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Windsreen leaks

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IanIrving

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Got caught in a huge storm on the weekend and the amount of water coming in made me finally decide to do something about it. Water came in between the windscreen bottom seal and the scuttle, all around the screen glass as well as the usual between the top of the screen and the hood. I ordered and received today the screen seals and the screen to shroud seal and have just removed the windscreen from the car. There was no sealant between the screen bottom seal and the shroud top, just what appeared to be black paint. Should there be a non setting sealant there or is the rubber seal sufficient when new. If a sealant is used, which one is recommended?
The screen to frame seal came as two parts, the molded seal which the glass fits into but also a second seal, rectangular about a quarter inch by an inch or so. Where does that seal go? car is a BJ8 phase 2.
Any other suggestions as to what else can be done to stop the water getting in, other than keeping out of the rain, would be welcome.

Ian
 
I just replaced the windshield on my BJ8. First, make sure the bottom seal--the one that seals against the shroud--will fit in the groove. The first seal I bought, a Moss part from BCS, had the top of the 'T' cross-section too thick, and I literally injured an elbow trying to jam it in (and I ruined the seal). The second one I got, directly from Moss, fit better but it was still a chore to get it in the groove. On another forum someone mentioned that they cut the bottom seal down with a wire wheel to get the part that goes into the frame to fit. The old seal, which I would have reused if I knew how badly the repops fit, would go back in easily. If the seal you bought fits well, please let us know the source.

The small solid, rectangular cross-section pieces are used for spacing. You'll note they are about the thickness of the 4 'L-brackets' used to hold the frame together, so these pieces should be glued to the inside of the frame to maintain spacing between the edges of the glass and the inner channel of the frame. I worked off this photo:

https://www.mossmotors.com/Shop/ViewProducts.aspx?PlateIndexID=28954&SortOrder=40

Per the photo, the long, 'box section' seal that seals the glass to the frame, should be installed in 2 pieces: a U-shaped piece along the bottom and sides, and a straight piece across the top, joining the corners at a 45deg angle (measure twice, cut once).

I didn't use any sealant, as I don't think it was used by the factory. I recently drove through some serious rain and the only leak was a small one, along the bottom seal, which I can live with. If I develop much more leaking I might try it (there is some especially for windshields). I've used it before; it works OK but it's not a miracle cure.

Use the original screws, if you can, but if you need to replace any make sure they aren't so long as to make contact with the edge of the glass. They could cause stress cracking of the glass.

Make note of how the frame-shrould seal is terminated; you have to trim the top off and wrap it around the edge of the frame and down the door openings. There should be dum-dum or similar at the corners; I used the expanding foam stuff to fill in the hole and it seems to work OK.

And don't forget to install the shims on the side posts in the same positions they came out of (not that I would EVER do such a thing).
 
Thanks Bob
When I dismantled the screen I saw the rectangular seals and how they fit so am ok with that part now. They had gone hard and brittle and in fact the chrome moldings had lots of water in them when I removed the old seals. My latest halt is because the the corner brackets are all rusted in so I've ordered a new set of brackets and screws, I will check the lengths before installing them but will now need to drill out all the old ones. I've tried an overnight soak in penetrant but no luck and I don't want to use heat near the chrome. I bought my new seals from AH spares so will advise on the fit one I get to that stage.

Ian
 
Hi Bob I received the new corner L brackets and screws today and have started the re assembly of the screen. Did you put the U shaped seal into the frame first then the pushed the glass in or did you put the seal around the glass base and sides and then pushed the screen with seals into the frame? Another question, the brackets when assembled to the frame pieces end up very sloppy on the two vertical pieces, that is to say that with the small countersunk screws tightened, the brackets do not fix firmly inside the frames. It seems that if they should fix firmly either they should be threaded further, difficult to do given they are so short, or they need acountersink shackeproof washer under the screw head. Any advice welcome.

Thanks

Ian
 
Ian,

I found that I had to reuse the old corner brackets with new screws. The new corner brackets were not properly drilled. As for being loose, are the new screws the correct size or are the larger?
 
I recently rechomed the windscreen on my bj7, and installed a new windshield and seals. I also had to replace the very rusty corner brackets. The ones I bought also fit poorly. My old ones were shot, so I had to bend, reform, and modify the holes on the new ones. With trial and error, I was finally able to get them positioned decently. The entire project took quite a bit of fitting and tweaking to finally get right and sit properly on the car. Be patient (and careful not to put too much stress on the windshield glass). Best of luck.
 
IanIrving said:
Hi Bob I received the new corner L brackets and screws today and have started the re assembly of the screen. Did you put the U shaped seal into the frame first then the pushed the glass in or did you put the seal around the glass base and sides and then pushed the screen with seals into the frame? Another question, the brackets when assembled to the frame pieces end up very sloppy on the two vertical pieces, that is to say that with the small countersunk screws tightened, the brackets do not fix firmly inside the frames. It seems that if they should fix firmly either they should be threaded further, difficult to do given they are so short, or they need acountersink shackeproof washer under the screw head. Any advice welcome.

Thanks

Ian
Click to expand...

We put the seal on the glass, inverted the glass then pushed the bottom part of the frame onto them, then did the same with the two sides of the frame. Then, measure carefully and cut the 45deg cuts in both the bottom (U-shaped) seal and the top--cut just a hair long as the rubber will compress--and bolted the top segment of the frame on.

I re-used the original brackets. They were rusty, but I cleaned them up on a wire wheel (I figure they're good for longer than I am). The brackets fit sloppy, and I tried changing their locations but they were still sloppy, so I put everything back together and when it's assembled and installed everything was solid.

I was missing the nut that held the bolt on the center of the frame to the shroud. It's a rubber 'nutsert'--forget the true name--but it compresses when tightened and fills the hole in the shroud.
 
Thanks for all the info. I put the frame together with the glass in this morning and when assemled, with a bit of tweaking the brackets can be made to line up ok. I got them from AH Spares and they do seem ok. Todays job is to put the bottom seal in, thsat looks like it might be fun.

Ian
 
IanIrving said:
Thanks for all the info. I put the frame together with the glass in this morning and when assemled, with a bit of tweaking the brackets can be made to line up ok. I got them from AH Spares and they do seem ok. Todays job is to put the bottom seal in, thsat looks like it might be fun. Ian
Click to expand...

It isn't--sarcasm noted--at least, it wasn't for me. All depends on how the new seal fits. Work from the center out.
 
Hi Bob
The new seal went in easily, took me about an hour including removing it once when I noticed a small section by the middle wasn't seated well. The new seal feels like rubber, very flexible, whereas the the old removed one felt like plastic. I bought it from AH Spares so can recommend it. I used a round ended paint stripper knife to insert it.
Course I won't know till I put the screen back and drive in the rain whether it has improved the water ingress problem but it can't be worse than it was.
Thanks for the help.

Ian
 
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