In the next couple of month I am going to be installing the glass in my 37 Terraplane. Have never done this before so would appreciate any pointers. So here are some of by beginner questions.
Do you put the rubber gasket in the front and rear window openings first then the glass. What lubricant would you suggest.
On the rear & front side windows what is best to put in the channel and what adhesives? Have heard things about some sort of oil skin to divert rain water inside the door and have no idea on that subject. What if anything do you put in the upper slot where the windows comes out of the door and where would I get any. What do you put in the the vertical channels? Is there any articles out there that I should read up on. Thanks in advanced.
For the front and rear glass you fit the rubber around the glass first and feed a length of string in the slot which is fitting into the metal lip of the body. You need two people (or more). One to hold the glass and rubber together from the inside and another to feed the rubber into the frame. The string is used to pull the rubber over the lip as you work around. The person on the inside carefully pushes the glass forward while the string guy is working around the whole window pulling the rubber over the lip as he pulls the string out. Use dishwashing detergent as a lubricant and normal windscreen sealant as a sealer. Be careful of modern laminated glass if you are using it as it seems more delicate if you push too hard around the corners. Try and get it right the first time as the whole thing can become a slippery mess if multiple attempts are made leading the glass to slipping and breaking. (I speak from experience and trying to do it single handed).
I'm not sure about your car but mine had a strip of cloth electrical tape running around the entire window frame on the body. Either to stop squeaks or aid holding the glass in place during installation.
The guy inside the car looks like he's squinting his eyes and giving a "please don't bash the window in with a hammer" look while pushing against the glass.
LOL
Gordon, you need to make sure that you make the correct miter cuts at the required angles. Make sure you have the division bar facing the correct direction before cutting the angle. It is also best to do some test cuts before cutting it the exact, required length. Using the glass, test fit the pieces at the corners. We super glue the corners together after we have made the cuts. To make a very precise corner, you can use a die grinder with a sanding disc, and holding the rubber in your hand, carefully cut the corners to the desired angles. This will leave a slight rubber edge that you should be able to simply pull off with your fingers. Then test fit your corners on the glass where they meet. This procedure can be done for any of the rubber windshield gaskets. Also, it you look, the center division bar usually has big hunks of hard,old buytl. This needs to be cleaned out, and re-applied in the center. If you don't, the division bar will leak. Don't use Urethane windshield sealer. This will harden like a rock, and possibly break the glass at some point. It needs to stay pliable . You need to make sure you are ready to install both inside garnish moldings around the inside of the windshields, and the lower part at the bottom, and also the mirror bracket , must all be ready to secure once you have installed the glass and center division. You don't need to tighten all these screws very tight, just screw them down easily . We go back over them several times, snugging a little each time, but not over- tightening them. Aaron Cooper just did these in Evans truck a few weeks ago. He custom cut the gaskets as described. It looked great when they were done. I hope this helps. We will try to get an online video out before too long.
Many years ago I put together a gasket for my '37, using the rubber extrusions that were then available. I made a template for the glass, out of 1/4" Masonite. I then fitted the gasket around the perimeter of this template, as if I was fitting the gasket to the glass itself. When I did the 45 degree cut at the divider gasket on each half, I think I super-glued the gasket pieces together while they were fitted around the Masonite template. This held the channels (in both gasket sections) in alignment -- as opposed to simply laying them on a table when bonding together. The only thing to watch, when doing this, is the the super glue doesn't bond the rubber to the Masonite template! (Possibly I wrapped the Masonite edge with tape, waxed paper or some other thin material so that the tape -- not the Masonite -- could be easily removed from the super glue.)
Instead of making a full template you could simply cut a square piece of 1/4" thick material, maybe 3" x 3", and insert it in the channels of both rubber pieces at the inside corner, just to make sure they align properly.


