Windshield Gasket

[Gumball]

In an effort to avoid the dreaded crack-from-nowhere, I disassembled my FFR windshield so that I can have the edges polished/chamfered by a local glass & mirror shop. Sten mentioned to me recently that the rough-cut along the edges of the glass (especially the point where the cutting tool started and stopped) can be a potential starting point for these cracks. After removing the frame and the rubber gasket from the edge of the glass, I found some interesting things - 1) the edges are very sharp and are 90*, definitely not sanded or smoothed by the factory; 2) the corners, although rounded somewhat, have some sharp edges from the cutting process at the factory - almost like facets; 3) the laminate material from between the two pieces of glass stuck out somewhat on a couple of sides and especially at the bottom corners and needed further trimming; and 4) the rubber gasket was trimmed excessivly in spots. After a good cleaning to remove the sticky goo that the factory applies inside the u-channel gasket (it made a mess of both the glass and the gasket), I'm ready to have the edges finished.

Now for the big question for all of you... any suggestion on the gasket? Should I reuse the original one or get/make a new one? If new, any suggestions for where to find it and whether it should be rubber, fabric, or leather? I heard that "back-in-the-day," they used fabric or leather. Not sure that's a good idea, though.

Also, when reinstalling the gasket, should I use goo of any sort; i.e., mastik?

[SCFFR]

Chris,

When I was restoring my 1967 MGB, I had replaced the side windows. They were held in the channels with a thin strip of rubber. That strip is still available although not sure if in one piece long enough to do your windshield. I would check with your local auto glass shop.

Ron

[Gumball]

Sorry for not taking a "before" picture of the edge of the windshield, but as described above, it was pretty sharp 90* edge and the corners were somewhat "choppy" for lack of a better term with what looked like serrations or facets. I found a local glass company that is more of an old-school place (not just windshield installations) where they do custom work for residential, commercial, and automotive and they were happy to polish the edges using a sander of some sort (I think it was just a tiny belt sander). They keep the surface cool with water while doing the work and it turned out very nice. The edges of the windshield now look more like what you might see along the edge of an open car door window, with a small radius and an opaque finish. The guy who did the work mentioned that he found quite a few areas that he felt sure could have caused a crack in the future. At the very least, I bought a little piece of mind that I did something to hopefully avoid the unexplained crack. Anyway, all this for just $22.50!!!

http://i845.photobucket.com/albums/ab15/CCRsAC/BottomEdge.jpg

[Norm B]

Nice Job!
Now I've got another item added to my list of things to do! Any luck with the replacement gasket?
Norm

[MPTech]

Has FFR improved this process? I haven't heard many cracked windshield experiences lately.

How hard was it to remove from the frame? This looks like a good piece of mind, preventive project before installing the windshield.

[Gumball]

Has FFR improved this process? I haven't heard many cracked windshield experiences lately.

How hard was it to remove from the frame? This looks like a good piece of mind, preventive project before installing the windshield.

Not sure if FFR is doing anything different with the windshield these days. It was very easy to remove, more so than I thought. There are four screws per lower corner, just remove those and the lower portion of the frame comes off. The other three sides are one-piece and it takes some care to separate it from the glass without bending or kinking the brass frame. The only thing to watch out for is the black goo that is on the inside of the rubber gasket... it caused a mess and took quite a while to clean. I cleaned both the glass and the rubber gasket and will probably just re-use the original gasket when I put the glass back into the frame.

I've decided that I'm going to fit my windshield and soft top to the car without the glass in place. It should make the process a bit easier as I won't be afraid of breaking the glass and won't have to deal with the extra weight. Since I'm using the center rod and a lower brace, those things should add back some of the rigidety that I'll loose by not having the glass in the frame during fitment.

[CraigS]

That's a really good move. Up til 6 months ago i worked as a tech on a line of cars that had the bottom edge of the glass exposed after we removed all the cowl plastic to get better access when doing some types of engine work. We found out the hard way that the tiniest nick in the edge of that glass would guarantee a crack starting at the nick and heading upward. Sounds to me like the FFR glass has a ton of nicks built in. These could definately be the cause of all the cracks we read about. A tiny nick plus a little stress on the glass and ...crack!!! Good find!

[carlewms]

What soft top are you using?

Carl

[Gumball]

What soft top are you using?

Carl

The early-style FFR top... closest to the original Robbins top that was on the AC cars, complete with the lexan sliding side curtains. I found it new/uninstalled in the classified section at ffcars.com. I think there's someone selling one over there now, at a fairly good price if I remember correctly (no association with the seller).