• Hey Guest!
    British Car Forum has been supporting enthusiasts for over 25 years by providing a great place to share our love for British cars. You can support our efforts by upgrading your membership for less than the dues of most car clubs. There are some perks with a member upgrade!
    **Upgrade Now**
    (PS: Upgraded members don't see this banner, nor will you see the Google ads that appear on the site.)

TR2/3/3A Windscreen back in the frame

Share this page

CJD

CJD

Yoda
Offline
The windscreen frame is back from the chrome shop. I've been searching the archives about mounting the glass, but still have a couple questions. First, is the rubber used as a single piece or two pieces split at the lower corners? If one piece, where should the seam be located? And finally, I see some reference to the upper hood seal extending farther down on the sides for the TR2. Does it actually get "pinched" by the side stanchions?

Thanks...
 
Hi John,

I have not but I`m sure someone will be along shortly that has.

Best Wishes,

Russ
 
John it has been a while. I do remember the glass and blackrubber thickness being different and was able to find some thicker rubber stuffat a glass shop once. The top piece does tuck in down the side like the picture,and I think I rapped the whole frame with the rubber and tapped all around theglass generously back and forth like a tapped up mummy leaving one seam at thetop. Then after I placed the glass in the frame and screwed the sides together Itrimmed the tape and rubber off with a razor. The bottom piece of rubber outsidethe frame is often a PITA and depends on vendors and batches. It is usually oneof those soap and pull deals, but I think I had better results with WD40 thansoap.
 
John, it's also been awhile since I replaced mind, but I went a different route. I purchased a roll of black cloth tape about 2 inches wide and folded it over the edge of the glass. I had to replace my glass because it was badly pitted. The new glass was thinner then the original. If I remember correctly I had to put two layers of tape on to get a snug fit. It worked quite well. I then trimmed the excess tape off with a razor. It's been on for years now with no problems. As noted in the above thread the bottom rubber is a feed and pull operation with some kind of lube. A extra set of hands would help with that one.
 
CJD said:
Now I know a lot of you guys have installed glass!!
Click to expand...

I installed mine. I'm not sure the differences between the TR3 and 2. I do know the w/s sealing rubber I got from TRF was too fat. If I folded it over into the frame, and tried to hammer the glass in, the rubber would slice/tear at multiple spots. I went to a glass shop, showed them what I had, and they gave me some "old school" stuff off a roll that had been lying in the bottom of a cabinet for so long some of the other workers didn't know they had it. Also the rubber was almost stuck to itself on the roll, because it's tacky, and sticks more when warmed. It took some time to get a length off the roll. After I had the right stuff, I clamped the frame in an upright position on a bench and it went together without a lot of worry -aside from the notion of it falling and breaking the glass. After it was all together, I trimmed with a razor.

I think the key to getting that rubber "seal" in the bottom has to do with getting the frame channel perfectly clean first. I also cut a small section off the "seal" and worked the 2" section thru the channel several times (right to left, and/or left to right) until it would slide from one end to the other easily. Something as simple as a peeling crack in the chrome can hang up the seal -let alone 50 years of grit on some old adhesive... Then the seal went right on, and now it very nearly keeps water out.
 
John
I installed new glass in the 56 TR3 a couple of weeks ago. I used black electrical tape around the glass for my seal. It took several layers and then just trimmed the excess off. Like Texas said, clean the bottom frame track where the seal goes very good. The rubber seal I had was very thick. I clamped the bottom windshield frame that I cleaned into a vise ( with the L brackets installed) and pulled the rubber seal in first before fastening to the rest of the frame. I used amour all for lube. There are oval shaped metal pieces that attach to the stanchions to hold rubber in place.

Marv
 
Thanks, guys! The old post was very helpful, but I couldn't tell where the seam went for the surround rubber. Seam at the top makes sense, as I guess putting the seams at the bottom corners would collect water in the lower frame. I'm hearing that some of the rubber is too thick, and other too thin. Can't wait to see what the case is with mine.

Thanks again!
 
Follow-up...

The seams for the glass pinch weld has to go in the 2 lower corners. The angle there is too acute to wrap the seal around, as it then bunches too much to fit the frame over.

A rubber hammer is essential to get the frame fully seated over the glass. I tried my full weight to no avail. I laid a towel over the frame and rapped the frame with the rubber mallet to work it down...worked like a champ.

One last question...what are you guys using to seal the tenan plates and stanchion to the side of the frame? The TR2 had no sealant. The TR3 did have that nasty black butal rubber sealant. So, just wondered if you guys are putting yours together dry or sealing?
 
Thanks Marv! You started working on the new Jag yet?

Edit...

Importand tip. Just remembered there are 2 nut plates that go inside the glass channel on the upper large frame. If you have your frame re-chromed, don't forget to reinstall these plates...or you'll have to pull it all back apart like I did!!
 
Last edited:
I hit another wall with the assembly and need some more advice.

First, I found while cleaning the lower seal end retaining plates that they are made of brass. Apparently old chrome is no better than our modern chrome, as it all came off in the bead cabinet.



I can deal with that...but the real problem is with the tenax studs:



If you look closely, you see a couple issues. First, they, too are brass...and yes, the chrome came off in the cabinet. I think I can get them re-chromed. But, you will also notice that the studs on the TR2 are the small type (right stud). You can see the button is about 1/2 the size of the newer, larger, style stud (left side). My question is...before I spend a small fortune re-chroming the NLA small studs...is it worth it? Will I be able to find the small tenax fasteners to fit, or do I need to switch to the larger size to find a hood that will fit?
Every catalog I look in lists the small tenax as NLA. Can they be found anywhere?
 
Thanks, Marv. I have the small...what I am worried about is finding the small tenax clasps to match when it comes time to install the hood (top). Are they still available somewhere? If not, it may be smarter to switch to the larger studs now. Only a very gifted eye could tell them apart once on the car!
 
When you put the Tenax back in, note the distance to the glass. Broke the first windshield when the tenax hit the glass! I then cut all the tenax to just go through the frame. As noted above, the rubber you can buy is too thick, we used tape and the butyl sticky stuff. Requires a lot more cleaning but does support the glass well.
Jerry
 
Thanks, Jerry. I used the Moss pinch weld. I was apprehensive after hearing all the stories like your's with the rubber being too thick. It went in with minimal trouble. The only hard part was working alone to do it. Definitely would be easier with extra hands to hold everything!
 
Back
Top