Removing the front windshield
- Thread starter SCme
- Start date
sledbuttrob
Registered User
Windshield Removal
Hi,
Unfortunately, I don't think you can get it out without breaking it. I was also parting out an '89 with a good windshield I needed for my '90. Main reason I bought the parts car was for the windshield. There is a windshield removal kit, basically a steel wire with handles on each end. You push the wire through the glue and attach the handle to the other end. Then with a person inside and outside of the car you pull back and forth on the wire slowly moving along all around the windshield. I have used the kit with success on other vehicles, but the Tbird doesn't have enough clearance. The wire rubs on the glass. The wire will chip the edge of the glass. Even one small chip can cause a crack.
I asked the local glass shops around here, and they also agreed with me and would not take it out.
Hopefully someone out there has done it successfully and can show us.
Hi,
Unfortunately, I don't think you can get it out without breaking it. I was also parting out an '89 with a good windshield I needed for my '90. Main reason I bought the parts car was for the windshield. There is a windshield removal kit, basically a steel wire with handles on each end. You push the wire through the glue and attach the handle to the other end. Then with a person inside and outside of the car you pull back and forth on the wire slowly moving along all around the windshield. I have used the kit with success on other vehicles, but the Tbird doesn't have enough clearance. The wire rubs on the glass. The wire will chip the edge of the glass. Even one small chip can cause a crack.
I asked the local glass shops around here, and they also agreed with me and would not take it out.
Hopefully someone out there has done it successfully and can show us.
phyxius
Registered User
there is a technique to taking them out.i have taken out loads of windsheilds without breaking them.the person on the inside needs to pull straight out from the edge while the outside pulls as low along the edge of the glass as possible.it is hard to explain by words but there is also a windshield remoal tool(consists of a handle with a knife at the end with a 90 angle on it and a pull cable for the other hand) but that takes alot of skill to use to get the glass out without breaking it.
Windshields are dirt cheap for these cars...why would you want a used one? If you are trying to take out an original windshield from these cars, Ford used a glue that was really tough (some of the toughest I've ever seen...MN12s, Tempos, Escorts, etc) and chances are you won't get it out in 1 piece. The cold knives that phyxius is referring to are not good for saving windshields, only cutting them out. Wire is your best shot, but have good wire, and keep it lubricated with water on the inside and out.
Its about all that is left in the 89 I am parting out, so I told the guy if he could remove it, its his for free. He's a friend of my father, and dad was telling me that he talked to a guy at where he works now that installed windows for a while. He said the same thing, that the MN-12 cars had the strongest/toughest fronts to get out.