The original windscreen on my 69 MGB rdstr. was not only fogged around the
sides, but also pitted like it had been through a sandblaster, which is the
usual case on most old cars. Mine came from Texas, so that might explain
things too. Anyway, I hate looking through bad glass, and the rest of the car
was (is) really nice, so I took the plunge - the dreaded windscreen
replacement. I bought mine from NOS Locators. $75 for the glass, plus another
$20 for a new seal, and about $30 for shipping. It comes in nifty box, very
well packed. I found that it matched the original very closely and I had only
the usual problems, meaning that it did all fit together, eventually. Having
a southern car also meant that all the screws came out of the windscreen
frame very easily, which helped. I replaced the rubber seal under the
windscreen while the frame was all apart, which is much easier than trying to
do it assembled (IMHO). You need to measure and cut the ends very carefully.
The Porter book describes the process.
I found that it helped to glue the new seal to the glass before
attempting reassembly. When it is good and dry (overnight) you can reassemble
the frame, using lots of soapy water and several woodworking adjustable
straps. Use towels, rags etc. to prevent scratching the glass, and do it on a
table, not the floor.
Then comes the fun part: instaling it on the car. I used duct tape,
in strips spaced only an inch or two apart, to pull the rubber seal lip back
(actually forward, towards the front of the car). The whole thing appeared to
be covered in duct tape.This helped enough that I was able to get the front,
lower holes in the frame lined up with the holes in the car, but the upper
holes were a bear. BTW the rubber frame pillar pads are installed somewhat
counter intuitively. They are molded such, with a lip on the main body of the
pad, that they seem to fit perfectly to the bottom of the pillar. Actually
the lip faces down, and the pillar rests on the solid, flat part of the
rubber pad.
In the end I drilled another hole just above the original holes in
the body and used a large screwdriver to lever the frame down to get those
last two bolts in. This method may not appeal to some, but the holes are not
visible, and may come in handy again someday.The duct tape is then removed,
the glue residue cleaned off, and the rubber seal under the frame sealed with
black silicon. The clear windshield on a restored car makes it all
worthwhile. Cheers, Andy Blackley NAMGBR #1-371
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