out to be too thick and had to be halved in thickness with a razor blade to ensure the windscreen sat at the proper depth from the body.
The windscreen itself was a new one as the old one (also not original) had a stone chip.
To stop sealant going everywhere I taped off everywhere I didn't want it to go!
Thin layer of Sika applied to lip to ensure there was no way water could get through to the paint/body. Clips then installed. I also ran sealant along the gap between the body and the interior lower trim piece to prevent condensation on the inside of the windscreen from running down into the metal U shaped channed that holds the trim piece on as these also rust out because of this.
Once the screen was in and dry, the gap was filled with more Sika and levelled off. I used more masking tape to prevent mess.
Getting the stainless trim on was a b$%t&*d of a job as the clips were so snug to the bodywork that you couldn't just push the trim on. A good solution seemed to be to pry these open with a plastic tool so as to not damage the paint and slide a fairly thick piece of insulated electrical wire or strimmer cable into them so there is a gap between the body and the clip. You can then push the trim into position and pull the wire/cable out. The cable needs to be sitting on the inside (windscreen side) not the outside (bodywork side) of the stainless trim so you can pull it out.
Even with this method, the trim popped off several times, usually just before the last clip, meaning you have to redo several clips that then pop off. I also did this before the sikaflex that I used to fill the gap between the screen and the body set as once dry this could stop the trim going into position if any of it was proud of the windscreen surface.
