Wedge windshield replacement for a TR7

[justin_mercier]

So I have my replacement windshield and parts, but the 2 auto glass places I called both wouldn't do my window for me because I wasn't also buying glass from them (not that they had TR7 glass, let alone the proper tinted coupe TR7 glass in the first place)

I know that the proper solbit that was used on TR7s originally, with the electric wire through the center and whatnot are no longer available anywhere, which leaves me with modern butyl / urethane sealers.

First, has anyone recently had a windshield replaced on their wedge and is able to relate the experience and how the chrome trim was done? (I know originally it was just pressed into the hot solbit and held in place) And I know there are spacers of some sort under the windshield / at the bottom to hold it at the right height, but dont know the details.

Second, does anyone know a place in RI / southern MA area that will do windshield installs, without having to sell you the glass too, on site? I dont really want to have to get my wedge towed somewhere just for a windshield install, and then towed back. That'd be a ton of extra money being shelled out for no particular reason.

I'm tempted to try to install myself, but everywhere I see says it's probably a bad idea unless you've done windshields before. I figure I can remove the old windshield, clean up the area under it real well, touch up the paint / get rid of any spots of corrosion / etc and get it all prepped by myself easy enough, its replacing the windshield and trim that has me worried.

Anyhow, any help / recommendations / etc would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Gliderman8]

I TRIED installing a new windshield on my TR6. All was going great and I even got 7/8 of it in the frame. Now the last 1/8 just shattered when I applied too much pressure
I paid a guy $50 to come to the house and put it in. He did tell me that since I supplied the glass, if it breaks again they weren't responsible... which I thought was fair.
It took him a short time and it was in!
If you can't get someone to come to you, put on your sunglasses and drive over to the place

 

[Dale]

I haven't had one replaced, but the one glass guy I talked to wasn't afraid of it and said the stuff he would use was far superior to the original hot melt glue stuff. AIUI the windshield and frame are a structural unit when the glass is installed properly. It was sort of out front technology at the time, but commonplace now. Keep trying.

 

[Rhodyspit75]

Try Fournier and Coleman on Mendon Rd Cumberland.

 

[tr8todd]

Justin, if your willing to drive to my place over the weekend, I'll help you replace the windshield. I've done at least a dozen wedge windshields over the years. Was a very common thing on the TR8 race car. I have several good used ones stored away just as spares for the race car. You can get a new one from some place in RI right now that is closing out their inventory for around $130. The heat up the wire trick is practically a myth. I have never seen one that isn't compromised in some way. The way to remove the old windshield is with a thin strong wire(multi strand works best). You poke it through the sealant. With one guy inside the car and one outside, you slowly saw the sealant out all the way around. Pop out the windshield, clean away left over goo, touch up any paint/rust damage, apply new sealant and push the windshield in. The trim needs to slowly be pried out. I like to use a small stick of wood as a fulcrum against the windshield. Even the slightest point pressure on the glass will cause it to crack. Not a big deal if you plan on throwing away the old windshield, but if you want to keep it as a spare your all done. Send me a PM and I'll give you my phone number. You should come on over anyway. My place has become a weekend hang out for a good number of the local wedge guys on the weekend.

 

[justin_mercier]

Aye, i got the new old stock tinted windshield from the place in RI that put them up on ebay already (what a life saver that was, almost no one has the tinted windscreens anymore)

My windshield is a total loss already, smashed through by the carport roof beam that came down on it over the winter, so breaking it worse in removal isn't a problem =D

PM Incoming.

 

[justin_mercier]

With help from tr8todd I now have the right things to get the job done, and it looks like i'm going to meet more wedgeheads in my neck of the woods this weekend =)

 

[justin_mercier]

Holy @#%@#% it took me 4 hours to get the old windshield out. The windshield that was in there was replaced in 1978 from the original, and the shop that replaced it must have used every adhesive known to man at the time. It's going to be another few hours of cleaning, and then I'm going to have to repaint/prime the pinch weld because the adhesive when it finally did come off with the windshield took half the paint with it too.

At least i've got the wedge in my garage now, albeit a tight fit with 2 TR6 frames laying out side by side, a TR6 body beside them, and now the wedge, all in a 2 car garage.

 

[tdskip]

At least i've got the wedge in my garage now, albeit a tight fit with 2 TR6 frames laying out side by side, a TR6 body beside them, and now the wedge, all in a 2 car garage.

So just getting started in other words! :laugh:

Good luck with the windshield.

 

[JImEgan]

I don't know if you have the Urethane yet, but try Woonsocket Glass on Pond St. I have been doing business with them for years and have always had good luck.

Jim

 

[justin_mercier]

Heh, pond street is less than a block from my house, and I didn't even know there was a glass place there, and I've lived here for six years. I have to assume that it's somewhere between the carwash and the foundry, because that little branch of pond street I never drive down. I may give them a call. I picked up some butyl tape, but haven't done anything with it yet.

 

[tr8todd]

Sand it, tape it, etch prime, primer, green paint. You don't need to be fussy on the color, it will be hidden behind the urethane and the chrome trim.

 

[justin_mercier]

tr8todd the hero ! He came over today and helped me install the new windshield. The wedge is just about ready for its first trip of 2011 =)

It was a bit cold for a windscreen replacement today but we got it done.

I quickly snapped this on my phone while we were pushing around the windshield to squish the butyl around a bit =)

 

[HerronScott]

Have to love the action shot! So how do you learn where it's safe to stand on a TR7? :wink:

Scott

 

[justin_mercier]

I'm not sure =D Thus why the standing part was left to the master!

 

[swift6]

Have to love the action shot! So how do you learn where it's safe to stand on a TR7? :wink:

Scott

Trial & error = Practice

 

[GBRandy]

Have to love the action shot! So how do you learn where it's safe to stand on a TR7? :wink:

Scott

Trial & error = Practice

Trial & error = Practice = Experience = Billable hours :wink:

Kudus to Todd!

How hard was it pressing in the windshield trim? Mine still has a slight bubble in it that I could never quite flatten out.

 

[justin_mercier]

Damage is all repaired now =) Cant even tell that anything happened over the winter now that it's all said and done.

Need to find some black rubber gasket sheet to cut some replacement gaskets for the wiper arm attachment to the wheelboxes, but other than that, it's all done =) If i cant find any rubber gasket material, I'll just get a cheap rubber floor mat and chop it up =)

 

[Brosky]

Who in RI has the windshields for sale?

 

[justin_mercier]

was on ebay, a place called NOS Locator in north providence