Now its spring its getting time to get my 34 coupe sorted and get it through the registration process here in Japan. If you would like to know more about it here's a link. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/1934-3w-in-japan.1248273/ One of the jobs I need to tackle is replacing the windshield as its cracked. Due to the chop will need to get it custom cut. By the looks of it I may be able to leave the frame in place, remove the bottom of it and slide the old glass out and new piece in? I've not disassembled one before and am looking for some guidance. Appears each lower side of the frame has two straight screws and underneath the frame there are another two straight headed screws. If they all have to come out whats the best way to remove the rusty ones without damaging the frame. So far been spraying them with PB blaster. One of the bottom corners is also funky, Im guessing I can fix that by straightening etc when the current glass is out? Any ideas on what will have caused that? Thanks Pete.
Make up a tub of white vinegar, & soak it for a few days. You find the dismantling prosses much easier.
Hi Pete, They have a peice of square bar bent at 90degree which slips into each peice of frame and has threaded holes for those screws to hold them together. You should only need to get the vertical ones out if you plan on only taking the bottom frame section off as the square peices will stay in the bottom section. Your frame in the the corner that looks funky as you put it looks to be rusted out which you won’t properly know until apart. Looks pretty grim though. You may need to carefully drill the heads out as they are countersunk so you should be able to break the heads off allowing the square section to be withdrawn. Good luck.
I’d suggest removing it from the car. The whole process of disassembly, repair and reassembly will be much easier. Trying to do it on the car will be a real hassle.
Yeah, you will NOT be able to successfully replace the glass with the frame still attached to the car. We recently replaced the glass in a 32 frame, which is very similar. Some guys use the setting tape, but I only used a couple little pieces to keep the glass centered in the opening and used black urethane to do the majority of the setting and sealing. A bead in the groove before the glass goes in, then a day later a swipe on each side that you can clean up with lacquer thinner to make it look nice. With your bad corner, and the weird shape shown in some of those pics, it looks to me you will find the frame is full of rust and seems to be expanding. Common when they are rechromed as the chemicals don't get totally rinsed out and make corrosion happen. Hopefully you won't need to replace the whole thing.
99% of the time those screws don't come out. Plan on a restoration of the frame, not just glass. So much easier on a table.
As others have stated, you should remove the entire frame. Just trying to get the glass into the channel when it's on the car would be a nightmare. When I did mine on my work bench, I used a couple of clamps to squeeze the frame top, glass and frame bottom into the setting tape. It worked great.
Out of the car for sure. I have had to use a 2x4 against the top of the bottom frame and beat down on the 2x4 to get the square bar to come out of the sides of the frame. Go from side to side so the bottom frame comes out of the sides evenly so it doesn't bind.
I agree with all the others, take it out of the car. I will also add, keep the inner square corner parts orientated, as they may only fit one way properly. buy new screws before you even start !
Cheers fellas, to remove it do I just try and get it out of the hinges at the top and then how do I remove it from the mechanism that opens it or do I remove that as part of the frame?
You have to remove the bolts mounting it to the hing part on the body, as the bracket on the frame looks like two screws, but actually is spot welded also unless it has been apart before. They some times remove that bracket for plating. You would then see a hole drilled in the center between the two screws
From experience, I'd say your chances of removing those screws are slim. Probably will twist off but easy to drill after it's apart.
Cheers all to date. Some good progress. Got the 4 screws loose on the sides of the frame whilst still in the car. PB and a small hammer tapping a screwdriver did the trick. Bit of worry seeing how much rust etc fell out of the frame when I did that. I guess time will tell. Now to remove the frame am I better off trying to remove the two screws mounting the frame to the hinge which are a bit of a bitch to get at and Im worried about buggering them up and it would be near impossible to drill them out. Have been soaking them in PB ane using a small socket drive but they seem pretty solid. Or is there a way to pull the hinge with the frame.
The bottom winder is held to the frame with those two small screws in your pic. You need to get them out. The top hinges screw to the two arms that remain attached to the frame. Undo those four screws. Then you can take the whole frame off the car.
If you urethane the new windshield into the frame and it breaks again down the road it’s a real challenge getting the glass out of the frame Just something to keep in mind
When using glass setting tape don't lube it with WD40 when sliding the glass into the channel. Use window cleaner. Advice given to me by the glass guy who cut the windshield for my '39 p/u.
Like the others have said, you need to remove the entire windshield frame from the car. Start by removing the interior header panel. Then remove the upper hinges and the either separate the windshield regulator from the windshield frame, or remove the dash panel and remove the regulator from the dash. Then the windshield and windshield frame will pull away as one unit. Move it to the workbench, and separate the lower part of the windshield frame.
Hey, Dirk; Thanks for the pics. When I did my 32 5w ~'73->'77, it wasn't very rusty, but still had to drill out screws. I didn't think to take pics, & the details have become hazy. Not anymore... . I also didn't have the air-chisel-screw-loosener tool then. & I like alchemys' no-tape suggestion for glass installation & sealing, but I'd still try the tape method 1st, n seal the lower corners w/urethane. Urethane does solve a couple of problems though. Digging out urethane wasn't as fun as it sounds, but maybe I don't know the quick-trick for it. Marcus...
Thanks Johnboy. Those two screws dont want to play the game so may have to try getting that pin out otherwise it looks like the multi tool
Those are just pictures I googled to show the steps in order so he can pull the entire windshield frame and work on it on a workbench instead of trying to do all that with the windshield still on the car. I was at the office when I posted the reply, so wasn't able to actually go out and take pictures of my car. FWIW, I also had to drill out a couple of the screws on the bottom channel of my windshield frame, then welded them back up, re-drilled, re-tapped that little "L" shaped bracket thingy that holds the pieces of the windshield frame together. Here is a couple of picts of my car for some inspiration. Just for fun, no real value added to helping him to get his windshield worked over.
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