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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