| Author | Message | ||
     michael vass Experienced User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 16 Registered: 7-2015 |
Hi All Is it really necessary to remove the chrome strip to remove a rear windscreen? Cheers Mike | ||
| Bob Reynolds Grand Master Username: bobreynolds Post Number: 332 Registered: 8-2012 |
No. You can use a large hammer, and then the chrome strip doesn't have to be removed.  | ||
| michael vass Experienced User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 17 Registered: 7-2015 |
Thanks Bob I'll do that then  | ||
| Michael Evans New User Username: mikeyev60 Post Number: 8 Registered: 5-2015 |
Erm, all joking aside, a hammer won't help as the window is laminated. If you get to the point where you have smashed though both sheets of glass and the laminate you are at serious risk of hurting yourself on the edges of the glass. And it will make a mess and leave slivers of annealed glass splinters everywhere inside (that will hurt if you get them in your skin and be impossible to see to pull out like wood or metal splinters; not nice). The chrome strip is expensive and best removed carefully with a nylon or plastic trim lever. It also relieves the grip of the rubber on the glass. If the glass isn't important simply get someone to lie on their back upside down in the car and push the glass out with their feet (but make sure you catch it otherwise it will dent the bodywork). It will probably crack but won't be dangerous or make a mess. If you want to re-use the glass, use a fine stainless wire poked through the seal outside the edge of the glass then work it round like a cheese wire with someone on the inside (wear gloves though as it will hurt your hands). Try not to touch the glass with the wire, especially at the corners. Hope this helps, and I'm not trying to teach my grandmother to suck eggs, sorry if I'm stating the obvious. | ||
| michael vass Experienced User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 18 Registered: 7-2015 |
Hi Michael Thanks for the info, what I'm trying to do is remove the window and rubber so the car can be respayed ,I would like to us the rubber,chrome and glass again if at all possible, I wanted to leave the chrome in as I've heard they are a pig to put back in. Any advise welcome Cheers Mke | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 1634 Registered: 6-2009 |
Aren't the rear windows on these cars equipped in the same way as the ones on the SY cars: with a built-in electrical defrost/defog grid sandwiched in the middle of the glass layers? I always understood that this is why these windows are so *%$&# expensive and that you have to be careful not to screw up your wiring that comes out of the middle of the bottom of the window (if memory serves). You can clearly see the vertical fine wires of the grid in bright sunlight if you're standing at the correct spot to catch their reflection. If these windows are the same you'll want to exercise extreme care to preserve the one you've got. Brian | ||
| michael vass Experienced User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 19 Registered: 7-2015 |
Hi Brian Yes it is heated , but they changed the wiring to exit at the top about '85. Yes I will need strong elastic in my pants when I remove it lol Cheers Mike | ||
| Michael Evans New User Username: mikeyev60 Post Number: 9 Registered: 5-2015 |
Yes, they are laminated heated windscreens, obviously low volume hence excruciatingly expensive. I would budget on losing the rubber for the sake of keeping the trim. It would probably be easier and better looking and better sealing to use a brand new one when you put it back in anyway. Very soapy water is extremely helpful, about 1/3 washing up liquid to 2/3rds water, get it in-between the seal and the trim and hopefully it will slide out with some gentle leverage from a nylon trim lever. Go very gently so not to distort the trim, and have help to make sure it is not hanging in free space as you work it out as that will bend it beyond recovery too. In both the trim and the glass using the solution what you are trying to do is break the natural "stick" that will have formed over the years. What you want to do is try to peel the grip away from the seal to the glass, or seal to the trim rather than overcome it with force as in both cases the forces with induce failure mode (broken screen or bent trim). The stainless trim has to come out before you can take the glass out. Also, try to remember to disconnect the wiring first of all, otherwise with everything else going on you will forget and either cut through it with the cheesewire or rip it out when you lift out the glass! Also gently prize the seal away from where the glass sits in it and brush / work the washing liquid solution in. I won't bore you with the details of how the screen is made (but if you are really interested PM me and I will nerd you to death with it), but basically it should be treated as you would a plain sheet of glass (the type that shatters into shards in cartoons. Actually, that's as good a guide as any) but suffice to say it is both very strong in some ways but fragile in others. Gentle encouragement over time is better than whacking it - you stand a strong chance of cracking it (even gently with the palm of your hand can do it in some circumstances). That's why the cheese wire method is the best for saving the glass, as the seal will probably be un-servicable anyway even if you don't cut it. If you can borrow / rent / buy a pair of the "sucker" type glass fitting handles that will make the glass much easier and much less dangerous to handle. Remember the edges of the glass are like razors, and the screen probably weighs 80Kg so just a slip will give you awful lacerations, a pinch can easily take chunks / remove digits. I don't mean to scare or be gruesome, I just don't want you to hurt yourself. Mike | ||
| michael vass Experienced User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 20 Registered: 7-2015 |
Hi Mike Thanks for the info , I've read the service manual and it says to remove the trip before removing window but then it says fit the trim before refitting , I don't understand why bother to take it at all? cheers Mike | ||
| Bob Reynolds Grand Master Username: bobreynolds Post Number: 333 Registered: 8-2012 |
Is it worth all the hassle just for a respray? Can't you just mask it off and spray around it? Yes, I know it's not such a professional job, but it seems like a lot of hassle and risk to take for no obvious gain. Now, if the window needed replacing anyway, that would be different. Sorry if this is a dumb suggestion.  | ||
| Brian Vogel Grand Master Username: guyslp Post Number: 1635 Registered: 6-2009 |
Bob, No one but the owner of the car can answer your first question. The second is a definitive, "Yes," and any body shop worth going to knows how to do this, and well. Most resprays don't involve removing all the windows unless a major restoration is involved. If there is no evidence of corrosion and no evidence of a leaking seal on the window I would certainly be hesitant to remove it. Brian | ||
| michael vass Experienced User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 21 Registered: 7-2015 |
Hi All I have removed my rear screen and all parts intact , now I can breath again lol I did remove thr chrome trim ,it seemed to allow the rubber to twist to let go of the car. Hi Bob & Brian ,beleive me if it didn't need to come out I wouldn't , corrosion was creeping from under the rubber, and now it's out there is more under there. Not looking forward to refitting though! Mike | ||
| Jim Walters Experienced User Username: jim_walters Post Number: 39 Registered: 1-2014 |
The trim comes out of the rubber to give it more flex to remove. You have to tuck the inside edge of the rubber over the lip on the body to remove it. When reinstalling it, the rubber pulls in the opposite direction over the body lip and flexes away from the lip and will do so with the trim in the rubber. Trying to force the trim into the rubber after the glass is installed is almost impossible as the trim groove in the rubber is now compressed. Follow the procedure in the shop manual, it is the correct way to do it. I've done hundreds this way. There is a shortcut to get paint under the edge of the rubber when painting that we used to do on cheaper cars. Lift the outer edge of the rubber and slide a length of 10 gauge electrical wire under the rubber all the way around. Push it in about an eighth of an inch, this will hold the rubber up and off the car body and allows paint to spray under it. When we worked on lesser cars this was a quick way to get a clean paint edge around the windows without removing all of them. It worked very well and made for a better job. I'm not necessarily recommending it in this case, but it is a good trick to know. SRE22493 NAC-05370 www.bristolmotors.com | ||
| Jim Walters Experienced User Username: jim_walters Post Number: 40 Registered: 1-2014 |
Also run a plastic tool around the outside to release the rubber as described previously before pushing it out but do not add any soapy water to remove it. It is necessary for the rubber to be dry when removing it so when you tuck the inside edge over the body lip it sticks where you put it. A little silicone spray on the rubber will help the reinstall. If your rubber seal is not soft and flexible you should carefully cut it out and get a new one. SRE22493 NAC-05370 www.bristolmotors.com | ||
| Jim Walters Experienced User Username: jim_walters Post Number: 41 Registered: 1-2014 |
I was typing as you posted that you have it out. Glad it came out in one piece! If you reuse your old rubber seal install it on the glass and then place it out in the sun for half an hour to warm up. It will go back in much easier if warm and the glass will also be more flexible and less likely to crack. SRE22493 NAC-05370 www.bristolmotors.com | ||
| michael vass Experienced User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 23 Registered: 7-2015 |
Hi Jim Thanks for the tips ,and explanation , I like doing things for a reason (I'm just awkward lol) Great tip for sparying under rubbers! If I didn't have rust under there I would have done that! Lets hope the sun shines when I refit it lol ,next june maybe haha. Many thanks Mike | ||
| michael vass Experienced User Username: mikebentleyturbo2 Post Number: 32 Registered: 7-2015 |
Hi All Just put screen back in ,followed bentley manual instructions to the letter! and it went in sweet and in 1peice! see pic attached ,note I tinted it too! Thanks Jim and all for your help Mike  |
