Amazon - windscreen refit experience?

[Faust]

Hi there,

I've finally traced the source of the puddles - it's the windscreen seal that's gone. (Realised after driving in the rain and seeing a steady drip coming in!)

I've bought a new seal, so I'm ready to go for a refit. I don't dare do it myself - not done one before and I'm wary of breaking the glass.

I was wondering if anyone had any experiences of doing the job to share, and any glass fitting companies that have done good work for a good price.

Cheers!

Lia x

[austingipsy]

I replaced my screen on my own. I had actually phoned auto glass. Any glass anywhere on any car was the bold claim. Er no sorry was the reply on the phone. We don't have anyone with the skills to do it. Bit of an admission that !
Anyway i tried it out of desperation and thankfully all went well...more or less. I think i needed to shoogle it about a bit more in the screen aperture to seal just right. I occasionally get a wee leak to it needs further work. Fresh seal and sealant though so not a problem.
The thing that caused the most concern for me was that the glass was not insured in transit. Sent over from sweden and if it had been damaged then tough luck ! fortunately it was perfect. Also perfect was the screen surround. I was a bit worried i'd have to patch that up but found no rust at all.
Patience and calm are important when your doing this, take your time, clean the old seal off properly and you'll be fine.

The worst bit by far was getting the rubber seal onto the glass, that was mildly terrifying. Much swearing and wrestling during that stunt but i managed so no reason why you shouldn't.

If you can get a company to do it then fair enough, check they will accept liability for cracking glass though and consider your options if they do crack it and you are grounded till fresh glass turns up. You can order a new screen through volvo dealers and it might well be insured so that's probably the best option.
Best of luck whichever path you choose.

As it happens after all that work i'm selling my amazon, still a good if slightly scary experience though !

[Burdekin]

Link to Gordon's excellent article on the topic: http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=63825 although the pics seem to have disappeared.

[940_Turbo]

I wrote up how to do it on Brickboard

[940_Turbo]

Found it.....

I would strongly advise using a new windscreen seal when re fitting the glass into the car. That also allows you to simply cut the aluminium trim and glass out of the seals, less damage will result

I’ve had the best results with 3M non-setting black windscreen sealer to seal the windscreen into the aperture. It can get messy, but it doesn’t affect the paintwork. I clean it off using penetrating fluid, rather than a conventional solvent. Squirt a little sealer into the groove in the seal that holds the windscreen. Then fit the rubber seal onto the windscreen. My personal preference is to put the welded rubber join in the rubber at the bottom centre. Whatever you do centre that joint either top or bottom.

You then fit a cord into the lip that holds the rubber into the aperture in the car. Use a stout cord; don't use thin string it will rip the seal once the windscreen is nearly home. I much prefer the string so that you have the two loose ends at the bottom centre.

You then place the windscreen onto the car, making sure the cord ends are both inside. At this point it is important that you centre the windscreen from left to right. It is possible to do the job on your own but I would advise a helper if you haven't done it before. It is extremely difficult, if not impossible to move the windscreen left/right once fitted. If it isn’t centred properly one corner won’t fit quite right and it will leak.

You then apply GENTLE hand pressure to the screen; you'll only rip the seal if you get forceful. You then pull one end of the cord, slightly up, pulling the lip into the car. As you apply pressure to the screen GENTLY persuade it downwards. Stop when you have gone just past the corner and do the same for the other side. Make sure the screen is settled well down and EVEN from left to right. Then pull the rest of the seal into the aperture. Look inside the car to see the lip is even. Now pump in lots of the black goo, a bit of masking tap at this point makes cleaning up easier but the stuff shouldn't damage paintwork.

You then go round and press the seal down until it is properly settled. If the screen isn't properly centred you will find that as you work your way round the bottom corners alternatively pop up leaving a gap twixt body and seal. Once again make sure the lip inside the car is even.

The outside trim is a B****rd to fit. It is important however and it has to be done last. It actually expands the rubber slightly to provide the final seal. There are different schools of thought on this, but I prefer to fit the trim dry without lubrication. If you lubricate the rubber the trim pops out of the seal faster than I can fit it. Fit your rope (Volvo recommended a 5/32 leather cord) into the lip the trim goes into forcing it as far into the lip as possible. You then have the lip standing proud.

You then get the trim and hook it into the bottom lip then gently twist so the top is also engaging with the rubber. You then pull the trim to the outside of the car so that the vertical part engages with the rubber. At this stage the trick is to get the vertical part to stay in. You then make sure the bottom part is engaged and you start to pull out the string towards the centre of the glass. My personal preference is to work from top to bottom but it doesn’t make much difference, you use one hand to stop the metal from popping your other hand pulls the string. When you’ve not done it before what tends to happen is that the aluminium trim rides up and disengages from the seal lip, try to avoid that happening. However when the trim is only half fitted there is actually enough play to pop the rubber back into the aluminium trim with a metal hook if you miss a bit, a thin blunt screwdriver with a bent end something like that.

When one half of the trim is fitted slide the two centre joiners onto the half you've just fitted. Slide them all the way onto the metal. Then fit the other half of the trim, and centre the joiners.

I tend to fit them on my own, but I’ve done lots, a second pair of hands makes the job easier. Also wear gloves when pressing on the glass; safety first and all that.

[222s]

Thank you for that excellent explanation - very much appreciated

[Mike Arnold]

If your trim is dulled due to age, you can buy a metal polishing kit made of cloth burnishing wheels and wax/powder polish. If you have taken the screen, trim and rubber out as one you can polish the trim whilst still attached to the old screen & rubber. Doing it this way reduces the chance of bending the trim. Then you can cut the trim from the old rubber and re-install it all shiny.

I agree that fitting the trim is an absolute pain. I used the lubrication and nylon string method for the rear screen and I had it pop out about 10 times before sussing out that the start point had to be held firmly in place until the entire piece had been fitted.

Incidentally, I do have a complete spare rear screen trim set (old and not fully re-polished) - with a small bend!

[nonhog]

Installed mine this weekend and boy what a mess. I'm not sure how secure the seal will be on the bottom as the bedding compound mostly stuck to the edge of the rubber seal as it bumped the body opening.
I'll give it a go. Still cleaning sealer off the glass and everywhere else.
Was not fun.