The Great Pumpkin - '71 Duster
This morning a glass guy came to my house and took out the windshield and backlight. I'm glad I didn't attempt this job myself. It would have taken hours and likely resulted in destroyed trim and broken windows. The guy had the front and rear glass out (both in one piece) within about 30 minutes. Sometimes it's best to pay a pro and get the job done right. Cool guy too as he is a long-time, winning roundy round racer.
Thankfully, the window channel and surrounding areas are in really nice shape. The outer parts of the gaskets were faded and shrunk but they were still flexible inside, it was almost a shame to cut them out. Happy to report though there was no rust, rot or any suspect repairs found underneath. It will take a bit of effort to get all the old sealant and dum dum out but it seems to come off fairly easily. Having the rear glass out will make securing and finishing the package tray panel doable rather than nearly impossible.
The windshield came out just as easily as the rear glass. It appears that it had been out once before since one of the dash screws is missing. I was surprised to see that as I thought all the glass was 1971 factory installed.
I've stated previously the main reason to get the glass out was to help facilitate the dash wiring. The dash will come out easily now and the wiring can be done on the bench.
Once the glass was out, I ended up removing the headliner. Back in 2016 I put it in without taking the front and rear glass out and it wasn't right. It didn't sag but it had a lot of wrinkles, some spots were tight, some were loose and overall it was a sub par job. After the glass came out I tried to pull it tight but the existing holes would have ended up in different spots. Plus, the places I cut it to stuff it under the gaskets were tearing and would have eventually gotten worse. It was basically a lost cause. IMO this job really can't be done right without pulling the glass out. So I get to do it again now but the result will be better this time. The shag carpeting stuff is sound/heat insulation from H.D.
One thing to note is that the sail panels really took a beating doing the headliner since they have to come out. They also can't be fully secured in this car because the main hoop is now in the way of the front screw. Not sure how to solve that yet.
This type of interior resto stuff is tedious and adds more work/time to the project but that's what happens when you cut corners and try to fudge the install the first time. Truth be told, this car has never been this far apart. It is a bit intimidating to be at this point but there's nowhere to go but forward now.
More to come.
This morning a glass guy came to my house and took out the windshield and backlight. I'm glad I didn't attempt this job myself. It would have taken hours and likely resulted in destroyed trim and broken windows. The guy had the front and rear glass out (both in one piece) within about 30 minutes. Sometimes it's best to pay a pro and get the job done right. Cool guy too as he is a long-time, winning roundy round racer.
Thankfully, the window channel and surrounding areas are in really nice shape. The outer parts of the gaskets were faded and shrunk but they were still flexible inside, it was almost a shame to cut them out. Happy to report though there was no rust, rot or any suspect repairs found underneath. It will take a bit of effort to get all the old sealant and dum dum out but it seems to come off fairly easily. Having the rear glass out will make securing and finishing the package tray panel doable rather than nearly impossible.
The windshield came out just as easily as the rear glass. It appears that it had been out once before since one of the dash screws is missing. I was surprised to see that as I thought all the glass was 1971 factory installed.
I've stated previously the main reason to get the glass out was to help facilitate the dash wiring. The dash will come out easily now and the wiring can be done on the bench.
Once the glass was out, I ended up removing the headliner. Back in 2016 I put it in without taking the front and rear glass out and it wasn't right. It didn't sag but it had a lot of wrinkles, some spots were tight, some were loose and overall it was a sub par job. After the glass came out I tried to pull it tight but the existing holes would have ended up in different spots. Plus, the places I cut it to stuff it under the gaskets were tearing and would have eventually gotten worse. It was basically a lost cause. IMO this job really can't be done right without pulling the glass out. So I get to do it again now but the result will be better this time. The shag carpeting stuff is sound/heat insulation from H.D.
One thing to note is that the sail panels really took a beating doing the headliner since they have to come out. They also can't be fully secured in this car because the main hoop is now in the way of the front screw. Not sure how to solve that yet.
This type of interior resto stuff is tedious and adds more work/time to the project but that's what happens when you cut corners and try to fudge the install the first time. Truth be told, this car has never been this far apart. It is a bit intimidating to be at this point but there's nowhere to go but forward now.
More to come.