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Glued my Windshield in Today the "New Way"

bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Just though id share my experiance of glueing in the windshield. I know a few guys on here did this recently so i decided to try it myself. I had windshield glass cut for $100.00 from a pattern i brought to a custom auto glass cutting place. They were gona charge me $125 but they didnt do as good of a job as i expected, so i told them to knock 25 off and i wont say bad things about them to others!;)

I taped the frame off, cleaned with prepall, and primed the edge with 3M glass primer (08682) using a small duaber. I also scuffed, cleaned with prepall, and primed the frame. I put some wood and shims under the glass so it wouldnt squish the urethane out to much and be set in to far. I then ran a bead of 3M medium urethane (08693) windshield urethane (The bead was about 5/8" tall and maybe 1/4" wide) around the frame and dropped the glass in.

The primer and urethane i got at the local paint shop for $25.00, plus the $100.00 for glass, and $6 for some harbor freight suction cups, so i got $131.00 into a new windshield.

Couple tips...
1-Make sure you look under the glass before pulling tape from the primer to make sure there is no light coming through the primer, touch up as needed. The primer dries almost as quick as it touches the glass so paint like 18" then another 18" and so on.

2-Cut the tip large on the urethane, and on one side cut a large "V" out. This allows you to lay a bead that is in my case 5/8" tall, which was needed to bring the glass out to almost flush with the frame. I also made the tip of the V wider so the top edge of the bead was thicker and didnt come to a point. The plastic screw on tips are the same as other caulking i used at work so i had a ton of tips in my work trailer. I took me 4 tips before i got the shape bead i liked!

3- Dont make to many practice urethane beads on a paper plate! I used a entire tube of urethane and came up a inch short so i had to scrapp off some urethane off the plate and spread it that way. That sucked. Glad it was only a inch!!

4-If doing the install with the frame in the bronco as most would do i also suggest cutting some small shims to space the glass up from the bottom of the frame, and centering it.

5- Because of the extra large urethane bead needed to bring the glass out flush with the frame id let it sit for at least 24-48 hours to dry before driving!!

6- The small bottle of primer has enough to do probably 6 windshields. If possible round up a few guys and do them all at once. The primer is only supposed to be kept for 7 days after opening i believe. (I have heard of glass guys keeping it in the fridge to keep it longer, but im not sure?)

7- I primed only 3/4" wide strip, but i have a viewfinder frame. With a standard frame make sure you prime enough to hide the dash on the bottom when looking in from the outside, not sure without looking at a stock frame. The primer no only helps the urethane stick, but protects it from the UV. The primer also hides the uneveness of the urethane bead and makes for a much much cleaner install. If you look at any car you will soon notice how much of the glass is primed to hide dash, headliner, and a pillars.

8- When i picked up my glass the kid also showed me the greylight (much darker than my green), and he showed me the green with the shaded top section. Now that would be cool in my viewfinder frame! NEXT TIME!

9- When making your template for the glass cutting, make the gap between the glass and the frame 1/16" to 1/8". My frame was not very straight so the gap varied around the frame. If you go with a 1/8" or larger gap there isnt much of a pinch weld to glue to, so the smaller the better.

Just thought id share my experiance so you all know how cheep and easy it is if you want to try it yourself. My glass guy wanted at least another hundred for install and im not sure he would have dona as good of a job.
 

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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
How do i turn this into a tec article? I think i can get a year free of contributer status for this writeup cant I????:)

OHHHHHHHH Joooooonnnnnnnnn!
 

sprdv1

Contributor
REBEL
Joined
Mar 8, 2007
Messages
81,696
LOL, shoot him a PM or email.. Good write up man..
 

grant_71

Bronco Guru
Joined
Aug 6, 2002
Messages
1,933
I have glued in a few windows, never a bronco windshield before....that urethane is a PITA!!! My advise is to make sure its warm, and if you have a power caulking gun, use it, the first window I didn't get 6" and my hand was cramping up.

Looks good though, any plans to finish the edges at all or no?
 

motoman

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 29, 2002
Messages
1,729
Loc.
Phoenix, AZ
Do you have any pictures with the windshield installed from the front? Why did you glue it in vs using a gasket?
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Do you have any pictures with the windshield installed from the front? Why did you glue it in vs using a gasket?

I havent mounted the frame yet. I wanted a cleaner newer looking glass install. This is exactly how they do the newer jeeps. I figured it would be a nice twist to add on a thousand dollar frame!!

Ill attach some pics from other guys on here such as sean lalley. I got the idea from a thread he started after him and his dad tried it.
I see looking again they polished/ sanded the cut edges before you glued it in

Well they ground the edges. I told them to cut and polish the edges but i guess the dipshit in the office forgot about the polish part! Thats why i got it for 100 instead of 125. Told him it just a truck.....but next time open his damn ears! If i were a hotrod guy his guys would be recutting it and doing what i asked!!
 

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pilot21

Jr. Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2011
Messages
63
That looks pretty darn good from the front. How does it look from inside the cab?
 

lillsteve

Jr. Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2010
Messages
56
Loc.
Granbury, TX
I'm on my second windshield in two years so I was wondering how difficult it might be to replace a windshield when using this process without a gasket?
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
That looks pretty darn good from the front. How does it look from inside the cab?

You will see a bit of urethane but most people would never notice. Even in a new heep wrangler you see the urethane here and there.

I'm on my second windshield in two years so I was wondering how difficult it might be to replace a windshield when using this process without a gasket?

Would be the same as replacing any windshield in any vehicle. There is a special razor tool that cuts the urethane. Cut it out, clean it up, touch up the pinch weld with primer, and glue the new one back in. Same process the glass guys go through on every install every day. Is probably a bit more involved process than the gasket for sure, but its the standard in any vehicle on the road.

http://www.harborfreight.com/windshield-removing-tool-99892.html
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Has anyone attempted that on a hardtop?

The guys were talking about it. Should be the same deal. Make a pattern, cut, prime, and glue in. Just suck when you glue it in you need larger than stock glass so the price is a factor probably keeping guys from doing it. Why buy new glass when what you have is fine right?

If i did a top id go with a different tint than the standand green to reduce some sun.
 

Pa PITT

Contributor
Bronco Guru
Joined
Jul 15, 2005
Messages
11,246
Loc.
Stephenville TEXAS
So it looks nice .. But I thought the rubber was a shock absorber .. Will it hold the glas in out twisting & shaking Broncos.
 
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bknbronco

Bronco Guru
Joined
Jan 17, 2011
Messages
4,378
Loc.
North Metro, MN
Why not use Lexan for the hard top windows?

Wouldnt that cost more than glass?

So it looks nice .. But I thought the rubber was a shock absorber .. Will it hold the glas in out twisting & shaking Broncos.

Only time will tell! Ill definatly be updating this thread if it ends up cracking!!!%) Gota give it a try. Im not sure that the windshield frame can really twist that much. When it gets tied into a cage i think care should be given to how the tie-ins are made. A solid bar would make the frame twist and bend, but if you went with some small heims on a threaded rod without the lock nut then the cage could move around with the body and stay indepandent from the windshield a bit more.

The guys that have done this mod are the guiny pigs. Nobody said its the best way to go yet. Just a different way.
 
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