Richard, don't beat yourself up further about
this!!
That glass is notoriously brittle. I've talked with
Lowell, and he doesn't bother with trying to ship his glass any
more. The stuff just won't survive shipping, and tweaking it on
install can cause the same thing, although I did manage to take mine out
using stocking feet from the inside.
Getting a pro won't be
enough. You'll likely have to sit down and have a serious
conversation about the stakes.
I have glass in "good enough"
condition. It's in the attic and would likely need aggressive
polishing for a really serious car - I pulled it and didn't pay real close
attention to anything besides an absence of cracks at the time.
I
can conjure a gasket too.
I read your words. You read the
manual. You then said "pulling the seal around".
That
implies to me that you were using a tool to do this. I don't think
that one really "pulls the seal around" in the classic sense that one
would with most other standard gaskets.
---
There is a seam in
the seal that looks just like it's a molded line when you can, in fact,
pry it apart and "hinge" the lip backwards and outwards, allowing you to
drop the glass in without much physical drama.
You did pull the
seal's seam apart, spread it back, and have the inside edge pulled back to
accept the glass, riiight?
On most windscreen gaskets, they
are one piece and you "pull" the lip out from under the glass around the
glass in a semi-forceful manner.
With the 1960 (and others) there
is a ziplock-like component to the gasket design that you open with a
butter knife, allowing the glass to be inserted with very little
labor. I used a pair of butter knives and there was very little
drama or tension involved.
I'm around if you want to
talk.
Sorry about your misfortune on that.
Stuff's in CA. You
can likely do better?
Oh, one other thing: I use a giant
vat of household vinegar as my rest removal tank. The vinegar eats
the rust and parts come clean with a garden hose and (sometimes) some
steel wool.
I have found (by accident) that leaving rubber
parts in the vinegar for 72 hours leaves them considerably more supple and
soft. The gaskets that go under mirrors were what led to this
discovery - one fell in by mistake and went from feeling like stiff
plastic to soft rubber.
-Maybe superstition, but I plan to
soak my windscreen gasket for that long after cleaning it and before
installing it. Can't
hurt.
-Kenyon
I'm around if you
want to talk
415-699-8760
richard burgess
<lecrown60@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi Folks,
Disaster struck today as my father and I were installing the
windshield in my '60 Crown. I had a perfect, yes flawless,
correct '60 windshield and gasket for this car. The
windshield cracked while we were on the last 8" of pulling the seal
around. This is a frame up restoration of a 34,000 mile car and I
am distraught wandering where I am going to find a replacement as nice
as my original. My perfect gasket was a bit cut up in the
process as well. We were being so careful, had everything taped
off and followed the manual as well as anybody could. Now we have
a windshield on the curb and are just trying to get three tubes of
windshield sealer off the car, I gave up trying to clean the
gasket. The '60 winshield has a bubble in the top unlike the later
models which are reproduced. I must find a perfect '60 windshield
for this car. If anyone has any leads your help would be greatly
appreciated. Guess we'll call in professionals next
time.........
Richard Burgess
Atlanta, Ga
'60 LeBaron sedan
'60 Crown sedan with gaping hole
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