Windshield Install- ready to go

[Scott e]

Ready for windshield. The manual states they prefer to mount without weatherstrip. Which sounds like the way to go. Reading your posts. Makes windshield replacement easier. My windshield does not have a black border around the perimeter. From what I understand, it is baked on paint. How do I get the back border? What adhesive should I use? My local glass shop is afraid to do it so, I figured I am on my own.
thanks for great pics edwardb.

[edwardb]

Ready for windshield. The manual states they prefer to mount without weatherstrip. Which sounds like the way to go. Reading your posts. Makes windshield replacement easier. My windshield does not have a black border around the perimeter. From what I understand, it is baked on paint. How do I get the back border? What adhesive should I use? My local glass shop is afraid to do it so, I figured I am on my own.
thanks for great pics edwardb.

The vintage of the windshield used for the Coupe (from a 1986 Jaguar XJS) didn't have a black border at that time. Called a "frit" or "frits." In this case, duplicated with black primer carefully masked and painted onto the inside of the windshield before installing. I used Dow products. There are others. My build thread has the details of what I did plus the actual products I used. My local glass shops wouldn't have anything to do with mine either. I was fortunate to find someone through our local club that was in the business and helped me. I wouldn't have been comfortable doing it myself.

[Alphamacaroon]

A thread that might help you with painting your frit: https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/show...aka-Frit)-Tool

Another thing I will mention— I installed my first windshield and it fit perfectly and looked great, but I made the mistake of really pressing the heck out of it into the frame with straps and weights and stuff to make sure the adhesive was fully seated. But eventually the window cracked in the corner— we're not entirely sure how it cracked (it cracked when I wasn't looking at it), but it did not show any signs of an impact and the theory is that the window expanded due to heat at a higher rate than the body and eventually it got a little too big for its britches and cracked. When I finally found a professional to do the second one (it took some time, but they are out there), he said the mistake I made was that you are supposed to build up the adhesive really high in a cone-like shape (which I did) and then just lightly press the window in and keep it from sliding down with a few strips of strong tape (which I did not do). Basically let the adhesive grab onto it and form a pillow of sorts, rather than squishing it deeply into the adhesive.

Anyway, I'm not saying one way is 100% right or 100% wrong— I believe I remember EdwardB doing a very similar thing in his build thread by really clamping it down into the frame and I don't think he's run into any problems, but I suspect he probably had more clearance than I did. I guess the point is to just keep in mind that you do not want that window to be snug on the outside edges at all— it needs some amount room around it to expand and contract with the different heating and cooling rates of the different materials. At least that was my experience.

[burchfieldb]

Nice tool Jim, I will have to use that. Anyone place a large visor band at the top to block out the sun? If you have, please post some pictures.

[Alphamacaroon]

Nice tool Jim, I will have to use that. Anyone place a large visor band at the top to block out the sun? If you have, please post some pictures.

Not an exact answer to your question, but my replacement window actually came with a tinted sun shade embedded into the top part of the window that fades out about 4-5 inches down. I can try to snap a picture of it later if you want. Except I didn't order mine from FFR— it was an aftermarket 86 XJS window. Not that you probably want to completely ditch your FFR window just to buy another one with the built-in sun shade band, but it's maybe an option if you wanted to keep your original window as a spare. I've actually considered buying 1 or 2 spares, because who knows how long those XJS windows will be around...

[burchfieldb]

Not an exact answer to your question, but my replacement window actually came with a tinted sun shade embedded into the top part of the window that fades out about 4-5 inches down. I can try to snap a picture of it later if you want. Except I didn't order mine from FFR— it was an aftermarket 86 XJS window. Not that you probably want to completely ditch your FFR window just to buy another one with the built-in sun shade band, but it's maybe an option if you wanted to keep your original window as a spare. I've actually considered buying 1 or 2 spares, because who knows how long those XJS windows will be around...

That would be great if you could post a pic. Do you recall where you bought the replacement from? If it's not too much, I think it would be good to have a spare.

[Scott e]

Great info on that. thanks. I did some surfing on youtube and found a guy who used the primer for the adheasive to paint the "fritz" around the perimeter of the glass. Comes with a peace of foam on top of the bottle to apply. Yea I believe i have the same problem. The windshield does not fit down in the body quite like it should on the lower passenger side. So, you should build up the adheasive to make the windshield flush with the body? Should you put on a layer and let it set up and then apply another layer?

[edwardb]

Great info on that. thanks. I did some surfing on youtube and found a guy who used the primer for the adheasive to paint the "fritz" around the perimeter of the glass. Comes with a peace of foam on top of the bottle to apply. Yea I believe i have the same problem. The windshield does not fit down in the body quite like it should on the lower passenger side. So, you should build up the adheasive to make the windshield flush with the body? Should you put on a layer and let it set up and then apply another layer?

Absolutely not. The windshield urethane adhesive is applied in a way that it pushes down when you install the glass. You would never apply it in two layers. They use a special tip that applies it in a "V" shape. Enough is put down to fill the gap between the glass and the pinch weld. But not too much that it squeezes out. Experienced glass guys are good at this. I was very fortunate to have an experienced guy helping me. As a beginner, I wouldn't have known what to do or the proper technique.

FWIW, we put the frit down with wool daubers. For a windshield that has a factory frit, the foam applicator would probably be OK since it's not visible. But in this case, since it shows through the glass, it needs to be as good as possible. It took a couple coats to get a fully opaque black frit and the daubers apply it evenly. The primer sets up quickly. So as soon as the dauber started grabbing, switch to a new one. Took several for each coat. Again, experience matters.