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Greetings!
Yes, as described in the message on windshield
removal, the best tool is patience! Take your time and pay close attention, and
extra set of hands are helpful to help assist if @ all possible. Just a couple
of notes though.....the rubber gasket might be an engineering marvel from the
50's and 60's in the way that it contained the glass and sealed but compared to
today's methods it's quite primative. Windshields in today's vehicles are not
held in place by "buckets of tar", but are a vital part of your vehicles
structure by means of a urethane sealant that actually bonds the glass to
the roof and pillers and cowl with a holding grip in the area of 900-1200 lbs.
per sq. inch. This adds a lot of strength to the car's structure and protection
to vehicle occupants in the event of a roll-over or crash where safety
items such as seat belts and airbags work with the encapulated windshield to
restrain the pasengers from harm. In a lot of the older rubber gasketed
windshield equipt. cars the first thing that happened when a car went off the
road and crashed or twisted is the glass popped out and the guy behind the wheel
got tossed thru the opening.
Some of the last vehicles on the road using this
old school technology were tractor trailer transport big rigs but even they now
have adapted to urethane bonded glass. A couple of tips to pass along in regards
to saving those old gasketed windshields from cars such as Imperials. If the
gasket is dry rotted and cracked and isn't worth salvaging just trim off the
outside layer with a heavy duty Olfa knife utility style toll and gently extract
it from the inside remaining layer of gasket. And in my shop I've always used a
flat nylon glassman's stick/tool to work around the edges of glass and the
rubber, the nylon takes the wear instead of grinding and chipping the edge of
the glass and doesn't make for a hard pressure point against the glass. In a
pinch some Shadetree homemade versions can be crafted from a thinned down old
toothbrush handle, a piece of hardwood mldg. thinned down, and I've even in a
pinch used one of those Tupperware orange peeler tools!
I've worked as a glass shop installer /manager for
about 14 years now and if I can be of service with some windshield tech help to
keep your fine Imperials on the road I'll be more than happy to assist with
info!
Best regards, enjoy all the info that I recieve
from you all everyday in my mail (and I'm a Buick fan @ heart!)
Jeff Corey
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