replacing a quarter glass window
07-26-2005, 09:32 PM
#1
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: Oakland, CA
Posts: 4
replacing a quarter glass window
If anyone can give me tips on how to replace a driver's side quarter panel window that would help me out a ton! My window got busted out recently and I'm nervous that my car could get stolen. I ordered a quarter glass, window seal, and adhesive but am not sure how to change out the glass. I haven't been able to find any instructional guides online yet and only found in my manual how to replace the windshield. Supposedly you can run a screwdriver along the seal to break it and then just use ropes as a pulley to somehow pop in the new glass. Autoglass replacement companies have been giving me the runaround or/and hiked up prices so I'd like to try to replace it myself but just need to know more on how to do that. Any information would be extremely appreciated. Thanks!
08-16-2005, 09:55 AM
#2
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Boulder, CO
Posts: 474
Re-doing mine now as I reassemble my car. Mine's a 280. There are some subtle differences in the quarter-window assembly over the years of the S30 Z's.
You'll have to remove a lot of interior trim to get at the quarter window. Start with your dome light, and the overhead trim piece. Then the quarter window trim (may have to pop off the hardboard "dogleg" below the window, too). *Carefully* peel the on-body door opening weatherstrip/binder off the weld flange/seam for the height of the window and a couple of inches beyond. Remove the screws from the inside holding the window frame assembly to the body.
Remove the weatherstrip and molding from the front of the window frame. There're 3 or 4 screws that do it. Next, peel off (or use a razor blade or box knife) the weatherstrip that goes around the other sides of the frame, making a note or sketch of what it looks like (you have to orient the new one correctly, and if you don't have a book with a picture, it's up to you to duplicate it).
Note: if you have an earlier S30, you'll see some rubber "shims" on the top, back side of the frame. Those were used to make up the difference in shape between the window and body. Later ones fit without shims. Make a note of the number, thickness, and orientation of them, because you'll have to fabricate your own new ones out of innertube rubber.
Undo the two screws that hold the one side of the frame to the other sides. Mine were severely stuck due to corrosion and adhesive. They stripped, so I had to drill them out. Now I get to go buy replacements. With those screws out, carefully wiggle/remove the side of the frame. The glass and it's weatherstrip now can be popped out.
Clean up the whole mess. Naptha works well on the really nasty dirt and excess adhesive. And double-ought grade steel wool helps clean up the stainless frame.
Put your new glass in your new inner weather strip (some books say to use a little sealer in the glass channel). Wiggle it around and make sure it's well settled on the glass. No tight/loose spots.
Set the glass/weatherstrip assembly into the stainless frame (again, some books say to use sealer). It'll probably be a tight fit, so don't get impatient.
Reassemble the frame with the screws.
If you have the early-style shims, it's time to fabricate/reinstall them, gluing them in carefully one at a time.
Glue your new outer quarter window weatherstrip on, duplicating the orientation of the original (should be the big "lip" to the outside). You'll have a couple of inches of extra weatherstrip on each end. Glue down sections at a time, without pulling the weatherstrip too tight. Tape it as you go, so that it stays put and doesn't glue itself to your hands, arms, or furniture. Follow the directions for your adhesive in terms of application, any tack time, and allow generous cure time.
Cut the excess weatherstrip ends so that they'll neatly meet up with the molding. Reinstall the molding/weatherstrip with the screws, and glue/seal the quarter window weatherstrip.
Install the window assembly back into the body. Easier said than done. Get a friend to help you with this. It's hard to carefully thread machine screws while pushing the window into place. You can carefully use an awl or dead screwdriver to lever the window back into place and start a screw. That new rubber is really hard to compress into that tiny, weird shaped opening. Once you get one screw started, it should get a lot easier.
Reinstall the door opening weatherstrip, using some new adhesive if necessary.
Water-test the whole thing with a good stream of water out of the hose. Shouldn't leak at all.
Put your interior panels back on.
Call your insurance agent and add cheap glass coverage.
good luck,
Dave
You'll have to remove a lot of interior trim to get at the quarter window. Start with your dome light, and the overhead trim piece. Then the quarter window trim (may have to pop off the hardboard "dogleg" below the window, too). *Carefully* peel the on-body door opening weatherstrip/binder off the weld flange/seam for the height of the window and a couple of inches beyond. Remove the screws from the inside holding the window frame assembly to the body.
Remove the weatherstrip and molding from the front of the window frame. There're 3 or 4 screws that do it. Next, peel off (or use a razor blade or box knife) the weatherstrip that goes around the other sides of the frame, making a note or sketch of what it looks like (you have to orient the new one correctly, and if you don't have a book with a picture, it's up to you to duplicate it).
Note: if you have an earlier S30, you'll see some rubber "shims" on the top, back side of the frame. Those were used to make up the difference in shape between the window and body. Later ones fit without shims. Make a note of the number, thickness, and orientation of them, because you'll have to fabricate your own new ones out of innertube rubber.
Undo the two screws that hold the one side of the frame to the other sides. Mine were severely stuck due to corrosion and adhesive. They stripped, so I had to drill them out. Now I get to go buy replacements. With those screws out, carefully wiggle/remove the side of the frame. The glass and it's weatherstrip now can be popped out.
Clean up the whole mess. Naptha works well on the really nasty dirt and excess adhesive. And double-ought grade steel wool helps clean up the stainless frame.
Put your new glass in your new inner weather strip (some books say to use a little sealer in the glass channel). Wiggle it around and make sure it's well settled on the glass. No tight/loose spots.
Set the glass/weatherstrip assembly into the stainless frame (again, some books say to use sealer). It'll probably be a tight fit, so don't get impatient.
Reassemble the frame with the screws.
If you have the early-style shims, it's time to fabricate/reinstall them, gluing them in carefully one at a time.
Glue your new outer quarter window weatherstrip on, duplicating the orientation of the original (should be the big "lip" to the outside). You'll have a couple of inches of extra weatherstrip on each end. Glue down sections at a time, without pulling the weatherstrip too tight. Tape it as you go, so that it stays put and doesn't glue itself to your hands, arms, or furniture. Follow the directions for your adhesive in terms of application, any tack time, and allow generous cure time.
Cut the excess weatherstrip ends so that they'll neatly meet up with the molding. Reinstall the molding/weatherstrip with the screws, and glue/seal the quarter window weatherstrip.
Install the window assembly back into the body. Easier said than done. Get a friend to help you with this. It's hard to carefully thread machine screws while pushing the window into place. You can carefully use an awl or dead screwdriver to lever the window back into place and start a screw. That new rubber is really hard to compress into that tiny, weird shaped opening. Once you get one screw started, it should get a lot easier.
Reinstall the door opening weatherstrip, using some new adhesive if necessary.
Water-test the whole thing with a good stream of water out of the hose. Shouldn't leak at all.
Put your interior panels back on.
Call your insurance agent and add cheap glass coverage.
good luck,
Dave
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