Terry,
I just did this, and your in for one hell of a job. Sorry can't offer any
really encouraging words of advice. I cracked a brand new windshield after
a four hour job of installing it because the rubber wasn't seated
correctly, and that was done with the trim installed first (just one of the
reasons that it took so long. It was very, VERY difficult to get the seal
to set correctly on the body and I had just painted the car, so I was being
extremely careful). Just for reference, this car has never had an accident
(around the firewall/windscreen/main tub area), and both windscreens were
genuine Triplex with an OEM seal. I have put in many a windscreen, without
incident and with MUCH less pain, but this one (squaretail style) was a
REAL bear to get it right. I talked with John Macarteny at length about
how these windscreens were installed by those who did it regularly and the
trim (mine is still the original stainless) was apparently installed AFTER
the windscreen was in place. They used a special hook like tool to install
the finisher once the windscreen and seal was fitted to the car. I made a
tool exactly as described, even down to the wooden handle, but found it
nearly impossible to use without tearing up the seal, so I made up a
different one out of plastic. More like a inverted chisel that when
inserted between the trim and the seal would push the lip of the rubber
into the slot of the trim. It worked, but It still took over four hours of
hand numbing time to get that sucker in there. Now I'm sure I wasn't as
skilled as those who did this before me, and with practise I *may* have
gotten better, but I was just installing one, ah. . .well. . . two, this
time. Also, the later style (and the replacement plastic trim) might be a
little more forgiving, but I wanted the original stainless that came on my
car, which never gets yellow or shrinks. Give me a MK III style any day!
So much easier to install - I think I would rather install the headliner on
a GT6 (which I swore I'd never so again) than install a square tail
Spitfire windscreen. And you really should install the trim, not just
leave it off just because it's so much easier to install. The trim,
besides just looking better, is a functional piece in that it actually
holds the seal in shape to retain the proper profile that secures and seals
the windscreen in place.
Good luck, and I'm glad I'm not doing it :-)
bschwart@pacbell.net (San Diego)
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