What year and model is your car? 1983-up cars made in the USA (i.e. Westmoreland Rabbits and pickups) are glued in. 1988-up Cabriolets are glue-in. All others are Rubber seal style that you can do yourself with 2 people.
Basically, buy a new seal (if your car has crome or black insert trim, I suggest you opt for the trim-less style since the trimmed style always leak.
cut out the old seal, scrape any residue off the windshield, wrap the new seal around the glass, and get ready to install.
Now, what I do is get a piece of thick string (about 1/8 to 1/4 dia.) and long enough to wrap around the whole glass. I lube the string with silicone spray, and have both ends finish at the bottom center of the window. Now, set the glass in place bottom end first and have a friend hold the glass and apply firm and even pressure on the glass from the outside. Pull the string to the lower corners until the bottom of the seal is set in place. Now, slowly pull one end of the string from the inside and have your friend push on the outside of the glass in the area where you are pulling the string. He/she should keep even pressure at that point, while holding the rest of the glass in place. As you pull the string, you should see the lower flap of the seal come around the windshield frame, as it leaves an even 3/4-to-1 inch wide seal on the inside of the frame. Keep pulling the string until you have this reveal all along the inside of the frame, and the ouside of the glass is flush with the surface of the car.
Once the string is removed, make sure that the seal is even all along the inside perimeter and there are no folds or kinks. You may also have to go along the outside perimeter and push the glass to help center it in the frame, or push on the seal to remove high-spots.
That's it.
Seals can be bought new for about $30-40. Febi makes them, as do other companies.
Topic: Windshield Gasket (Read 5553 times)
