After being summarily turned down by a couple of mom/pop shops and two national chains -- I'm about to embark on changing my windshield myself. Thought I'd document here for anyone else that wants to try. My 82 242 has a "Volvo" branded windshield in it. No cracks but it is pitted at 220k miles of rockin' down the highway. So, I get to take care of my "cataract" AND I get a better looking flush-fit trim windshield. If I manage to remove the one in the car without breaking it - along with the trim - that one would be available if someone near Charlotte wanted it. First come, first served - just come get it for free. My intent is to use a homemade butyl cutter (acoustic guitar high E string) and simply push the OEM unit out trim and all. We shall see.

I got the good folks at Windshields to Go to source me a screen here at local warehouses. You order online and specify that you'll pick it up. Went to pick one up on Thursday 9/20 -- and it was an FYG unit (Chinese - good quality, OEM supplier to many cars today). However, they stored the windshield sitting vertically and pinched the rubber seal - put a crease in it that won't come out. So I turned that one down. Today (Fri 9/21) they have a Pilkington unit for me - and the folks at the Pilkington warehouse, right next door to the FYG guys, store it flat. So no seal damage. Next step -- order my butyl seal kit and remove the existing screen.

Got the proper primer for butyl on the way as well as replacement trim for the flush fit windshield. I made the mistake of having mine painted a while back with the windshield in the car. The trim width on the new flush fit windshields is slightly smaller than the old trim on my 82. So my paint line is going to show, which bugs the crap out of me. I found a replacement trim - Gold Glass T109B that is 31mm wide - looks like 7-10 mm more coverage which should cover the paint line. So the brand new trim on the new windshield comes off; clean up the windshield; apply the new trim (it has butyl inside the "u" channel which helps it adhere to the windshield just like the trim that's coming off); lay up the new butyl bead on the pinchweld and install the windshield.

Wider 31mm trim and butyl primer arrived. Install went as planned. Removed trim from new windshield and installed the new wider trim. Primed pinch weld, rolled out butyl, primed windshield, made some locating blocks out of the heavy duty foam pads adhered to the windshield for shipping/storage, put it in place. Completely covered paint line. Nice tight rubber trim fit to body. Daddy's happy. I have left over 31mm trim and butyl primer if anyone else wants to try this approach.

Guitar string cutter worked just fine. Massaged the driver's side loose and then worked my way around. It's out. And what a freakin' mess. Beginning to see why no one wants to work with an old butyl windshield. Not sure how anyone ever made much money changing these things out.



Helping hands and a bunch of masking to try and protect the paint.



It's out - now the clean up begins. Meh.

90 degree piece of trim cut at a 45 degree angle to gouge the big stuff out. Messy, messy job. Then duct tape (like masking tape to take lint off clothes) to get the residue. Then Goo Gone to clean it all off. Then polish. Then acetone wipe. A good 8-10 hours later, ready for next step.

Hi,

I have some questions.

How did you get that guitar string started under the window and pushed through that muck?

Did you consider or use a heat gun to soften the muck somewhat or did cold work better?

Do you think that an electric oscillating scraper that moves the scraper about five degrees side to side would have helped? Just thinking I would try it since I have one for household work.
I see that body shops have one that uses a hook type affair to cut around the seal initially on some cars.
I think your wire setup is the ticket on that muck, if you got long arms, wires or better, a captured helper on the inside? (:-)

I have a ‘91 that’s got rust to be dealt with. The windshield in the car now was replaced just before I bought it and of course the American installer buried the responsibility to do the job right.
They are good at sticking their tongue into the cheek and biting!
The P.O. told me about an occasional leak under certain conditions because I saw it was a Pilkington replacement glass. I worked some stuff under that area early on and it never was an issue until rust has set in or come up.

A Pilkington glass was used and has an issue with the laminate safety layer between the sheets turning white at the bottom left corner. Looks like air has gotten under it and is spreading bigger.

On my 1993, that I got from the Wagonmeister two years ago. He used a glass from a company named PPG Solex Duplate. Unknown if it’s American made or Chinese.
I don’t know if he installed it or he had it done.
I see a black sealant but it doesn’t look nearly as nasty goop like yours. Maybe it’s urethane.
There is a all rubber cover trim like seal that covers any sins beneath it.
I expect over time it will shrink in the fours corners like the 1991 has in its 13 years.
I also hate losing the stainless trim pieces off the older cars, but what can you do?

Is that box of sealant the old stuff or something newer? What did you mean by polish before the acetone?
I’m probably looking at using Por15 to rebuild the pinch weld area.

Keep plugging at it!
I’m sure it will turn out nice for you, just like your other projects.

Phil

Started the guitar string by pushing the pictured needle (below) through the butyl/under the rubber trim. Just like pulling a piece of thread through cloth. I "cut" the muck on the driver's side and about 3-4" around each corner top/bottom. I was then able to simply "push" the windshield out by working a little at a time and wedging the opening I'd created with a wooden popsicle stick. Did the same thing on the passenger side -- and then attached my suction handles and pulled it out.



I think heat would've made things worse -- cold would have made things easier. Not sure if that's right, but that's my call. The pictured box is the replacement 3/8" butyl/3M Window Weld ribbon. As for "polish" - I just used a light scratch-remover polish to clean up the pinchweld and the area around it. Then a wipe down with acetone before applying the butyl pinchweld primer.

Mike

Why did the companies turn you down? Were they afraid of finding rust and not being able to guaranty the work?

I had mine replaced a couple of years ago. I had no issue with anyone taking the job. When the guy removed it, there were areas that needed rust clean up. So he agreed for me to do the clean up, and call him back for the install.

The office staff I think was a little nervous about this arrangement. They called me later in the day and asked for a $50 removal fee, with the balance due on the return trip of $160
--
Bruce S. near D.C.

The mom and pop's said "it's too difficult to get that windshield". The big shops simply said "we can't help you on a car that old". I interpreted both responses to be "we can make a lot more money servicing soccer mom's mini-vans and SUV's than we can on your old piece of shit." LOL

Part of the problem is that when they see the trim in the car (82) is different than the windshield that's available (late model flush fit) they're reluctant to touch it. Explaining to them that it's the same size, glue-in style glass and that I actually WANT the newer trim falls on deaf ears. Of course, I didn't even get that far with most of them.

You may not need any special tools to get the old one out intact. Summer may be gone, but there are still some warm days left.

http://cleanflametrap.com/windshield.html#LTFGW
--
Art Benstein near Baltimore

"Sounds like Sausalito Summernight"

Understand Art -- just want to minimize the possibility of damage to the windshield. Besides - the "special tool" is just a piece of steel guitar string wrapped around a couple of wooden dowels for pull handles.