Morris Minor Owners Club

I am going to replace the front windscreen rubber...the recent very persistent rain has highlighted the need!

I have read the manual & restoration book, booked 2 assistants, bought some plastic covered washing line.
I plan to cut the old, hard rubber off to enable removal of the glass, clean up & prepare all edges etc.
Fit rubber to windscreen, put string in groove, take a deep breath & go for it.
Also have some sealant...but is this injected after the glass is back in place? Is it possible to get it in between rubber & frame after fitting?
Any tips & hints would be most welcome!

Also, I did not want to pay for a "plastic insert threader" that may be only ever used once. I'm sure that I can make something up out of stiff wire for that bit.
Again any suggestions would be good.


Chris

Sealer should not be needed if your body is clean, rust free and the lip is straight. But, if you do want to use it, go around the inside of the seal once the screen is in but before you fit the finishing strip. Don't use too much as it will be forced out by the seal and mean you have lots to clean off. A fitting tool for the finisher can be made by bending a piece of welding wire eay enough.....

If your screen is laminated - don't be surprised if it cracks.... I wouldn't even attempt to fit a lammy screen. Toughened screens are easy to do - I always put the rubber in the opening and then bring the glass to the rubber. Top tip - make sure the rubber is warm and pliable - work in the direct sun so it stays warm. DO NOT use washing up liquid as a lubricant.

Interesting, BMC, that you do it the "other way round"...rubber in frame & then the glass in.
Hmmm..is it laminated or toughened? Maybe the original screen (1962) in which case it is probably toughened.
How do I tell? Laminated, when looked at from certain angles has a sort of "zoned" effect?
Thanks for the Top Tip, but where is the sun? I should have done this 2 weeks ago, eh!

PSL 184, I will see what the frame is like when I take it out, but the current leaking is between glass & rubber, so the frame may well be good & clean.
Noted on the wire insertion tool.

Waiting for the new rubber to arrive. Will report on job when done.

many thanks

Chris

It should say 'laminated' on it, look in the corners - the stripes you may see in the glass are the 'zone toughened' marks, and that will be ok.

Well, the markings are now very faint, but it says "indestructo", with some letters & the kite mark.

A look on Google suggests that Indestructo is an early type of laminated.

Any comment?

Chris

Look around the edges of the screen you will see the plastic sheet inbetween the glass if laminated. I wish you good luck I fitted one last Sunday and it was a hell of a job, admittedly I was on my own but it was a real struggle. At times I didn't believe it would fit! I fitted a laminated screen long ago so knew I had a fight on my hands!

I watched two lads crack two lammy screens in a row on a Mini (I refused to get involved because I knew what was going to happen) before they admitted defeat and took the car to Autoglass....... It cost them a fortune. You absolutely cannot bend a lammy screen in any way whatsoever. Maybe it will work better if you do it the way you describe - rubber on the screen and then pull the rubber into the bodyshell. Good luck with it!

I fitted one of the heated laminated screens. No problems at all. I used the rubber that came off as it looked ok. It just needed all the sealer cleaned out of the channel. I used a screen mastic between rubber and body after the screen was fitted but before the lacing strip. I put the screen in the rubber (there are wires that need to go through), cord in the outer channel and then the assembly to the car. The rubber sits on the lower aperture flange and was pulled around the rest of the aperture with the cord. That screen had the plastic chrome insert (lacing strip), which was also fairly easy to fit. I used lots of lubricant (Autoglym rubber and bumper care - just because that's what I had and I knew it worked well because I used it to fit tyres!).

All in all took just over an hour, would be even quicker with an extra pair of hands.

Job done...
wish I could say that it was easy like you Neil....it wasn't!

To carefully slice away the old rubber & remove screen & clean recess, about 45 minutes.
To fit the new rubber to the screen 10 mins.
To re-fit the screen took 2 attempts. First time it was apparent that it was not fully seated down along the bottom & that the top would not go in so we took it off & started again.
Used plastic coated washing line to pull the lip over & it snapped with about 6 inches to go, so that took ages to sort out.
Would have only been a few minutes otherwise.

The hardest part was fitting the plastic chrome insert...tried various makeshift tools but the most successful was to push one side in & then drive the other in with a screwdriver & rubber mallet, inch by inch. Corners were the worst.
Heat from a hair-dryer was used at the end, should have used that from the beginning...a lot easier .

Well, hopefully dry carpet from now on.

Thanks to all for suggestions, advice & encouragement.


Chris

Well done Chris! I bet you could do the next one in an hour though! To be fair I had the right tools (actually used the installation kit from Sealey) and I have done a few before.

Yes, it could only be faster next time..if there is one!
Chris