Hey, Need help installing 1954 Chevy Bel Air windshield rear glass. Car is newly painted. Glass is original but in perfect shape (out of car). I just bought new rubber seals for front and back glass. This car has the trim for the front and back glass. I called around in the Seattle/Bellevue area and no glass places seem to have experience with 50's cars. Seems like I'm on my own. My uncle is 70 and says he's installed several so he'll help me. I know it's a job best done by two people. Here are my questions: Some instructions suggest using a sealant between the metal and the rubber. Other people tell me that to get everything to go together I'll need to use lube and that will make the sealant not stick and cause a huge mess so don't use it. One installer told me that I live in Seattle where it rains non stop so just plan to keep it covered or in a garage and don't bother with the sealer. Any thoughts? I don't know if I should install the new rubber on the glass and install the trim after that all before I try to put the glass into the car. The other option is to install the new rubber on the glass and install in the car and when I'm all done I try to get the trim into the rubber. Seems like the first option would be easier but not sure. Hoping someone has done a bunch of these and knows. Any thoughts? An installer told me to get the rubber nice and warm before I start. He also told me to use soapy water. He said I could also use silicone spray. My uncle wanted to use brake fluid I think but my paint guy said no way. Not on two stage paint. It'll ruin the 5K paint job I just put on the car. Any thoughts? Warm water vs. silicone spray? If anyone knows a good installer in the Seattle/Bellevue area let me know.
Glass and trim goes into the rubber before you install it all into the car. Brake fluid is not something I would even consider thinking about using. Soapy water, sure. Silicone, no. I've put in sealer first, it does make a mess. Without sealer it may leak. But you might be able to squirt some sealer in after installing it. I didn't need any soapy water on the last one I did. Use a string, put it in the slot in the rubber that fits over the pinchweld in the body window opening before you put the whole assembly in the car. Use the string to pull the rubber thru the window opening as you go around. hopefully a glass guy will chime in and set us straight.
I used to replace windshields and back glass in the old days. We never used any sealer or lubricant. Like Squirrel says, put the trim in first as you'll never get it in after the glass is installed. I used to use a cotter pin puller to pull the rubber over the pinchweld but you gotta be careful not to cut/rip the rubber.
I have a really cheap screwdriver I bought in the 39 cent bin decades ago...I bent the tip at a 90 degree angle. Only works with a really cheap old screwdriver! and it's a great tool for hooking rubber gaskets, etc
I always used a thin clothesline in the channel, & you pull it out slowly to pop the rubber over the glass. Can't help with the trim installation sequence on that car though. On mine the trim is also the lockstrip that keeps it all solid, so it has to go in last.
Hi ...I just installed a 3 piece rear screen in my 49 Cadillac ..fit the stainless trim into the seal.... if it fits into the seal ...or fit all the steel lip clips for the stainless ...fit the glass into the seal and lube it with dishwash-water mix this will let the glass move around in the seal.....fit a 1/8" blind cord right around into the seal body slot ... lift the screen onto the bottom body lip and get some one to hold and press the the screen in.....inside the car start pulling the chord very slowly to pull the seal lip over the body.....be carefull not to tear the seal.....if you seal has a locking strip buy the right tool to install it ..it makes the job so easy....once its in.... give it wash with clean water....probally the next day do the mastic seal and wipe clean with kerosene.....
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