Front Windscreens

Post by **Peetee** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 2:18 pm

Anyone replacing a front windscreen rubber on Minor 1000 cars would do well to take heed of the problem I have come across.
The parts suppliers I have come across stock two options and i wrongly assumed that was all that there was. There are however at least three and it would be best to establish what your car has before you order as the metal inserts and rubbers are not interchangeable. This can be at odds with replacement however as leaving your car screen-less while you wait for parts can be very awkward

Option 1 No insert
Option 2 Metal insert (J section with joining pieces top and bottom mid screen.
Option 3 Chrome plastic insert - flexible plastic like a long thin speedbump in section.
Thats all folks.

Post by **Multiphonikks** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 5:32 pm

Gah!

I hope it got resolved mate!

Post by **Peetee** » Wed Dec 01, 2004 10:17 pm

Er no, not yet it hasn't. I have had the car under a plastic sheet now for about 3 weeks. It's not doing the paintwork much good I can tell you

I recieved the insert from Woolies after taking advice from a windscreen fitter - who said he would be round last Sunday after I offered him some beer money to fit it. (I saw a few tumbleweeds pass but that was all).

Post by SR » Thu Dec 02, 2004 6:11 am

ello pete, when i got my spitfire sprayed i left it under one of them blue tarpaulins while i was building garage, when i took it off 6 weeks later the wind had caused the sheet to rub the paint off the top of windscreen down to bare metal, steve

Post by **Alec** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:40 am

Hello Peetee,
the front screen is not too difficult to fit yourself, with a helper to keep some pressure on as you pull the string inside. I say string, but usually use electric cable as it is smooth. A soft heavy hammer is also useful to help bump the screen into place at times.
Try it and the confidence it gives you when it goes on, you'll never worry again about getting someone round.

Alec

Post by **Peetee** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:01 pm

Cheers Alec. The screen had already been put in on the understanding that the chrome plastic insert just pushes in with a special tool (which this bloke said he had). Now when I did the rear screen on my previous Mog it was a b** to put in but a bit of vaseline helped hugely on the second attempt and it never leaked. I tried the same when I did the front screen for this car. Now the 'expert' tells me I'll have to take it out to fit the chrome strip, get rid of the vaseline and use some sealing mastic or It'll leak like a seive.

Post by **Alec** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 12:20 pm

Hello Peetee,
My wife's Traveller is now on it's second front screen rubber in 6 years.
It has, as I think you have, the plastic chrome filler strip. This is fitted after the screen is in place and is designed to tension the rubber after fitting. (I cannot comment on the metal filler as I haven't seen one but the usual process is to fit all fillers after the screen is in place) I used no sealant in both cases and it does not leak. Well, that was, until the originally fitted new screen rubber cracked at the corners. I have the Woolies screen fitting tool kit but found it not to be that usefull and tend to use old smoothed off screwdrivers as an aid to fitting filler strips etc.

Alec

Post by **Peetee** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:35 pm

Thanks for the advice matey!
There is a HUGE gap along the top edge of the screen with no filler strip in. It looks a lot larger than the strip would take up but I guess that it has closed up at the bottom with the weight of the glass.
I don't have the propper tool so i'll have a go using nylon bicycle tyre levers. Hopefully they won't scratch the chrome strip.
It's the wrong time of year for handling this sort of material but I'll stick a fan heater in the car to help warm the rubber up. Is it worth smearing vasaline into the channel where the chrome sits? also, did you run this stuff in as one piece? Does it feed in or do you lay it over and push it home?

If I get this job done it will be a huge relief and i can get on with the rest of the jobs. It's such a pain getting back in the dark and I'm working this Saturday too.
Grrrrrrrr

Post by **Kevin** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 3:53 pm

Peetee when I had both of mine done recently by a friend who works for RAC windscreens he squirted some stuff (I think it was a weak solution of liquid soap type of thing ) into the groove before fitting the plastic trim and it was still a so and so and it had to be fed in using a tool with a little roller.

Post by **Alec** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 4:43 pm

Hello Peetee,
I started at the top centre and laid two or three inches of the strip in by opening up the channel with a large diameter Philips screwdriver and pushing it in. I then worked round by pushing the top of the strip into the channel for a couple of inches then eased the channel over the bottom of the strip with my smoothed off screwdriver (or tyre levers, I nevr thought of using them but they sound ideal). I also used a mixture of washing up liquid and water as a lubricant. You could also use WD40 or the like, I suppose. The corners can be a bit slow but apart from that it is fairly easy.
Certainly some heat will help and I would also mention again that the rubbers I fitted were new so as flexible as they get.

Good luck.

Alec

Post by **bigginger** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 5:00 pm

A suggestion that just sprung to mind, I've not tried it, but would a hair dryer to heat the rubber as you go help?
a

Post by **Peetee** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 7:10 pm

A suggestion that just sprung to mind, I've not tried it, but would a hair dryer to heat the rubber as you go help

A top idea mate.

Now all I need to do is grow another three arms.
Now where did I put the Baby Bio?

Post by **bigginger** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 7:16 pm

Good grief - I was expecting to be laughed at!
a

Post by **rayofleamington** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 7:22 pm

A suggestion that just sprung to mind, I've not tried it, but would a hair dryer to heat the rubber as you go help?

Even if it doesn't help warm the rubber up, it should stop the frost from forming on your fingers!

Post by **Cam** » Thu Dec 02, 2004 9:37 pm

Watch it on the windows though!!

Hair dryer would probably be OK though.

When I was installing car phones in 1994/5 a brand new Merc came in to have a glass mount aerial fitted to the rear screen. One of the installation guys (not me before you start

) was told to heat the glass up so as the pad adhered better (on a frosty day) so he used a hot air gun............ CRACK!!!! Oh dear.

I laughed though!

Post by **guydenning** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 6:09 pm

i'm sorry but that's one job i'll leave to the experts. admittedly i haven't had a go at doing it on a moggy - but the two times i did have a go (austin all aggro and an mg) i ended up getting proper help. i'm convinced that window fitters are like a secret branch of the masons or something. they turn up with their bit of string, bish, bosh, wallop - job done. get the kettle on mister... no sticking string, bobbly bits of seal, windows that look like they're about to pop out at any moment. there's definitely some kind of garage voodoo going on there...

Post by **guydenning** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 6:13 pm

going back to the start of the thread though... is it plainly obvious to identify which rubbers you should have by year and model? just in case someone previously fitted the wrong one? is there a slight difference in glass sizes over the years - beyond the obvious model differences? i'd probably notice greenhouse glass and a mastic seal though. i'm not a complete prune

Post by **Peetee** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 7:45 pm

is it plainly obvious to identify which rubbers you should have by year and model?

No, that was the point of the thread. I assumed from all the available info from suppliers that there was a window rubber without a trim and one with. I bought the rubber that has the trim channel only to find that there must be a third option because the metal trim I had removed from the old rubber clearly wasn't going to fit.

Post by **rayofleamington** » Fri Dec 03, 2004 8:10 pm

For the moggyb 1000 I'm not sure I've seen an original front windscreen rubber without a trim.
The early 1000's have the metal 2 piece trim (which needs to be fitted first)
The later 1000's have the plastic chrome insert (which you fit last)

I guess if you remove the metal trim from an early screen rubber (or if you tried to fit it after the screen was in the car) that would lead to a screen rubber with no trim.

Post by **Scott** » Mon Jan 10, 2005 11:17 pm

rayofleamington wrote:For the moggyb 1000 I'm not sure I've seen an original front windscreen rubber without a trim.

[late reply]
I'm sure the type without any trim/insert are the LCVs
[/late reply]