Looking back over “The Saturday Fiasco” …… 1- I used dish soap for my lubricant. I should have mixed it with some windex as it dried out before the window was fully in. 2- I put the glazing compound inbetween the glass and the channel it would reside in before installing and it was just one big mess. By the time I got to the passenger window the rubber was so stuck in place and the rubber had rolled inward enough that I could not even see the part that would have gone over the lip enough even to pull the rope out 3- with the rope not pulling out I resorted to the plastic blade to assist the lip in coming over the edge. Between the 6” section of lip I found not pull over and the dish soap drying up, the one lip edge ended up with nearly a 2” long tear, way too bad to fix - that is when I called it quits. So, on my next go round: 1- I might try Vaseline as my greasing Ajmer va dish soap 2- I will have new rubber but if it is a bit stiff, I will use a hair dryer to loosen up the rubber 3- I will lay off the glazing compound until after the window is in and I see if there are any leaks afterwards and fix them then. 4- I will handle the rear window the same way. As they say, “too soon old, too late smart”! Lol!
My only caution would be that Vaseline is often damaging to rubber products. What about an automotive product like bearing grease?
I like silicone best, but if you're going to paint anything within a 100 yds of it in the next 25years not a good idea. I've used a lot of vazeline and hasn.t hurt any thing, just clean it up good when you finish. Real soapy water works good in a squirt bottle also, just keep it wet while you're working.
I use two things. GOJO hand cleaner non abrasive and the fluid you use to drag wires thru conduit. Both stay slimey and clean up well. I usually don't use any sealer until after installation and cleanup. https://www.lowes.com/pd/IDEAL-32-o...YzqrWsn_jXm_aDVrxnYaAsB2EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds
Holidays are over so I got into the garage. I did receive my new rear window gasket, fought to get it on the glass, and it again wound not fit. Here’s a pic of my problem or what I have honk it is ….. The rubber in the rounded corners keeps turning inward and even if I could get the window and rubber to go into the opening (which I can’t) it wound be impossible to get the outer lip over the window flange. I moved the rubber to different locations but to no avail.. So, this being the second gasket, I can only conclude that the glass needs to have more rounded corners. I do not have the original window template so I will make a template from the truck and see where I am at tomorrow with everything. I will take pics. Btw, since the glass sits inside the rear window opening, anyone know the gap between the glass and the window frame? Just in case the glass is too big all around …..
The 4 corners …. All 4 corners need shaving with some more than others. Will check with the local auto glass place to see how and I f they will be able to sand it for me …..
So here is how it looks with the newly radiused corners and the rubber installed: Funny thing the the NEW rubber I got was so loose that I switched back to the old rubber and that’s what is pictured. aSo left to right is fine but I could not pop it in the opening top to bottom. Btw, I want to thank HotrodA and Bandit Billy for helping me out with dimensions and info - thank you fellas. So off of the internet I got the width and height dimensions of the glass: Left to right is spot on as it pop into the opening now. However, the top to bottom measurement is too big: Geesh - I think they need a new template for this piece! So it’s off to the glass shop tomorrow to shave it down and check the radius of each corner. I did mount the passenger side ws in its rubber. I will work on that after the rear window is done. Man do I feel like I am going backwards with something that really was none of my fault. Yep - that’s hot rodding …..
Pretty frustrating for sure Tom. Hang in there you will get it eventually! My few experiences with window installation were as frustrating as yours appears to be. We had good luck with using lots of dish soap.
And I thought that I was the Lone Ranger with all my false starts and duplicate efforts. Thanks for plowing the new ground and keeping us aware of the inevitable toe stubbers. You’ll get it done!
Ha ha - I will get it done but will I still be able to drive by then?!?!?!?! And I am not sure this is all “new ground” - how many of us have installed this piece of glass?!?!?!?!? Lol! The glass I have was cut down this morning with all the edges cleaned up and looks great but I will need another person to help me install it “if” it’s right ….. Presently, after multiple attempts, it seems like the gasket is too big and either it or the glass is holding things up. I get it angled in from the bottom but I can’t seem to pop it in. If I go from the short edge and try to walk it in left to right the gasket pops up and the glass pops out of its rubber channel almost like the rubber is too big. Not really knowing whether my glass is out of whack still, I have ordered a piece from Auto Glassics - they do all the glass work for Drake. At his price including shipping I could have bought 2 for what I paid for the one I have. I have some travel planned out for the next two weeks so that should work out well for me and I will attack it again when I return. Stay safe gents …..
We have progress! My buddy Charlie is visiting for the sole purpose of working on my truck. He rebuilt his first motor at 14 and was around cars his entire life up until about 20 years ago when he moved and lost his work place. Anyway, we started with the front shield ….. All worked out pretty well and we gooped up a couple of bad spots and the center post are, leaving things to dry o-night. We then started on the driver side fender and found that my tire and rum combo was too far out and had rear fender lip clearance. We then mounted a smaller set of tires and it was better, but still a no go. So I had a pair if 14” tire and rims and they will work fine. I should have known this as my old black coupe had to run with 14” tires and 185/75-14” tires. This truck is just as low up front. Now that messed up my 40 center caps setup since my pair of 14” were Chrysler rims with a different cap size. So I had a set of spider caps that I almost sold at Spring Carlisle I will use. We then mounted the pass fender and mounted up the grill … It took all afternoon to adjust the nose so all worked right but it’s looking pretty good right now … Rear window tomorrow and we CD will start sorting out the front wiring …..
That glass fit in there tight! And the front-end fits together very well. I hope mine looks as good when I get to it. Nice having friends to come help out. Keep up the good work, you will be driving it soon!
I use a little shot of Gibbs when working on rubber seals. In fact, that is how I installed the lower door seals on my truck the other day.
Just sone update pics to go be you an idea of stance and overall look …. remember it’s up in the back for the trailer I also have tire clearance issues up front by still I need to resolve ….
Rear glass is in, upholstery is back in around the rear glass, front ws moldings (my buddy who did the cab blocked off several holes so that was fun), rear view mirror. I have two choices on the front tire clearance - raise the fe with shims under the front spring . Or get a more negative offset front 14” rim which the Early Mustang suppliers seem to have. One is time, the other is money ….. We used a lot of Vaseline for the rear window btw and Charlie and I made a bunch of not-so-nice comments about that! Lol!
So the problem with the front tires having enough clearance was unexpected. I started this truck around 15 years ago so that is a lot of time. I do remember that the Speedway 4-bar suspension, which I have used and installed before gave me some problems but it was all installed using the specs given by speedway. However, the 40 pickup has a 112” wheelbase and I presently have only 111.25”. Hmmmm - checked everything again with my instructions and all the measurements are spot on and nothing has changed instructions wise over the past 15 years. Bottom line, I will call speedway on Monday and talk to their techs and see what they say. Presently I have built a fixture to lift the truck right where the X meets the front frame rails so the fe is suspended. I will remove the shocks and disco the sway bar so the fe is “free” and see what speedway says. And btw, the rear is in its proper location and centered on the snubbers. If anyone has used this system please chime in here but if speedway scratches their heads, I think I have two choices: if the 4-bar ends have enough thread length, just adjust up from the 22” they say to 22.5 or 22.75” or, move the rear 4-bar mount forward 1” and shorten the 4-bars themselves to 21.75”. Either way, adjust to give me a 112” wheelbase. That’s where I stand at the moment - just another blip on the radar is all ..,,
The Jalopy Journal
