windscreen trim

[nick]

I searched the archives but couldn't find any help on the windscreen trim. I was unhappy with how badly my trim fit. I had a huge gap on the driver's side. I tried to remove the trim but it wouldn't budge. So today I started at the top and succesfully removed the passenger side trim (US model.) Howerever, while attemting to remove driver's side, I broke the windscreen. After that I was able to remove the entire windscreen with the trim attached by pushing it out from inside the car. The previous installer had used silicon to attach the trim to the windscreen. So the trim is my problem. I can't figure out how it attaches. There are no fasteners. Is it suppose to compress around the windscreen? Or does it require adhesive to keep it in place? Also when fitting the screen it seems like the trim demensions should be considered, otherwise there are huge gaps between the trim and the pillars. If all you do is set the windscreeen without regard for the trim, there is no guarentee that the trim will be flush with the pillars and the top. Anyone have any suggestions?

nick

[Hasbeen]

Nick, the trin was always held in by the cured in place rubber, that
held the windscreen in.

It was pushed into the rubber, before the curing power was
connected. As this stuff was always a little soft, the trim could be
levered out, GENTLY.

Then some used silicon, then moved on to Sikaflex, both of which set
fully hard. The only way to remove the trim then, is to remove the
screen, which always cracks, then save the trim.

In Oz we are now using a new "always soft" putty stuff, which seems
pretty good. However my drivers side trim was lifted by the wind
slipstream, across the top of the screen, & I had to grab it before
it blew away.

I had to stick it to the screen with Sikaflex to hold it in place. I
think my Oz made screen is not quite the right profile at the top
right corner, & the trim is over 1/8"off the screen, at the bend. I
have filled the gap with Sikaflex, & it is not noticable to others,
but annoys me.

If you fit the screen centerally, the trim should fit the pillers.
Do you have the 1 1/2" wide join cover fitting in the centre top of
the trim? Without that, if you are trying to get the trim to come
together at the top, it would not fit the pillers. You should be
fitting the trim to the pillers, & covering the gap with the
cover fitting.

Hasbeen

[nick]

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Century Gothic, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">If you fit the screen centerally, the trim should fit the pillers.
Do you have the 1 1/2" wide join cover fitting in the centre top of
the trim? Without that, if you are trying to get the trim to come
together at the top, it would not fit the pillers. You should be
fitting the trim to the pillers, & covering the gap with the
cover fitting.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Hasbeen,
Yes, I have the cover fitting.
Even though the old screen is broken it is in one piece and I am using it as an experiment with the trim. One thing I see is the gap is greater on the pillars than top and bottom. The other is that if I push the trim against the outside of the groove a large gap is created between the glass and the trim at the top corners. If I push the trim against the glass I can eliminate most of the gap but then too much of the screen groove shows. Looks like a cunundrum.
In the original design, with the cured rubber, do you know how thick the rubber was? What I noticed is that if I shimmed the glass all around to stand away from the groove by 1/4 inch the trim seemed to fit better. The gaps between the glass and the trim are smaller. Also, the glass seems to fit better with the shims in place.

nick

[nick]

I think I'm on to it now. Rimmer shows a part called "Finisher Spacer" ZKC 368. There should be 4 installed around the windscreen. The picture looks like they may help hold down the windscreen finisher. Of course they are no longer available.

nick

[Hasbeen]

Rick, I believe that stuff was aroung 3/8" thick, as is the new
stuff the screen companies are using here now.

If you have something thinner, I'm sure that would be the trouble. I
just checked the set of the screen in my parts car, which is
original. A straight edge, set on the last couple of inches of the
side of the screen, [it's almost flat] stands over an 1/8" clear of
the pillers, for most of their height, comming close to flush at
the top.

At the top, the same straight from 3 inches of screen to the body
work was about an 1/8" clear of the glass, at the top. This may be
a bit low. When I took the trim off this car 7 years ago, the
rubber compound was soft & sticky. After this time in the sun, it
is now set hard, & looks to have shrunk a bit. That trim was a
perfect fit, when I removed it, & was on the restored car. It's only
the since the replacement screen went in that car, that the fit is
less good.

Hope this is of some help.

Hasbeen

[nick]

Hasbeen, thanks for checking. I'm really fussy when it comes to fit and finish. It drove me nuts looking at the way the trim fit. Of course it will also cost me a pretty penny since I destroyed a perfectly good screen trying to fix it. Oh well.

nick