Windshield Replacement Project

[patricke]

Today I decided it was time to start my windshield replacement project. It took longer than I originally thought as it is not a simple matter of unscrewing some screws and popping out the old crappy acrylic that was in there. I have an older Italian style stainless steel windshiled frame which is much heavier than its aluminum counterparts......also quite impressively built I must say after dismantling it.

First a shot of why I am doing this project. Acrylic had turned a funky purple color, or maybe that is what it came with, anyone know? I doubt it and I know that sometime between rolling off the assembly line to me buying it, someone had indeed replaced the plastic and did kind of a poor job with the seals around the plastic as well. You can also see areas of spider cracking that was getting pretty bad:
IMG-20120208-00150.jpg IMG-20120208-00148.jpg

I ended up having to take the entire frame off the deck. Years of grime underneath lol! I also found a wire that had been cut that came through the rear base of the portside of the frame.

IMG-20120208-00151.jpg IMG-20120208-00154.jpg


IMG-20120208-00153.jpg <====== Any ideas on this wire folks? George did you encounter this on your TR?




Much to my chagrin I found out that the actual front of the windshield fram does nto come apart and that the acrylic has to be carefully bent and slid upwards, then down to get it slotted into the frame. Not such an easy task like the sides were. Sides were simply jiggle and pull apart exposing plastic. The fact that the seals seemed to have been squirted in in certain spots also made it more difficult to free the large front piece.

IMG-20120208-00155.jpgWindshield in three parts
IMG-20120208-00163.jpg IMG-20120208-00159.jpgSeperating acrylic from frame

IMG-20120208-00164.jpgPretty rough garage job on the past Acrylic cutting/install

IMG-20120208-00166.jpgBacking plate behind front windshield. Underneath exposes the craftsmanship of this frame.

IMG-20120208-00167.jpgYay. Got piece out.

Off to plastic shop to get some better acrylic! Will update when I get parts back and re-assemble. I am going with a darker black that I think will match what I am more accustomed to seeing on the classics.

Also,I think this will be a good opportunity to really clean/buff those tough to get to spots of my dash now

[RickR]

I like the darker acrylic also.
On the earlier 22C, the stainless windshield frame comes apart. A lot less work

The screw holes on my 1995 22C were not chamfered causing some gel coat cracks. I chamfered the holes with a Philips bit in a drill and sealed with Polysulfide when reinstalling.

Keep us posted

[silverghost]

Just a wild guess~

Could that mystery windshield frame wire be some sort of radio antenna for your AM/FM stereo ?

[patricke]

Silverghost you nailed it. I found that the wire went to where the radio used to be so that is what that was at one point.

Rick-my holes appear to be chamfered so thats a bonus.

I am, however thinking about cutting some dense black padding of some sort to put between the frame and the glass when I screw it back into the deck.

Plastic shop is leaving me hanging so I do not have the new pieces for install yet. Will post when I start.

[f_inscreenname]

You can get thick, dense weather stripping from HD. White or black.

[patricke]

[ QUOTE=$originalposter]{$pagetext}[/QUOTE]

Excellent I will check there thank you.

[JayZ]

I am, however thinking about cutting some dense black padding of some sort to put between the frame and the glass when I screw it back into the deck.

...You could also try butyl tape.

[BlakeSullivan]

When I redid my 22c windshield I used a thin piece of rubber maybe 3-4 inches wide and about 1/8" thick I bought from Kemah hardware. The windshield fits nice and snug with no vibration or rattles, I think it was only 10 dollars.

[patricke]

[ QUOTE=$originalposter]{$pagetext}[/QUOTE]

Blake, how does it look as it sounds like the rubber may protrude out from underneath the frame.......Does it buckle and stick out anywhere?

[BlakeSullivan]

I cut the rubber so that it fits flush. Just need a long straight edge and a razor.

[JayZ]

Just for another idea you can look here:
http://www.butyltape.org/

It makes a nice watertight seal. ...good on portlights or bedding down other hardware on boats. It is probably not that important that you have a watertight seal where the windshield meets the decks but it might be worth a look. ...could be pretty easy to just roll the tape on if the width is what you are looking for.

[patricke]

Great ideas gents, I will let you know what I end up with when I get the frame back from the shop. Thanks!