MGB Windscreen Installation Day
April 24, 2004 - Streamwood, Illinois

Truth be known, this was the easy part.

Click for BIGGER pictures, average 34K

First was an attempt to stuff the rubber strip into the "T" slot without removing the end frame. No go. After half an hour of fiddling, remove a few screws, give a little tap, and the end frame and corner brackets are out of the way.

Then the rubber strip would go right into the and slot, just didn't want to slide very well. A little soapy water helped some, but still no go. With one pulling and one feeding and pushing, after about a foot of progress the tail would jump out of the slot. Somebody thought a hammer might help, but no go there either.

We tried prying the rubber tongue into the slot with a screwdriver, which seemed to work at first. Then just when it looked like it was all in place it just popped out again. At one point it was well enough in place to trim the end to the proper angle for final fit. Someone suggested trying some lanolin hand cleaner for lubricant. That seemed to work better, or at least it didn't dry out so quick while the work was in progress. Then the 8-hitch mule team pays off and 16 hands working together get the job done. With one blocking, one pulling, five pushing and holding the rubber down at the same time, and one feeding and guiding the input end, the weather strip finally crept into place at about a quarter inch per second, given a few rest stops along the way. Tom Sotomayor swears he has done this single handed at least once (yeah, sure). Of course everyone wants to know how this was done in production.

With the rubber strip securely in place, it's time to trim the trailing end and install the end frame piece. For this we poke a couple small holes through the rubber for access to the screws, and caulk up the holes when finished.
Addendum 08Feb08 - A follow up note from Roger Killin:
While assembling my 1970 MGB windshield I discovered that it was not necessary to punch holes in the bottom rubber seal to access the screw holes that secure to end post. The old seal didn't have any holes. With the top rail, bottom rail, 1 post, glass, and glass seal in position, I pushed the seal into position against the installed post, then cut it to the proper length. I then kept pushing up and down the whole length of the seal, with about 5 minutes of pushing and pulling I was able to compress the seal enough to expose the screw holes at the other end of the bottom rail, and secure the other side post. Once this last post was secure I pulled the seal back to it's normal "decompressed" length.

"Offer up the assembly to the body". Start with a loop in the cord at the center of the weatherstrip, and pull forward to uncurl the rubber lip, working from the center toward the ends. Wasn't that sweet? We got that part right on the first try. But do remember to insert the two center hold down screws first, as these cannot be installed after the assembly is full down on the body. The sharply sloping glass gets in the way of the screw heads, but with hex head screws they can be run in with an open end wrench (probably another bottleneck in production).

As the last bit of rubber lip is uncurled at the ends and the cord is fully removed, the ends of the rubber lip are tucked under the metal end frame just above the rubber post grommet. Then the entire assembly has to be pressed down VERY firmly against the car body while two bolts are installed at each end to attach the posts to the body. Hey! That was a fresh paint job, wasn't it? What's with the big hammer? Cowboy is looking very concerned there.

Ah, but success if finally in hand, and it's time for the first spin around the block with the new paint. Yeehaa! And how nice that new weatherstrip lays down tight on the body with all that curl tension on it. Time for a ale, and then the cheap help gets to go home, a little stiff for the effort by satisfied with a job well done (except for one or two bums who show up late, just in time to help celebrate). Anyone recognize that yellow car?