Gary Goers sells a tool designed to open the windshield
gasket.
John
JEFF COREY wrote:
> 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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