With the MGA windscreen being a rather specialty interest, we had just five avid MG enthusiasts in attendance, but they included two visitors from the British Boots and Bonnets club in Rockford, Marv Proctor and Hal Zenizek. This tech session came off without a hitch, and was completed in about four hours, thanks primarily to the advance preparation and preassembly of the new windscreen frame to be installed.

The session started with partial disassembly of the new windscreen frame and some serious discussion about some problems with the form and fit of corner brackets and fasteners as received from a few different parts suppliers. We then proceeded to remove the old windscreen assembly from the car, for which the bulk of the work was removing the front kick panels. Just four bolts and six small screws later the assembly was sitting on the bench. This time the old frame came apart easily, as it was assembled with all new hardware just a few years earlier. It was only being replaced because a very thin plating job last time left it with copper stains bleeding through to the surface from the base metal.

The old glass, new just a few years ago, was then cleaned and assembled into the new frame. The four perimeter frame rails are pressed over the edge of the glass with a thin foam rubber packing strip in between. An attempt to assemble the first rail dry met with significant resistance to full engagement. A small tub of dish soap solution in water makes a nifty lubricant for the rubber bits, after which the parts slipped together easily. But they also slip apart easily, so this is where the job goes a lot easier with some extra hands to hold the parts in place until the corners can be screwed together. One bottom corner of the frame was then opened slightly to allow installation of the bottom rubber seal strip, which also slid easily into place with the help of a bit of dish soap and a few extra hands. The last step was to attach the side mounting posts, and the assembly was ready to go back on the car.

Reassembly being the reverse of disassembly, four bolts and six screws later it was done. Final trimming of the rubber packing strip around the glass was done with a razor knife after the slippery soap solution was left to dry. Additional details and more photos can be found on the club web site as noted below.