>I was getting the windscreen replaced in my Truck (I know, I could have
>done it myself, just don't have the time) and casually mentioned to the
>installer that I wondered how the factory would have installed this type of
>windscreen. The truck has the same type of retained by a gasket, installed
>with a rope type, as so many of our Triumphs have. He said that he was
>told that two people installed them and that while one person used the
>equivalent rope on the inside, another person "hammered" on the outside
>with what was described as an extremely large rubber mallet, to help seat
>the windscreen as the rubber was secured. This seemed a brutal way to do
>it, but not unlikely having read other stories of how things were assembled
>"before robots" as the idea was to do it quickly, not necessarily the
>neatest, most careful way
>What say you, John Mac-? Any truth to the story? I would think if true,
>that more than a few windscreen would have ended up, shall we say, unusable
Absolutely the way they used to do it. The 'technique' is known (here
anyway, as 'stringing')
In reality, very few screens broke in the process. A zone toughened screen
is surprisingly resistant to shocks from rubber mallets or the palm of a
hand and there's quite a lot of flexibility in it - though not so that you
can actually see it bend. Thumping it will make it sit more solidly in the
rubber and it's only when you hit it with a centre-punch that it will
splinter. On the other hand, a laminated screen though more likely to crack
if twisted is not so flexible when being installed and the flat of the hand
or the soft part of a clenched fist was more commonly used. The final stage
was to go round the outside of the screen seal with the sealing gun. From
what I remember, they were pretty good at doing the verticals and
horizontals but weren't too enthusiastic about the bottom corners - judging
by the cars of all types that I drove on break-in during rain. I suppose it
was because the corners produced quite a lot of surplus ooze which normally
got wiped off with an overalled elbow. By the end of the day, there was
usually more ooze on the elbow than in the average screen rubber.
Jonmac
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