Hi Alan,
You are the guy I have to thank for helping me find this forum. I was looking for dulcimers and ran across your site. One thing led to another (as it does so often) and now I have enjoyed this fantastic forum most every day for a few years. Thanks a million.
Can't wait to see pics of the new paint. Congratulations on the progress.
I have installed windshields on my 55 first and would say go for it. There are a few guys here who install glass professionally and a search for jockbolter50 posts and ob1quixote posts will give you lots of help
for instance. Steele
http://www.steelerubber.com/ also has some helpful information on their site. If you go to the correct catalog listing for the windshield gasket there is a link to an installation PDF.