[DeTomaso] FW: Windshield Leaking

[Steve Hawkins]

-----Original Message-----
From: MyCars [mailto:MyCars at Comcast.net] 
Sent: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 12:25 PM
To: JDeRyke at aol.com
Cc: detomaso at realbig.com
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Windshield Leaking


Thanks Jack,
   I currently have an incorrect gasket in place that looks like it was
installed by a middle school drop out. I think it was originally a straight
gasket that was bent and cut at the corners (where I get most of my leaks).
   I plan to have the car re-painted and the body taken care of at the same
time that I replace the windshield and proper push button gasket installed.

I won't have the money to do this for the nest 3, 4 or 5 years! So this is
one of my long term project plans.

Later
Roydon }8~)>


   



  

Eventually I plan to replace my windshield and get the correct rubber for 

it. But until then, I was wondering if I should try to use clear silicone to


seal the rubber seal to the car, especially in the corners. Whoever
previously 

replaced the windshield botched the job.



    

There's more to this job than simply hurling a new windshield into a
Pantera. 

What I've found is, a new windshield AND new gasket is no guarantee of a 

leak-free installation. FWIW, factory glass is slightly too small in length
& 

width to seal to the body opening; without the gasket, the glass will fall
through 

the opening. Non-factory glass may be thinner, making the seal even worse.
So 

clear RTV is necessary regardless. Note- once the glass is out, inspect the 

bottom area next to the dashboard very carefully: if the gasket was not
sealed 

to the body, water gets in there and rusts, sometimes pits go all the way 

through the metal. Welding may be necessary to repair and if so, dash
removal or a 

VERY skilled welder will be needed!



My method is, after any metal repairs and the glass & gasket is back in 

place, seal the lip edges of the gasket across the bottom, all the way up
both 

sides and across the top as far as you can comfortably reach, leaving only a
small 

unsealed area in the middle of the top for any further condensation relief. 

And use windshield silicone, not a cheap tube from Ace Hardware: ordinary
RTV 

outgasses acetic anhydride while curing which combines with atmospheric 

moisture to form acetic acid. Trapped under the gasket, it corrodes metal
even worse 

than water! If you can smell vinegar while using it, it's the wrong
silicone! 

Windshield RTV cures odorless and does not form acetic acid. 



At current prices, a new gasket costs $250 so think long & hard before you 

hire a highschool dropout to cut your old gasket off for easy glass removal.
A 

new gasket may be a little softer but still is likely to not seal without 

silicone. FWIW- J DeRyke, leak-free since 1991.





      



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