Leaking Windshield from old forum

[dmcerm]

Well, aside from being out of the loop for a while... and surprised to see this change from the old site to this one (reason that I missed?) one of the items that I have had my agenda to get fixed was the presumably cracked sealing around the windshield. I have to get the strips off the top and the sides (any advice on getting the probably rusty screws out?) and the strip at the top of the windshield, I know Dave from DMC MidWest said about sometimes having to drill and tap new holes for new screws ()
And I had the link to the old forum's discussion where it listed this link to this windshield adhesive (3M™ Auto Glass Urethane Windshield Adhesive, 08693)... so in general, I am looking for a whole lot of information to help me tackle this problem.
Good too see all of ya back on this forum and I'm sure you're advise and tips will be a big help.
Thanks!
Mark
16891

[Jonathan]

Hi Mark,

I can't help you with the information from the old forum, but maybe we can start anew as I'm doing this exact same job right now too.

I too have gotten advice from Dave S along the way. The reason for tackling the job was to a) fix the leak that gets me wet when caught in a hard rain, and b) repaint the trim pieces black.

I assume you also have the 3M Window Weld product as well as some SEM Trim Semi-flat Black paint? Other than that, you'll need a good drill and some strong drill bits for the rusted screws. You might also want to replace the weatherstriping at the edge you have to peel back.

With the door open on the side you're working on, you can remove the screws holding the top black wide metal trim piece in place. There are 4 on each side, and furthermore, 3 of those on each side are on the rear edge and one is around the side right near the lower edge narrow trim pieces. I won't say I have been "lucky" with this project, but fortunately the 6 rear edge screws came right out normally. The two on the side were a royal PITA. Use whatever technique you're comfortable with to drill them out. I wanted to hear from others on what they think is the best sized drill bit to use? Same size as diameter of threaded end of the screw? Slightly bigger? Slightly smaller?

Dave mentions replacing these screws when you put it back together with SS sheet metal screws. I haven't gone to go get these yet (nor does it look like I need to retap any holes or anything). The picture here is where I am now:

753

I need to do the SS bracket underneath next. Looks like all 8 screws are rusted into oblivion. I would love to hear any words of advice for the next step of drilling them out.

From there, the SS bracket comes off, the whole area gets cleaned up, wiped down, vacuumed, whatever. The 3M window weld gets put in from above between the windshield and the fiberglas. I believe the idea is you need to get that SS bracket back in there as you do the urethane adhesive, to make sure everything still fits properly. Also get some urethane into the screw holes to ensure those are leak tight.

That's about all I know. Whoever makes the next step, post your progress here :)

[dmcerm]

Jonathan!

Awesome... I really aprreciate your post on this project. That is certainly a big help to get me started. Yeah, hopefully others will post some helps to your questions as well. I know Dave S. from the old forum had some detailed help with the screw sizes and teachinques and such for making the job as easy as possible... so here's hoping we get some answers to both out questions! Good Luck and hopefully this season will be the season I get to this project!

Thanks a lot... will you keep us posted on your progress? I sure like to learn from what you're doing with this one.

Thanks again!

Mark
16891

[dmcerm]

Jonathan,

How'd you ever make out with this windshield leak project?
Were you able to get the side trim pieces off with out a lot of trouble?
Did you have to tap new holes for any of your screws on with the top trim or the sides?
Did you manage to stop your leaking windshields?

Mark
16891