Fitting new windscreen

[macstag1]

Hi Guys,

After respray the body shop using a new seal refitted my old windscreen, following instructions I gave them taken from this very forum, all good, until next morning after I had got the car home I saw that the screen had cracked very neatly from top to bottom just right of centre. Possible cause, having no T bar fitted and driving it onto and off the low loader caused flexing,

My question is will I need to buy another rubber seal and screen or can the old cracked screen be removed without cutting the seal.

also bearing in mind cost of new screen plus packing and potentially a new seal cost is about £200, should I seek an expert fitter rather than taking it back to the body shop. I do remember a fitter maybe in Essex being mentioned, I live in Surrey.
Any advice will be much appreciated.
Cheers
Mac

[Dieter H. Marschall]

Hello Mac,
When fitting a new windscreen it is a hell of a job to refit the chrome frame later. I ended up glueing it onto the rubber seal! It seems wise to use a new seal, too.
Good luck with your job!
Dieter.

[jakesmig]

Don't cut the seal' the only reason the seal is cut is to remove a wndscreen without breaking it. In your case it is too late. Sit back in the passenger seat, place your feet in the top left of the screen and press until the top of the screen pops out, then work the rest of the screen out.
Can't help with fitting advise in your area, I fitted mine myself, the only hard part is fitting the chrome trim. If you can take the seal off your screen without disturbing the trim then refitting is childs play.

John

[trunt]

I went the install first trim later route. It was installed in 10 mins. Trim took 2 hours.

If I ever do it again I’ll try the trim first option! Though I’m sure that’s not easy either.


Terry

[Goldstar]

I went the install first trim later route. It was installed in 10 mins. Trim took 2 hours.

If I ever do it again I’ll try the trim first option! Though I’m sure that’s not easy either.


Terry

What method did you use Terry, got one to do and not going too well at the moment

[trunt]

Rope for the install, and rope again for the trim.

I found the trim was ok using rope on the top,side and bottom but I had trouble on all of the corners, in the end I used tools to finish them off, a bit like Drews instructions but not exactly.

Terry

[rwdstag]

It is a fiddle but as long as you take it easy slowly use a bit of lube
only took half an hour but a couple of hours for the trim
all quite easy though

[Goldstar]

Thanks. I’m putting it off tbh screen is in ok and about half of one trim - one to knuckle down to I reckon.

[macstag1]

Thanks for all the replies, especially the way to remove an already broken screen without cutting the rubber seal, apologises for late reply, but been on granddad duty all day. By the way, I advised the bodyshop to fit trim to seal and then seal to screen before fitting to car, it obviously worked OK for them, but something caused the screen to crack later.

thanks again
Mac

[Phil S]

broken screen may be covered by insurance, if so get it done for a £50 excess

[Dieter H. Marschall]

Normally you should fit the chrome trim to the seal and then the seal to the screen and then build in the screen. The problem is that some new seals do not fit to the chrome trim ... I found out the hard way!
Good luck! Dieter.

[macstag1]

An update regarding my windscreen. I contacted Robsport regarding the cost of a new screen and they suggested that I call Mark Sumptor Glazing Ltd. near Stanstead Airport. As I have never fitted a windscreen before I was prepared to drive the one and a half hours to MSG Ltd and have the screen professionally fitted. I have just returned, frozen after driving there and back with no hood (at South East Trimmers for a refurb) , but with no traffic holdup. Mark made it look so easy, all done in a little over thirty minutes, his work is guaranteed, so to mind worth the cost.
Cheers Mac

[Goldstar]

An update regarding my windscreen. I contacted Robsport regarding the cost of a new screen and they suggested that I call Mark Sumptor Glazing Ltd. near Stanstead Airport. As I have never fitted a windscreen before I was prepared to drive the one and a half hours to MSG Ltd and have the screen professionally fitted. I have just returned, frozen after driving there and back with no hood (at South East Trimmers for a refurb) , but with no traffic holdup. Mark made it look so easy, all done in a little over thirty minutes, his work is guaranteed, so to mind worth the cost.
Cheers Mac

Result. Did he fit the chrome trim mac?

[macstag1]

Hi Goldstar, yes he first fitted rubber to screen and then pushed each half of the chrome trim into the grooves in the rubber until the trim met in the middle, then using a special tool he eased the rubber seal over the trim at both ends of the screen. That was the hard bit, getting the screen onto the car looked so easy, but as we all know, when an expert knows exactly what he is doing it always looks easy, until Michael Portillo has a go!. Mind you, Mark did comment that my trim was a good one, apparently on some the lip at the back of the trim is wider making it more difficult, but not impossible to fit.

Cheers Mac

[Goldstar]

Good news. Thanks for the reply