Want to remove a glue in windshield in 32 Ford & install a stock windshield. How hard is it? Has any one done it
If it has been put in using urethane, hard. Butyl rubber strip, not quite as hard. You can buy a blade that can be modified to fit a sawzall, my burnt out brain can't think of... Equalizer makes them, and they are used to carefully cut the gl*** out. Probably a youtube vid or two out there, wear safety goggles.
Just pulled mine out a couple of weeks ago - frame was ‘glued’ in, although your glue may differ. Same principle would apply I imagine. Used a sharp craft knife to carefully cut the black mastic and silicone from the outside and wiggled it with a pocket knife, - but would recommend a firm plastic broad knife or similar, maybe several needed to hold it out as you go. Just go slowly without forcing anything. Mine had a couple of hidden screws that I wasn’t expecting ! Wear safety gl***es……. Very simple and took all of 10 minutes !
The last one I did, it tended to stick after it was cut, I used wooden shims to keep it from adhering while I worked it. Cheap plastic bondo spreaders would work, cut them in strips.
when I worked at the salvage yard we used a stranded cable like a bicycle brake cable. shove it thru, then grab each end with a small vice grip and saw back and forth thru the material until you have gone all the way around. mind you this was the old butyl and not urethane. urethane is really tough
Are you saying that they built a pinch weld area and glued the gl*** in with a separate reveal molding? Or they glued the windshield frame in place? Probably be easier to help if I could see a picture of what you're dealing with.
We used piano wire years ago to cut them out when we did not want to break the one we were taking out. Mixed bag on the breakage. Takes two usually one on the inside and one on the outside using the wire like a saw, work slow, and keep the wire away from the gl***.
A little battery multi-tool is my choice. 120v is ok, battery is just so handy. Lots of brands available. Cheap HF to really expensive. One person can do it, no need for someone on the other end of a cable or guitar string. Little vibrating blade much easier to control than a sawsall type. Light, easy to handle, and you'll find a dozen other things to use it for. Cut a little, insert wedge, repeat.
I always did it with the bicycle cable method. Saw a video on using a sawzall with putty knife blade and think I'll try that next time. Don't need to try to find a helper which often is the biggest obstacle.
As has been mentioned two guys and this tool gets a windshield out in a few minutes . I’ve tried occilating tools , sawzalls , special blades and knives . always back to the “ piano wire “ and two guys method . it’s not really pisno wire I don’t think as it’s “ gritty”. Almost like those thin blades you can get for a jack saw or coping saw for cutting tile , but super thin and flexible .
Seeing that tool brought back memories being at the self serve wrecking yard. Pulled the rear most side gl*** from an off topic station wagon that I wasn’t prepared to do. Found an old defrost duct hose and stripped the wire from it. About half into it my right pinky finger went numb suddenly and had to finish by wrapping wire around two screw drivers. I thought that this is the way by finger will be forever but with time feeling returned to it.
When I was a lad my buddies and I made a bunch of acetylene balloons, put them in a heft garbage bag and hit the gut in Vancouver. We were riding in the back of a Toyota PU with a slider rear window. We'd light one off every now and then and scamper. Well, the balloons rubbed together in the garbage bag and ignited, we were blown out of the bed of the truck and the force blew the windshield out...and the car stereo in the dash. We even blew out a streetlight above the truck the cops made up pay for, lucky to have ear drums after that one. I don't recommend that approach to windshield removal, but it was quite effective.
Since we are talking about windshields, how do you remove a rope in gl***? Most I have removed are trashed, so it doesn't matter.
I have seen some guys basically use the “ rope in “ technique to flip the seal and pop the gl*** out . I tried multiple times on o/t vw’s and never had luck . I just cut the seal out . now these where in old weather beaten cars in a wreaking yard . If the seal is still soft you’ll have success. I would rather play it safe and buy a new seal then a new windshield .
It was popular back in the '80's to cut the gl*** large enough to fill the windshield opening, and finish it off with a narrow glue in molding, ala 1st gen S10. I am guessing that is what he is dealing with here. Pitchers would be nice.
That's kinda what I was thinking. I've frenched the windshield and back gl*** in a lot of cars, and in the case it's not like you're trying to save the gl***. Worst issue in any gl*** removal is clearance. If the gl*** is sunk down in the urethane so far that it's almost against the metal, you'll never get a "removal" tool of any kind in there to cut the glue without breaking gl***. Some use heat as in a torch, but if you're trying to switch this out without doing damage to the paint, that's out of the question. I have the recip setup, but I never use it on old cars, it's easy enough to destroy the dashboard in a $60K late model car with it. Finesse plus extraction knives still work great. And as for gasket set, a heat gun on the inside helps things along, but I usually always price it with a new gasket, and just cut the old one. I can't guarantee someone else windshield gasket not to crack or break, and they are usually hard and brittle. If it's a new gasket, that's been recently installed, apply the heat to the inside, go to a corner with your hook tool, some call them a cotter pin extractor, pull the gasket back and start applying pressure.
I did this more than once at a s**** yard. The cable tended to break, so we always had a few strands just in case. The use of 2 pairs of pliers is traditional. Urethane is a different type of animal. I bought a tube at a gl*** shop to install an OT piece of gl***. The guy told be that the newer sealants also act to keep the windshield in place for accidents, this started around 1980.
I want to install the original windshield frame , hope he didnt remove any of the original body parts
In my younger days removing butyl by myself I took a 1-1/2" flex blade putty knife and sharpened the edge then walk around the inside of the gl*** pushing and lightly tapping the putty knife gently between the butyl and windshield. Took awhile to get around the entire windshield but when your poor and by yourself you didn't want to break it and pay for another windshield. It worked good and did this numerous times and only broke one windshield this way. Never tried it with urethane. .
Fein developed the oscillating tool for Mercedes to remove glue in windshields. You can find a cheap one at HF
It's a two man job. We have successfully removed a few using the oiled guitar string method. Lower temperatures and a constantly oiled big E string will cut without the butyl sticking back together. We also broke a few by the sometimes unpreventable upward pressure on the gl*** as you cut. Its a **** shoot.
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