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| | == Basic removal techniques == | | == Basic removal techniques == |
| − | ===Windshield===
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| − | ====Rubber seal type====
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| − | On some older cars and even some trucks, it's really not hard to remove a front or back windshield. Many people suggest using a knife and just cutting the old seal which holds the glass. This runs the risk of the user getting cut when the knife slips.
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| − | Say you want to remove the front windshield of your 1950's car. Get inside the vehicle and start at the top. Use a flat blade screw driver starting in the middle and working towards one side of the car. Push the old rubber seal over the pinchweld. Once you get to the side of the car, start again at the top in the middle working the rubber over the pinchweld to the opposite side of the car.
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| − | After you've worked to both sides of the car, the windshield can then be pushed free of the body. Just don't push TOO hard or you may find the glass laying on the ground in pieces.
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| − | Now the windshield will be out of the car. You didn't cut your hand with a knife, and this method really doesn't take any longer then using a knife to cut the old seal.
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| − | PS. This removal method can also be used to remove a back (rear) windshield.
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| − | ====Factory glued-in glass====
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| − | Materials:
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| − | #Windshield wire (best choice)
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| − | #Stainless MIG wire (second best choice)
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| − | #Mild steel MIG wire (third best choice)
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| − | #Handles made from pipe/conduit.
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| − | #SHARP utility knife.
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| − | #Needlenose pliers (with cutter preferable)
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| − | To start, cut off a length of wire about 3-4 times as long as your window is vertically, measuring from bottom to top of glass. Remove any interior trim if possible, to make things easier.
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| − | Also, take the time to remove the wiper blades/arms and any plastic side trim or cowl fillers, so you can get to the bottom/sides of the glass edge. We will start at the bottom.
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| − | Wrap one end of your wire twice around one handle, with 8-9" of wire hanging off the middle of the handle. Wrap this TIGHTLY around the long side of the wire, do not twist together. We will be pulling and do not want kinks or twists in the area between the handles and the glass, as this makes the wire weaker by work-hardening. Think of the little springs on a factory brake line and wrap the free end so it looks like that.
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| − | Now, take the needle-nose pliers, and, starting at the bottom center of the glass edge, push the wire straight up into the urethane so it follows the inside edge of the glass towards the top. The wire should push fairly easily straight in, as if it was a needle. Once you carefully have pushed enough in to grab it with the pliers from the inside, pull about 4 feet or so into the car. Be sure it does not kink, a kink is a weak spot for pulling.
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| − | From inside, feed it through the urethane along the glass at the top until it just touches the edge of the window recess. Again, like a needle would follow the inside edge of the glass. Now go outside, find the end, using the sharp knife to trim the urethane if necessary, and pull it out slowly until the wire is flat against the inside of the glass, without kinking it. If necessary feed more through until you have the bottom handle about 3 feet from the base of the glass, then with about the same amount of wire from the top of the glass, attach the second handle by wrapping it 2-3 times with wire, and twisting the loose end around the wire leading to the glass, as mentioned above.
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| − | Hold the handles from a position along either side of the car, with the wire following the glass edge to the side. The closer the wire follows the glass recess the better. Alternately pull slowly but firmly, first one handle, then the other. You will see the wire cutting through the urethane as it is pulled, the vertical part of the wire will come towards you. Keep the part sticking out of the urethane following the glass channel to the side, do not pull at an angle or raise up away from the channel.
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| − | As you get to the side turn the handles so you are pulling up along the pillar with the bottom wire, and down along the pillar with the top wire. GO SLOW! Going fast will heat the wire and make it want to work-harden and break. Once you finish cutting through one whole side you can carefully lift the side of the glass and slip your wire back under the edge of the glass to finish cutting the other side. Be careful it does not kink when doing this, a kink in the wire will break under tension. Many times if done carefully even the rearview mirror can remain in place, and the wire fed around it.
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| − | Once the second side is cut through just stand the glass up vertically, and lift it off the car.
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| − | If you are reusing the glass carefully trim any excess urethane from the edge of the glass. A thin layer is OK, but chunks along the glass edge or where the inside sits in the channel should be removed.
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| − | Trim out the excess urethane in the channel the same way, so just a thin layer remains, and no big chunks. Some people like to leave the majority in place, I trim as much of the old out as I can and add new urethane, so I can be SURE it will seal all the way around. Any bare metal spots in the channel should be primed/painted of course, and rust removed as much as possible. If the channel has rot in it then the bad metal should be cut out and a new piece made up and welded in it's place. Pull the headliner before welding, and keep an extinguisher handy.
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| | ===Side window=== | | ===Side window=== |
| | On some vehicles the side glass is bolted or clipped to the track assembly. On other vehicles there are rivets holding it in place. In either case, either remove bolts or clips or carefully drill out the rivets in order to remove a side window. Often the track assembly has an upper limiter which must be removed to allow removal of the side window. If you are working with an older vehicle and have no replacement glass to install, make a template out of masonite the same thickness as the glass. Bring your finished template into a glass shop and they will make you a replacement glass which you can install. Clean the window channel of all dirt and rust. Install new base tape and slowly work the glass into the channel. Keep the window vertical while tapping with an oak block and rubber mallet. Install new vertical channel tracks and replace the inner and outer weather strips for a sound-and-water-tight installation. | | On some vehicles the side glass is bolted or clipped to the track assembly. On other vehicles there are rivets holding it in place. In either case, either remove bolts or clips or carefully drill out the rivets in order to remove a side window. Often the track assembly has an upper limiter which must be removed to allow removal of the side window. If you are working with an older vehicle and have no replacement glass to install, make a template out of masonite the same thickness as the glass. Bring your finished template into a glass shop and they will make you a replacement glass which you can install. Clean the window channel of all dirt and rust. Install new base tape and slowly work the glass into the channel. Keep the window vertical while tapping with an oak block and rubber mallet. Install new vertical channel tracks and replace the inner and outer weather strips for a sound-and-water-tight installation. |
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