The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Advice on Windshield Gasket install

Hello,

I have a 1954 Chevy 3100 and have replaced my window gasket and it is so close to fitting. any advice or trick would be greatly appreciated or if any of y'all live close to Charleston, SC that could help.

The bottom is seated all the way from what I can tell. the sticking point seems to be the top right and left corner along with the top of the windshield. I had a rope in and pulled it and this is what I have now so the rope in no longer in for the rope in process. I have been working on the top for 2 days now with no more progress. I have my wife inside pulling on the seal while I use my hand to slap the outside window. I have use WD40 and tried soap as well and it seem to be just stuck and not going any further.

Gonna move this to Paint & Body. You may have more success with answers there.

Welcome, by the way!

I haven't messed with my windshield yet, but you might try a popsicle stick or something like that. Or one of the special tools for working on windshield rubber installation, like a bent metal rod with a ball end. Similar to this Your second picture looks like the edge of the weatherstrip is curled under and maybe hanging up on the metal. Work a tool under there and see if you can pull it outward. Maybe some mild heat would help.

I'm sure that one of the guys who've been where you are will be along to suggest more.

Just from my basic experience, done a few now but not an expert:

Ball end hook is very helpful as is the PLASTIC flat ended stick. I made the ball end by welding on the end of a 90 degree pick and polished it up smooth.

You gotta be careful not to let the pressure someone's applying on the glass, "get ahead of the rope" - as that rope is being worked out (using that circling type motion) the pressure has to be right there; if the rope person is moving too fast it won't seat as the rope will just start coming out of the weatherstrip freely.You can save it sometimes by stopping and working it in with the tools to "catch up". Keep pressure on the whole pane while you're doing that or it'll pop out.

If it's not seated and you can't coax it in with the flat ended tool (or the ball hook) you may need to pull it out and reset the rope. If there's any cured sealant in your gasket, might have to remove and reseal.

My windshield installation on my 1959 required two people, the rope, lubricant and a strong suction cup which allowed pulling up and in from the inside while the slapping was being used from the outside. A lot of pulling and slapping was needed for the last little bit. I agree you may want to start over with the rope. If adding suction cup pulling does not help.

Thank you everyone for the advice, I assume the top of the seal should sit flat with out any pucker spots. The suction cups seemed to help me get it in further and over the lip in all spots but I still have some pucker spots near the corners and along the top.

Just want to make sure the gasket is not to big, I got it from LMC and it fit the window but loose like it said it would. the old gasket was to gone for me to compare size. I feel like something is wrong with the gasket but that could just be me looking for a reason why I cant get it in.

You may have some pucker spots inside, but usually you can work those out. A couple of years ago I showed how I made a ball end tool from an old screwdriver. That tool will help a lot and common popsicle sticks are good, also. You can buy ball hook tools, but you don't need more than what I made. Dawn soap is good to use. The last one I did was a 1953 with the stainless molding. Took about 20 minutes. I only needed help to set it up and in place. As for sealant, I use 3M non-hardening for the rubber to cab and either 3M non-hardening or 3M urethane for the rubber to glass. No sealer is needed for the back or corner glass. When you do the sealer for the windshield, use masking tape to keep it off of the body...will make clean-up a lot easier and quicker. For clean-up I use mineral spirits. I also showed how to pull the rubber so the corners go in flat and smooth. If you don't do this, they'll pucker...no matter who's rubber product you use. If they pucker, they'll gather water at the bottom and this will make them fail rapidly. Good luck! There's a fellow here (think his ID is tinnerjohn) who knows a lot about this and may have some more ideas.

Here was the post on making corners sit flat:
https://tinyurl.com/ycycy35n

And a post on the back window rubber:
https://tinyurl.com/mr4aersm

With everyone's help I have gotten the point of having a pucker like you see in the picture on each side on the inside. The outside looks perfect.

Any additional thought or suggestion? I have been working these two spots for hours and the have not gotten any smaller. I really don't want to pull it back out just for these spot if I don't have to.

It seems to me the tricky part is always to get the rubber over the glass just right from the start. The tension has to feel the same all around, and it can be deceiving. Obviously it isn't like mounting a tire...The rubber can't adjust itself once you get it pulled in. My guess is you have the bottom and the sides stretched over the glass just a bit more tightly than needed and that left the top more loose. You may be able to reduce (or eliminate) these puckers by trying to move the rubber away from the puckered spot (on each side). This sounds a lot easier than it is and it may not work at all (more on that in a bit)...but the good news is you probably don't have to move the rubber as much as you might expect. If your pinchweld and mounting area are really nice and clean...maybe just recently painted...this will make moving the rubber a bit easier. If it was July and you could park it in the sun for an hour or two, that might help. If the mounting area is slippery with Dawn soap, that can help (I would not use WD40). If that area was rough or had any rust then the rubber probably can't be moved now. Sorry to say it, but the best way is to remove and start over, but I'd try to move the rubber with the glass in first. Question for you...when you pulled in the string did you start at the top or bottom?

Scott, when I say move the rubber away from the puckered spot, what I'm saying is to try to slide the entire rubber piece...don't try pulling the inside part toward you. That will just make the situation worse. Try to slide the rubber piece away from the puckered spot in both directions. You'll be trying to equalize things if possible by holding the rubber on both sides of the glass and moving it (sliding it). Sorry...and hope that makes sense. It is a bit like trying to explain how to tie shoelaces over the phone. If you were closer I'd come help.

I started with the string at the bottom

Thanks...do you mean you started pulling the string in from the bottom and ended up pulling the last bit in at the top?

Started pulling from the bottom

Thanks Scott. I don't know if there is a right or wrong way. I was just curious. I've always caught the pinchweld with the bottom of the rubber/window and then leaned the windshield/rubber inward and pulled in from the top and on around. I was just wondering if going from bottom first may have pulled the rubber toward the top or something. Don't know. Just a thought. Maybe others will have some thoughts or ideas. I'll send tinnerjohn a message and see what he thinks.

The videos I’ve seen they pull the rope from the top but who knows if it makes a difference.

So the top is in perfect but not sure about the bottom now. This may sound dumb but how do I know when it is fully in?

Bottom is just over the pinch weld currently.

I hate to say it but it looks like the w/s may be slightly big. That said, I would leave it sat for a while, not sure what the weather's like there, but a nice sunny day might work wonders. New gaskets, even when we could buy OEM from the dealer could cause us to invent new words. If the glass is too big, the solution is to sand it, not a fun or fast process. That said, from what I can see from the last pictures , it looks pretty good, you may be in good shape. John

Tinnerjohn thank for the info. I have decide so just that and walk away for a couple of days and wait for a warm day and see what that does. As it sits a have suction cups on the inside with a little bit of tension pulling on them with ratchet straps to the seatbelt location.

Told my wife if this does not work I am going to run a beed of adhesive on the inside bottom to the seal and pinch weld. Lol

I got the old truck as a relaxing hobbies but this stupid gasket has me rethinking.

Making new brake lines and put all 4 disc brake was easier then this.

A couple of days' breather (or working on some smaller/different tasks) and you'll be right back into 'er. And you'll get it sorted.

More often than not, there's something that happens that makes a person wanna bang their head against a wall, but overall its the sum of the parts that matters

Ive used Steele Rubber gaskets on both my 54s. They went like a breeze,even with the stainless mouldings. The China gaskets always seem to pucker up, even on the 47-53, and the sunlight does a number on the rubber after 5,6 years.