Bugeye windshield to body seal

Well, I started to tackle what I thought would be one of the harder jobs on the Bugeye and I’m pleasantly surprised to say that it was pretty easy. I connected the windshield frame to a garage door track with a nylon strap and used Dawn diluted in about 20:1 with water. I started feeding it in until I got too far away from from the starting point to pull and feed, so I enlisted my wife Jo to do the feeding and lubrication. The key to this whole process is getting and keeping a grip on the seal while pulling it. I found an old pair of Madgrip gloves and they stuck to the seal like glue even when soaked in the Dawn solution! All in all it took about 7 minutes of pulling to get the seal in place...not bad for something I was dreading.
Rut

I did the same, except my wife was "unavailable" to help until the last 10 inches or so.... took me a little longer!!

I've read quite a few complaints about that job. I thought it would be quite a bit tougher than that as well.

Kurt

It's all in where you get your seal from. One's from the usual suspects do not fit. I got one from Bugeye Guy and I'm sure his source is McGregors in Canada. The one I got slid right into place with no issues.

Mine came from Moss and while it was snug it fit well...can’t wait to install the windshield today! I think I’ll preemptively install 6 helicoils in the frame to upright screw holes since they show wear.
Rut

Rut, I did just that and it solved getting things to fit securely. I think I had an issue with 1 of the 6 Helicoils as hole was too large for the Helicoil to work correctly. A future fix perhaps.

Final report I’m happy to say! Installed the 10-32 helicoils and that took about 10 minutes...no drilling required since the holes were large enough to tap and screw in the insert. Next job was the windshield and since I’m recovering from the flu I’m not allowed outside. I happy to say my wife is out, so she didn’t see me working on her dining room table and since I was inside I put it in without any lubricant. The glazing (Moss) goes in with the groove toward the interior and that was simple enough, it fit very well all the way around. Next was the windshield, top in first and work around each side until you get to the corners. I started off using a bondo spatula made out of red plastic, but that didn’t hold up well, so I broke out the wooden cheese spreaders my wife hides with her ‘good’ flatware. Once i chose the correct one, kinda thick at the tip, I started on the bottom frame/glass and pushed the glazing up flush with the glass, followed by the thin spreader on the opposite side pulling the glazing over the glass. Once the bottom edge was in the corners popped over the glass and I was done. It took about 30-40 minutes from start to finish and was much easier than I thought it would be...I must be living right!
Rut

Your in great shape till the next wine and cheese party!

Kurt.

nomad said:

Your in great shape till the next wine and cheese party!

Kurt.

Click to expand...

I cleaned everything up, barely smells like rubber!
Rut