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restoring windshield frame

Bill Redd

Jedi Hopeful
Offline
My 72 TR6 is on the way off to the painters in a week or so, after I finally got everything off the car. Thanks, all, for your help when I needed it! This place is great for a bit of encouragement...

Should I pack up the windshield frame and send it along, or is there some other way to refinish the frame? Paint is badly faded, and the black vinyl on the inside is peeling off...

How have you folks handled this?
 

screenprinter

Jedi Trainee
Offline
I did my GT6 windshied farm as follows - The frame unbolts top and bottom and comes out of the monocoque - The metal is not real thick so I opted not to sand blast this piece - I had a strip of Vinyl along the sides which was nothing irreplaceable - any black upholstery vinyl would work - just buy enough to trim all the odds and ends ( as well as major components) so everything matches.

Step one - If not already out, remove the windshield - If frames out of the car this could be tough - good luck -

Carefully out in the open air with heavy rubber gloves I used Aircraft Paint Stripper to remove 99 percent of the paint -THIS IS EXTREMELY NASTY STUFF - SO DON'T GET IT ON YOUR BARE SKIN AND USE IT OUTDOORS WHER FUMES WON'T COLLECT AND BE BREATHED IN- Once it has soaked and you scaped it with a putty knife rinse very thouroughly with cold water and allow to dry. You'll have a little paint specks left on the metal and some surface rust -

Using fine ( 220 or finer) sandpaper remove the rest of the old paint and the surface rust - Once it's free of all rust and residue use a "rust converter" to kill and rust ( Wether you can see it or not) There are several different brands - usually available at AutoZone, Advanc AP, Pep Boys, Etc.. Use as directed and when complete give the frame a scuffing with a 3M green plastic scouring pad ( NEW)
, hang the frame on a wire from a garage rafter ( so that you can turn and coat every surface without touching the wet frame, followed by at leat three coats of a good primer with plenty of drying time in between coats, - I like the Rustoleum's sandable primer - Comes in Black, Grey, and Red, and comes in Rattle Cans - This supposedly encapsultes minor amount of rust -

Sand with very fine paper in between coats of primer - following up the last sanding with the 3M scrubby - When it looks and feels like a piece of plastic you can coat it with your topcoat - a good grade of name brand engine enamel will work, or if you have a compressor and spray gun you can buy a quart of 2 part urethane paint - paint + hardener and give it a couple of coats - Bear in mind if you take this route mix only what you need at one time to coat the entire frame - clean the gun immediately after every use because if you allow the paint to catalyze in the gun waiting for the previous coat to dry you might as well throw it away.

If all goes well your frame should look like a new one and you'll be ready to apply the vinyl trim piecs to the sides and reinstall the frame to the car and the windshield.

Have fun & good luck -

Bob M.
 
G

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Bill,
Now that you have the frame off, remove everything that you can remove-glass, vinyl, paint. The above mentioned methods of stripping are valid, however, for paint, I would rely on Krylon Semi-Flat Black as a top coat. Krylon is really the best spray paint in a can, bar none. The semi-flat is a perfect match for the frame and is the ideal paint for the rear of the car, after the paint man finishes. You can paint the back of your car yourself in the garage. Trust me, very few paint shops can match this color paint and the Krylon holds on as good as your paint job. Too, just buy the vinyl kits to redo the inside of the windshield frame. Tricky to put on but looks factory when done.

Bill
 
OP
Bill Redd

Bill Redd

Jedi Hopeful
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no...sorry....

glad to hear your car is running. I hope to have mine on the road in about 6 months...

Bill
 

pvergon

Senior Member
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thank you .... there´s actualy a great guy now on the tech dept. in mossmotors california who´s name is Bill Redman, great guy.

nice to meet you by the way and good luck on your rebuild project ... if you ever have any doubt i do recomend that you share them with everybody here ... it really helps.

paul

pvernon@panamotor.com.gt
 
OP
Bill Redd

Bill Redd

Jedi Hopeful
Offline
I can complicate matters more, because my nickname since high school has been "Redd Man" given my last name of Reddington!
Since we have three kids, my daily driver is a minivan with the license REDD VAN...

I'll keep you posted on the progress of the car.
 
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