TR6 Tr6 Winshield Frame Restoration

[Renoman]

Hi All,
New old guy here again...

I removed the windshield frame so I could install a new frame gasket, dashpad, crashpads, dash support blah blah blah.

So I have the windshield frame out and I noticed that the vinyl that's glued to the inside has dried out and has cracked in the corners. I met the owner of a British car repair shop the other day and he had a nice TR6 that had the inside of the frame painted with what appeared to be truck bed liner. It looked really good with the texture. I also thought about stripping the old vinyl off and gluing on some new vinyl and use a heat gun possibly to help form it into the corners.

Does anyone have any suggestions on this type of restoration? I did a search and didn't see anything. Any help is appreciated.

Art

 

[mallard]

TRF makes a nice vinyl windshield replacement kit. Clean off the old and contact cement the new one on. Very easy installation. The hard part is removing all the old glue and vinyl which is not that hard. TRF is having a sale on TR6 and 250 stuff this week you might want to check it out with 1/2 off shipping. I myself would not put the bed liner on the frame. Very hard to remove if you don't like it. You might want to consider replacing the rubber seal between the frame and the body since the frame is off the car. I did all the work myself and found that seal to be the hardest thing to do. Two people would make it very easy. Since you have gone that far you may also want to repaint the frame. OK I will shutup now as you can see I always do everything when it's apart so you don't wish you did in the end. Good luck.

 

[Renoman]

Keith,
I'm like you...it's off, so restore it. The windshield has a small chip in it so I think it can be fixed. Other than that the frame needs some work before putting it back on with a new seal. I'll check out the TRF website. I just bought the dash pad and crash pads and dash support covering. I'll look for the windshield covering kit. Thanks.

Art

 

[Renoman]

I didn't see a kit on TRF. Maybe you can link me to it? Thanks.

FOUND IT, NEVER MIND...

Art

 

[Brosky]

Make sure you glue the new dash pad down and work out any wrinkles BEFORE putting the windshield frame back on.

And DO NOT glue down the lower frame seal to the body panels, or to the windshield frame. A little non hardening sealer is fine, but no glue.

 

[Renoman]

Paul,
I think I've seen some other pics of your restoration from some web links. Very nice looking car. Does the entire dash pad glue to the cowl? I know the leading edge was glued down with some type of contact cement, maybe to keep out moisture. I did see some type of dum-dum seal along the cowl when I removed the windshield and seal. It was stuck to both the seal and cowl. It was a pliable non-hardening putty-like material. We have a similar material we use at work, very thin and very sticky. It's use to seal out water in underground boxes and vaults that fill with water.

Art

 

[Brosky]

Art,

The leading edge seals to the frame as shown in the pictures on this page from my site. Repainting 2008

Just scroll about 1/3 of the way down and you'll see the old dash pulled back for painting. Further down, you will see the new dash just before gluing down. It is just that 1.5-2.0 inch edge that fits under the windshield frame that needs to be glued down.

And thanks for the compliments!

 

[hondo402000]

I restored my windscreen frame and purchased the vinyl interior kit from TRF and it fit really well and I am very satisified with it, the trick is use some good contact cement a couple of coats on the vinyl and on the frame, cut some pieces of parchment paper in strips and when the contact cement is dry lay the parchment paper on the frame put the vinyl piece on and pull the parchment paper out piece by piece and press really good to get a good bond, if you dont use the parchment paper it will be a PITA to get it lined up and fit right cause onece it makes contact its almost impossible to get it apart


dry fit each piece first to get a feel how it goes together