ColorMeGone
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I need help on getting out my front and my rear windshield on my 1974 Dart sport. Any help would be much appreciated
Dart Sport windshield removal
- Thread starter ColorMeGone
- Start date
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If you dont have the stainless trm off yet there is a special tool (cheap on ebay) listed for GM in most cases but works once you get the hang of it.
You'll probably kill some clips but replacements are available.
Some of the gaskets are interlocking around the outside sort of like ziplock and others have a rubber cord inserted to lock. Then some have a bit of both. unlock it or remove the cord.
Thing about the sealant, it dont cooperate in temps below 70F.
Anyway the glasses go in bottom first/top last and should come out top first.
A razor blade holder type paint scraper has just enough blade exposed to push straight in and seperate the sealant from the glass all the way around inside and out. Squirt silicone like armorall in as you go or it'll just re adhere, especially in summer. Keep the razor square with the gasket. Straight in and out. An angle pull can cut the channel. We can reuse them if we dont screw them up.
Once everything seems loose and movable get a helper to help push from the inside out. Get some fingers behind the top of the gasket and help it roll in your favor. We have layed in the floor of cars with no seats and pushed the glass out with our legs/feet/shoes. Good luck
You'll probably kill some clips but replacements are available.
Some of the gaskets are interlocking around the outside sort of like ziplock and others have a rubber cord inserted to lock. Then some have a bit of both. unlock it or remove the cord.
Thing about the sealant, it dont cooperate in temps below 70F.
Anyway the glasses go in bottom first/top last and should come out top first.
A razor blade holder type paint scraper has just enough blade exposed to push straight in and seperate the sealant from the glass all the way around inside and out. Squirt silicone like armorall in as you go or it'll just re adhere, especially in summer. Keep the razor square with the gasket. Straight in and out. An angle pull can cut the channel. We can reuse them if we dont screw them up.
Once everything seems loose and movable get a helper to help push from the inside out. Get some fingers behind the top of the gasket and help it roll in your favor. We have layed in the floor of cars with no seats and pushed the glass out with our legs/feet/shoes. Good luck
69signetv8
Well-Known Member
Good write-up and explainion there RedFish! You must be a glass tech or cross that road a few times :thumleft:
ColorMeGone
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do you leave the gasket in while your doing this or do you take it out
adriver
Blazing Apostle
OK,
I’m going to tell you how I do these windshields. Sort of unorthodox but works for me.
Number one: If you have never worked with windshields be very very careful about twisting them going in or out. They take abuse well but if your twist them much, all of a sudden you may see a great big crack.
He has told you about those dammed clips. I make tools out of putty knives. But unless you have seen how the clips hold the trim you won’t quite get it and I can’t draw a picture on the computer. Basically I notch them to points on either edge.
I also have a number of putty knives dulled and rounded smooth. Once I get the windshield lose from the rubber I “shoe horn it out”. Working around as I go. (You really need three or four hands but I manage with elbows.) This is that twisting I warned you about.
Chrysler put something like plumbers putty between the rubber and the body. It is junk.
It shrinks up over the years. I clean all that out and use black polyurethane sealant from Home Depot. This “glues” the gasket in and I can take the windshield back out later with out disturbing the gasket. It works.. Trust me.
And speaking of putting the glass back in, that old rubber gasket will be too small IF you leave it lying around for a few days.
But there is a fix and you won’t have to buy a new one.
The day before you are going to reinstall it, tie it between two post or trees with a come-a-long and some tension on it. Stretch it a little. Then when you put it in the car it will be big enough.
One more thing. The last one I did I took a high speed with a sanding disk and chamfered the glass edge. That way it was sort of “rounded”. It made it easier to shoehorn it back in the rubber grove. Also it made the edge more resistant to chipping as the metal putty knives were used.
I have done them like this and it makes the next time a lot easer. Plus guaranteed not to leak.
I’m going to tell you how I do these windshields. Sort of unorthodox but works for me.
Number one: If you have never worked with windshields be very very careful about twisting them going in or out. They take abuse well but if your twist them much, all of a sudden you may see a great big crack.
He has told you about those dammed clips. I make tools out of putty knives. But unless you have seen how the clips hold the trim you won’t quite get it and I can’t draw a picture on the computer. Basically I notch them to points on either edge.
I also have a number of putty knives dulled and rounded smooth. Once I get the windshield lose from the rubber I “shoe horn it out”. Working around as I go. (You really need three or four hands but I manage with elbows.) This is that twisting I warned you about.
Chrysler put something like plumbers putty between the rubber and the body. It is junk.
It shrinks up over the years. I clean all that out and use black polyurethane sealant from Home Depot. This “glues” the gasket in and I can take the windshield back out later with out disturbing the gasket. It works.. Trust me.
And speaking of putting the glass back in, that old rubber gasket will be too small IF you leave it lying around for a few days.
But there is a fix and you won’t have to buy a new one.
The day before you are going to reinstall it, tie it between two post or trees with a come-a-long and some tension on it. Stretch it a little. Then when you put it in the car it will be big enough.
One more thing. The last one I did I took a high speed with a sanding disk and chamfered the glass edge. That way it was sort of “rounded”. It made it easier to shoehorn it back in the rubber grove. Also it made the edge more resistant to chipping as the metal putty knives were used.
I have done them like this and it makes the next time a lot easer. Plus guaranteed not to leak.
PocketAces
Well-Known Member
This was a very helpful thread. My windshield just came right out thanks to this advice. Just in case there's any confusion here are some clarifications.
Using the razor blade holder is key to the process. It breaks the bond between the rubber and the glass. Plunge the razor between the rubber and the glass straight in as far as it will go (about a quarter inch). Repeat all the way around the windshield inside and out. Below is a picture of the kind of razor blade holder he's talking about.
Then push the windshield up out of the gasket top first, then the sides. The gasket stays on the car and the windshield lifts out the front.
Using the razor blade holder is key to the process. It breaks the bond between the rubber and the glass. Plunge the razor between the rubber and the glass straight in as far as it will go (about a quarter inch). Repeat all the way around the windshield inside and out. Below is a picture of the kind of razor blade holder he's talking about.
Then push the windshield up out of the gasket top first, then the sides. The gasket stays on the car and the windshield lifts out the front.
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