Windscreen Seal

[craigb]

Just some things that worked for me. That rust treatment i have used POR 15 because it is such a classic point for rust to form and advance. As pointed out, use mastic not silicon. Acetic cure silicon will cause delamination of the glass according to my mate at Pilkingtons and it is not good on metal either for rust.

Quite a thin rope I have used but have even used a thicker string, you just need to be a bit careful with pulling it over the lip and biting into the rubber but much better with the rope. And absolutely trims go in first. Obriens did one on my W113 under insurance and the 'boy' who openly admitted he hadn't done one of these - usually stick in ones - tried to lever the trims in after and destroyed $500 worth of trims and left me fighting over it with the company for about a year when they finally sucumbed to paying for half the new ones because the old ones weren't new! Needless to say they haven't seen any of my business since and I just love bagging them! (couldn't miss another opportunity!)

Where have you seen the ebay special ones Oscar? Just have a car will be moving on and might be appropriate for a $500 car.

[oscar]

That's crazy.  I once enquired locally about someone doing them who said they've done them before.  There's already scratches in my trim from previous windscreens and I just don't want to chance it to someone else.  If there's going to be more scratches or dings in the car I'm more at ease if I put them there myself.

Those $99 ebay specials have been around for ages and I've been hoping someone else has tried them to state whether the "made as per original" claim is something to go by. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/MERCEDES-BENZ-MERC-W116-SERIES-FRONT-WINDSHIELD-Rubber_W0QQitemZ140399401129QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAU_Car_Parts_Accessories?hash=item20b074d8a9

If the "proper" seal doesn't cost too much more it wont be worth my effort experimenting. 

[TJ 450]

From the dealer, the seals are quite expensive... $440 RRP, I got it for $330. The glass was $150, "Made in China" from Novus... on the shelf, wham bam thank you mam! I am attempting to fit the anodized surround now, what a bastard of a job those corners are. I have made some progress though.

Tim

[motec6.9]

Hi TJ i know it no help to you but may help ORG's on east coast back in the dark ages ie 21 years ago i used to drive coaches for Kiers off Canberra the also run Kiers Belconnen & Dickson Quick fit Windscreen services at 25 Badham St Dickson ACT 02 62478707 it is a family run business and they work on old cars ie with window rubbers and trim when i worked for them a lot off the classic car guys around the act used them hope this helps someone out i have ordered my rubbers from Mb Spares

[TJ 450]

I spent about five hours earlier today attempting to fit the anodized trim, only to find that it kept on popping out.

MT offered his assistance a bit later, and it was found that the trim was deformed during removal previously. After a few hours of rather painful hand usage, and with the aid of some grease, the trim pressed into the frame reasonably well. The corners however, proved quite troublesome.

It was soon proved that I had no chance of doing this on my own.

We then fitted the greased venetian blind cord into the relevant channel in the seal, ready for fitment.

The next step was to apply the mastic to the spot welded flange on the body, and subsequently transport the assembled unit out to the vehicle.

After this, the cord was pulled from the base of the glass, pulling the seal lip over the flange. It was then a matter of working around, making sure that there was no undue stress placed on the glass.

Once it was all worked in, it was found that some of the anodized trim had dislodged. This was rectified with considerable hand force.

We had the windscreen properly fitted by about midnight. Much credit goes to MT, as this wouldn't have happened without his assistance. Certainly, his assistance was greatly appreciated.

These should be self explanatory. Click for full size;








Tim

[TJ 450]

BTW, Oscar;

Regarding the seals, I have no idea what the genuine one is, as there are no markings on it. There is one thing for sure though, and that has a smaller profile and is a much tighter fit. The Febi one is chunkier and is actually quite loose-fitting on the glass. They all have the lip that tucks over the trim.

You can also see that the genuine one has an obvious "step" in the profile, on the outer edge. The Febi part doesn't have this, as such.

Also, another very important point is that the genuine seal has, to some extent, moulded or contoured corners. I'm afraid you don't get this luxury with the aftermarket versions.

At the end of the day, they will probably all fit, though it seems that the aftermarket ones are much more difficult. The rear should be a piece of cake with either, as it is a different setup altogether.

Tim

[Big_Richard]

I'll just add, that this really is a 2 person job, to attempt this job solo is just asking for trouble. Even with 2 people its a nightmare to the extreme. I think that one could remove and install the engine with much greater ease and probably quicker than doing this.

Given that the pros's only charge about $200 installation plus windscreen, it make absolutely no sense at all to do this yourself - IF they know what they're doing and are heavily supervised. 

[koan]

Everything TJ and MT say and did agrees exactly with what the professional installer (and his mate) did on my car.

Order of doing the job was the same, same problems with the moulding at the corners, they needed a couple of goes at fitting the assembly to the car.

If I hadn't stuffed them around test fitting OEM and non-OEM seals it would have been a 15 minute job, that's the only difference but that's what you get from experience.

The butt joint on the OEM seal is a bit crap, the non-OEM (Meyle, which oscar is getting for his track car) is much better, aside from that there is no difference in the two seals I have as far as I can see.

From your experiences and what I've seen I'd be willing to have a go at one - with a helper.

Well done guys.

koan

[Big_Richard]

I guess if we knew what we were doing it wouldn't of taken us all night to achieve success.

Its a nasty, nasty job no matter how you look at it though. A "can do" guy like you Koan will most certainly be able to do it, even if the helper is totally useless other than for helping to carry it out to the car

[koan]

The pro guy had a pointy tool wit a 90 degree bend about 20 mm from the end. It seemed to be the universal tool for all windscreen jobs.

even if the helper is totally useless other than for helping to carry it out to the car

Hard to find good helpers these days!

koan

[Big_Richard]

speaking of tools, TJ had absolutely none..

we resorted to plastic kitchenware, including, plastic knives, forks and ultimately a coffee scoop that TJ shaped with an angle grinder 

[TJ 450]

Hahaha. I really need a plastic wedge and/or other plastic tools. Even though the coffee scoop worked (until it broke and was re-shaped), it was slightly ridiculous!

Tim

[Big_Richard]

Sometimes its mandatory to be resourceful working on old cars.

Ive lost count of how many times I've used a particular BMW rear wheel bearing cartridge, a 100mm diameter copier drum, the dishwasher, the hotplate and stock pot on various w116 related projects.

[TJ 450]

Yep, miscellaneous objects can be very useful indeed.

Tim

[another sad 280s]

i just  bought a genuine seal from mb spares canberra for $230. couldn't really complain. genuine door seals at $425 each however are a luxury i may forego