Need help windshield wont stay up on its own?

[robronco]

Hi guys this is my first post. Always been a Jeep guy cj5, cj7,yj,Rubicon. Bought a nice 74 Bronco. I was taking the hardtop off to put the bikini top on. Both doors were open and as I lifted the hardtop up the windshield fell about 4 or 5 inches toward the cabin. I have a feeling this isn't normal. I left the hardtop on to keep the windshield up. Did I do something wrong, Any suggestions on a fix?

 

[Tito]

Never seen them go backwards before, one small help would be to replace or put a rubber seal in under the windshield in the hinge area. I think you have more going wrong than that potentially though. Do you have a roll cage? Front cage section? If so a lot of people put braces between the windshield and the cage (bolt on tractor heim) to steady the windshield frame as it likes to get jiggy going down the road. Are there bolts through the dash on each side securing the windshield also? sometimes will be knobs, other times just bolts.

 

[JohnJohn]

The windshield is on a piano type hinge and the hinge is welded or bolted to the cowl area.
I think in 74 it should be welded unless it was replaced and someone who bolted it on.
There could be a few things but is the part of the hinge that connects to the cowl area firmly welded?
Where is the play coming from?
Pics would also help.

 

[tasker]

Sounds like rotted cowl syndrome to me as i had the same problem. I made up some brackets and ran a bar from the roll bar to the frame using one of the soft top riser holes. Been like that for 3 years now with no problems..

 

[robronco]

Yeah I didn't think it sounded normal. I'll post pics later. From what I remember the actual windshield frame sits on the piano hinge
What holds the windshield to the hinge? It looks like it actually seperated from the hinge and then fell backwards. There isn't much rust.

 

[robronco]

So I removed the 2 bolts that secure the windshield and the windshield completely separated from the hinge. The frame doesn't look bad just a bit of surface rust that I have cleaned up already.

My question is I ordered a new hinge because the hinge looks pretty tore up. What do you guys suggest to cut through the spot welds on the hinge/cowl interface?

 

[jboomer]

A spot weld drill bit is extremely handy, it's what I used on mine. Harbor Freight has them for about $5 and the bit is reversible so you get twice the life out of it. You'll burn up one end of it cutting off that hinge...it's a pain! Lucky for you it's already separated on one end, that's 2/3 of the battle.

 

[fordtrucks4ever]

Screw that $5 a drill. I use mill drills. They are very short(i inch) cobalt stepped drill bits that dont require a center punch or center drill when used on a milling machine. They are ground to 135 degrees and split point. Usually with a 5/32 or 3/16 pilot. Make quick work on removing spot welds. And only cost $0.025 each at the local machine surplus store.

 

[robronco]

I started with an angle grinder... would a spot weld cutter be more effective? The angle grinder is working ok but it is leaving little islands of metal where the spot welds were. I figure I can grind it all down smooth but is this creating more work for myself then necessary. This doesn't seem like the best thought out piece of engineering from Ford :0

 

[sprdv1]

Welcome to the site...!

 

[mustangtoby]

Spot weld cutter would work better than an angle grinder. Had the top ever been off of your bronco? I've never heard of this happening, maybe you got a strange one?

I don't have a cage in mine, but I built some braces to go from the windshield to the roll bar to help hold the windshield (I have a soft top). Works just fine, also makes a handy place to mount some grab handles, been thinking about mounting some speakers up there!

 

[robronco]

cool... going to harbor freight this morning to get one. I have a cage that the previous owner bought and never installed so I'm going to fit it and put it in once I get the windshield back up. I can tell this wasn't the original windshield
and I think think the PO just did a really sloppy job putting it in. PO said most of the time the bikini top was on, he just put it on to sale it. I drove the truck back home 3 hours away. Thanks guys for the help. Hope this thread helps someone in the future.