Safelite Windshield Replacement

[cjquijano]

Hello,

I called Safelite today to see if they would be willing to replace the windshield on my delorean. My thought was that I would order the windshield from DMC and Safelite could install it for me.

Well, the lady I talked to on the phone said they make their own aftermarket windshields and they have a Delorean windshield in stock. Total installation with windshield would be about $250. Does anyone have any experience with safelite? Do they really have a windshield that would work?

They are suppose to have one of their glass specialist call me back in the next couple of days but I just wanted to check with the Delorean experts here.

Thanks,
Christopher Quijano

[Rich]

Hello,

I called Safelite today to see if they would be willing to replace the windshield on my delorean. My thought was that I would order the windshield from DMC and Safelite could install it for me.

Well, the lady I talked to on the phone said they make their own aftermarket windshields and they have a Delorean windshield in stock. Total installation with windshield would be about $250. Does anyone have any experience with safelite? Do they really have a windshield that would work?

They are suppose to have one of their glass specialist call me back in the next couple of days but I just wanted to check with the Delorean experts here.

Thanks,
Christopher Quijano

I have no direct DeLorean windshield experience with anybody, including them.

I have been inside Safelite's glass bending and laminating facility in Enfield NC. They make all of their NorthAm aftermarket replacement windshields there. They know what they're doing in terms of fabrication so the product they ship to your shop should at least fit and look OK. It won't have an antenna in it and won't carry a DMC logo, of course. Will likely include the black paint along bottom edge.

I have had our local Safelite shop replace a windshield on a daily driver here. Excellent workmanship and quality. Would recommend Safelite to anybody. Had not considered them for eventual D. work but now I might, knowing they have the capability.

Let us know if you go for it. And quiz them about making sure they know about the roof support and door fit situation. If you're really lucky they will tell you they've done a DeLorean before. Correctly.

[GS450-Junkie]

I just had this done with safelite. I bought my windshield thru DMC, and they just handled the install. Did it in 2 sessions so I could drop in a new dash and attach new a-pillars. They charged me $100 for the install. Was very satisfied....

[DMCMW Dave]

Go for it. I've heard this story a bunch of times. They will order it and it won't show up. There must be an error in their internal database.

[Josh]

Exactly. The only place to get a windshield is thru a delorean vendor.

[kings1527]

I just had this done with safelite. I bought my windshield thru DMC, and they just handled the install. Did it in 2 sessions so I could drop in a new dash and attach new a-pillars. They charged me $100 for the install. Was very satisfied....

How did they deal with the install and not have the roof jig for support?

[Nicholas R]

How did they deal with the install and not have the roof jig for support?

They dont, and it gets installed wrong.

[GS450-Junkie]

you would need to be on the ball with the roof situation....not them. I took my headliner out, took my center console out, and had a bottle jack with wood blocking installed and ready for adjustment once we dry fitted the windshield. We checked for a gap on the top of the windshield and adjusted the bottle jack accordingly. Then he installed the windshield and exterior trim pieces.. we closed the doors, and left the toll booth windows open and bottle jack in place for 24 hours. A full cure is 7 days.

[DMCMW Dave]

you would need to be on the ball with the roof situation....not them. I took my headliner out, took my center console out, and had a bottle jack with wood blocking installed and ready for adjustment once we dry fitted the windshield. We checked for a gap on the top of the windshield and adjusted the bottle jack accordingly. Then he installed the windshield and exterior trim pieces.. we closed the doors, and left the toll booth windows open and bottle jack in place for 24 hours. A full cure is 7 days.

Exactly. The last thing you want is to have the glass guy just show up and do your car in the parking lot without your paying any attention. This is a good one for some owner involvement.

[Dangermouse]

GS - did you ship the windshield to Safelite or to your house ?

[GS450-Junkie]

GS - did you ship the windshield to Safelite or to your house ?

I picked one up from DMCMW since I had other business there to do anyway and luckily I'm not too far away. If I were to ship it, I would suggest to your home. They are well protected, but I would inspect immediately when you sign for it. Maybe Dave can chime in here if shipping is an option, etc. I wouldn't ship to Safelite directly, because things tend to get lost, etc. and why complicate matters? Maybe I'm just paranoid. I went with the aftermarket, no antenna....I think it ran around $500 or so. Very happy with windshield. The guy from Safelite even commented on how it had the original DMC patch on the lower left corner and a GREY sun filter along the top which he said he has never seen before and really liked it.

I assisted him as much as I could (figured it would keep the cost down), but I was in control the entire time. Told him how things were going to be done, and simply let him fill in the grey areas that pertain to installment that only a glass guy would know about. In other words, you supply the DeLorean info, let him worry about the glass....which worked well for both of us. They sent their most experienced worker...(about 28 years old with 11 years experience which sorta makes me chuckle as now I am an old man at 33) and he was a blast to work with. We talked about the car the whole time which made the time fly by. He said Safelite had held an hour meeting with my car as the main topic before he came because they were worried about the install since they hadn't done one before. They tried to do as much research on it as they could, but didn't know anything about the roof jacking. He even hauled away my broken windshield and taped on (never glue!!!!!) my rear view mirror for no extra charge. I promised him a ride....

My only regret is that my door edges are a little higher than the T panel and windshield header panel so perhaps this winter I will unscrew the header panel and try to get everything lined up a little more flush. I'm leaving the headliner out as well until the car proves to me that she aint gonna leak. :thumbup:


For what it's worth....my old windshield was removed with a cable and a crank. This is damn cool if you've never seen it done before. My windshield had next to NONE when it came to windshield adhesive from the factory. About 1/16th inch of bead across the top and 0...yes that's right, 0 adhesive on the driver's side a-pillar. His eyes got real big and said, "You wonder why your headliners had all those water stains??" Would make sense that the original A-pillar cover unglued and was facing the driver at that point.....

[NightFlyer]

Thanks for sharing your experience - lots of good info there :thumbup:

[DMC5180]

At very minimum you should insist the glass installation tech talk with Dave at DMCMW. The installer should welcome the added info and be more confident doing the job, especially if the glass comes from DMCH ( the glass will say Olympia w/ DMC logo)

[eagle-co94]

Christopher, where are you located? I've got a NOS windshield here that I don't have any plans of using at the moment if you're local.

[hillbillydmc]

Hey, Why do you have to support the roof when replacing the windshield? If it is because of the weight of the doors being open(this is what I was told), can't you just leave the doors closed for the install. The doors being closed and latched should be good support, I think?

Thanks

[Rich]

Hey, Why do you have to support the roof when replacing the windshield? If it is because of the weight of the doors being open(this is what I was told), can't you just leave the doors closed for the install. The doors being closed and latched should be good support, I think?

Good question. The doors do not support the A-pillars or the roof. As you can tell by looking at the door gaskets around the windshield are, if anything, pressed down (compressed) when the doors are latched.

You can read up on at least part of what the forum has to say on this subject of roof support for windshield replacement:

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?600

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?5146

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?529

http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?6720

The thread in the last link listed has several nice photos of a support for roof and A-pillars before WS is installed. Post #26, specifically. That post also explains some stats about several D windshield jobs. And Dave's post #22 in the same thread tells of a somewhat simpler approach, but still it involves roof support.

[Tillsy]

Hey, Why do you have to support the roof when replacing the windshield?

The windshield forms part of the structural integrity - removing it compromises that.



can't you just leave the doors closed for the install. The doors being closed and latched should be good support, I think?

I have no experience with windshield replacement - aside from witnessing the consequences of a local DeLorean that had its windshield replaced without support (really bad result). But my understanding is yes keeping the doors closed will provide the best support since that is the exact alignment you are actually after, otherwise you need to jack up the roof to provide third party support since both the windshield gone and doors open means no support remains...

[hillbillydmc]

Thanks for the info!