Fitting that Rear Window.....

[EuropaTC]

Ok folks, it's rear window time in Lincolnshire.....

I know some of you guys have fitted your rear windows and I think it's generally acknowledged that it's not an easy job. I've just replaced the headlining and the plan is to do the carpets next, so the interior is out of the car. I've also removed the rear deck lid to make it easier to clean the body lips, so I've got the best access you could imagine.  But even so I gave up after an hour of getting nowhere.

So the question is, how did you guys do it ? Normally I would fit the seal to the body, lube up the glass slot with washing up liquid and fit the screen from outside the car using the string technique on the last sections of the glass.  I got nowhere with that method so switched to trying from inside the car but still felt I was putting too much pressure on and afraid of breaking the glass, I decided to call it a day.

Hence advice from those who have already been down this path will be very welcome.....   

Brian

[Gmg31]

I got a local classic car glass specialist to come and do mine. Boy did he earn his cash that day. It’s a very difficult job and I was amazed how much force he used, I was expecting the glass to break any minute. Rubber fitted first. Glass slid in at one end from outside the car and then just forced in.  The last 8” took him over an hour.  I rang him a year later to come and do another job and he declined!!

[4129R]

I did it on a warm day, with string and Fairy Liquid. A flat blade screw driver also helps.

I did it with the engine out, standing in the engine bay.

The rubber has to be warm to flex.

Fitting the middle sealing strip is even harder.

If you break the glass, I think I have a spare. About 1 hour drive away. (I did Peterborough on Monday morning in about an hour).

I have 3 more to do !!!

[RoddyMac]

I did it with the engine out, standing in the engine bay.

That's cheating! 

I spent two nights trying to install mine, it was a struggle.  I roped half of it in, and the other half using a blade screwdriver.  I did cut the seal to fit the glass and glued it together at the ends as it was a pain trying to get the glass in with the ends free to move around. 

[jbcollier]

It's a tight fit.  I figured I knew what I was doing and used the string method -- no go for me.  Then I read the manual and followed its procedure.  Worked like a charm so read the manual!  Plastic tools and a modicum of small, dull picks will be required.  An extra set of hands is nice as well.

The locking strip (to the outside) is supposed to be legendarily difficult to install.  I bought a small lock strip tool and installed it in under 2 mins.

[4129R]

If I ask enough people locally, I might find out how they actually did this in production.

I think new flexible rubber is essential as old stiff rubber does not flex enough, and bits fall off around the 180 degree sharp 2nd corner.

[BDA]

It's been a LONG time since I did mine - actually, a friend and I did it together. I don't remember using any string or soap, but we might have. I do remember the engine was in and it was really difficult. I remember thinking at one point that it was impossible but we finally got it in. If memory serves (but it may not), the lock strip was the easiest part. I don't think we had a tool for it.

I would not try it alone. I would use soap, string, warm the rubber, read the manual - everything everybody has said. Good luck!

[Certified Lotus]

Thanks for all the insights guys! I will be doing this in the near term.

[dakazman]

Lol 😃.Great info guys.
  Me too,  however I do not have the firewall or engine in.
Dakazman

[BDA]

Might be a good time to do it then!

[EuropaTC]

Thanks for the comments guys, it's almost reassuring to hear that most of you are surprised by the amount of force needed. I was expecting it to be reasonably easy, the screen came out with very little hassle but I suppose the rubber wasn't in the best of conditions and did tear at one point.

John - I didn't even realise it was covered in the manual, I've just checked and they are "screwdriver" men for the final sections. That surprised me as well, the idea of levering glass with a screwdriver isn't something I'd normally consider. I have some nylon trim removal tools that are tough so I might give them a go tomorrow.

Temperature might be an issue as well, the rubber is new but it's cold so quite difficult to get around the end radius.  If I discover some mystical new method that gets it done in two minutes I'll let you know ! 

[BDA]

+1 on the trim tools. Maybe you could put the rubber in warm water to soften it up. Maybe warm soapy water? But then maybe that would make it harder to manipulate and it might be better to apply the soapy water only on the places it's needed.

[EuropaTC]

Having slept on it, I think temperature might be the problem. Although the rubber felt flexible (it's new) I did have trouble getting it into the two ends neatly, it took some shoving. In hindsight, when I did the headlining the other day I had the aerosols in a bucket of hot water to improve the spray pattern so perhaps more of the same ? We're down to 1C this morning so unless we have a tropical heatwave I might give it a miss today.  I could do with some of that Florida weather.....

[4129R]

Just spent this afternoon fitting the rear window.

Empty engine bay, rear cover hinges removed, hand wash jelly (Swarfega) painted around the perimeter with a small paintbrush to start.

Make sure the new rubber was firmly in place especially at the corners.

Fit the bottom first and jam it in place using a 2" x 1" block centre of the roof (which flexes up to keep pressure on the glass via the wooden block, to stop the screen falling out.

Use a flat bladed screwdriver, rotating it backwards to lip the next bit of rubber around the glass. It takes a while and luckily the glass did not shatter. 

Use a putty knife or thin bladed tool to ease the rubber around the screen.

The last 1" was the hardest, and I had to do that from inside the car pushing the rubber out.

Next week, the closing strip.

[dakazman]

The locking strip (to the outside) is supposed to be legendarily difficult to install.  I bought a small lock strip tool and installed it in under 2 mins.
[/quote]
 
JB,  do you have a picture of this strip tool?
Dakazman