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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