Windscreen chip
- Thread starter Banjo
- Start date
Banjo
No-one else has replied so I'll give you the benefit of my experience.
My (creak-free) screen got badly cracked last year. My insurer (PCGB approved one via A Manning - I forget the company) wanted me to use Autoglass. Autoglass initially tried to fit non-OE glass (still made by Sigla, but marked differently), but I got the insurer to agree to OE glass.
To try to minimise problems I took a day off work and went to their depot (Harlow) to get the chief fitter. Two of them took several hours to get the old one out and the new one in, butchering the inner seal as they did so, and nicely skinning the paint back to bare metal at the bottom corners of the painted windscreen surround. I saw the aperture when the old screen was out and the channel was rusting nicely at the bottom on both sides where water collects (I know my car had had at least one new screen before which may well have damaged the paint in the channle). The fitters said they'd treat the rot, but this involved slapping some of the black goo on it that they use to prepare the surround for the adhesive. They also stripped off the old PTFE tape and didn't replace it. Anyway, the new screen went in (off centre) and creaked like b***ery therafter. Even though Autoglass offer a lifetime guarantee I wasn't going back to let them have another go at it.
I decided to kill two birds with one stone and have the new screen taken out, the rot treated properly and the screen put back in (with PTFE tape) by a non-Muppet so that hopefully it wouldn't creak. I took the car to Langley Autocraft in Kings Langley (at JZ Machtech's recommendation) and the boss there (Peter Barclay - he has a 993 himself) did the work, etching out the rot etc. Although the screen (he managed to get the new one out without breaking it) still creaked a bit when I picked the car up (which was a dissapointment), he then popped some of the infamous PTFE cord under the external rubber and it only creaks very slightly now. I'm proposing to spray some Halfords rubber lubricant in the channel when I get some time to see if that banishes it completely. From memory I think that Peter removing the screen, treating the rot, applying the PTFE tape, repainting the channel of the surround (fortunately all the new paint is hidden under the rubber) and refitting the screen came to £ 160 or 180, which I was more than happy to pay out of my own pocket to know that the tinworm I'd seen at Autoglass was sorted. The PTFE cord was free of charge!
FWIW, if/when in a few years I get another big crack I'd probably ask the insurer to get Auotoglass to deliver it to Peter. I'd then give him my car, ask him to get the old one out whilst I'm there and we can then view the surround. If it is corroding again we could then agree for him to re-treat it before he puts the new screen in. I suspect he could do a better fitting job with a fresh screen than he could with my removed screen which would have had bits of black goo around its border. I'd also specify all new rubbers in case that helped banish the creaks. (If your screen doesn't creak you probably wonder why I seem creak obsessed, but it is maddening!)
I hope this is of some help. In case Paul Howells doesn't chip in, do make sure that whoever takes your old screen out slips a plate or something over the windscreen mounted VIN so that it isn't cheeswired off. It is a brutal process cutting the old screen out.
Good luck. I'd be interested to hear how you get on.
No-one else has replied so I'll give you the benefit of my experience.
My (creak-free) screen got badly cracked last year. My insurer (PCGB approved one via A Manning - I forget the company) wanted me to use Autoglass. Autoglass initially tried to fit non-OE glass (still made by Sigla, but marked differently), but I got the insurer to agree to OE glass.
To try to minimise problems I took a day off work and went to their depot (Harlow) to get the chief fitter. Two of them took several hours to get the old one out and the new one in, butchering the inner seal as they did so, and nicely skinning the paint back to bare metal at the bottom corners of the painted windscreen surround. I saw the aperture when the old screen was out and the channel was rusting nicely at the bottom on both sides where water collects (I know my car had had at least one new screen before which may well have damaged the paint in the channle). The fitters said they'd treat the rot, but this involved slapping some of the black goo on it that they use to prepare the surround for the adhesive. They also stripped off the old PTFE tape and didn't replace it. Anyway, the new screen went in (off centre) and creaked like b***ery therafter. Even though Autoglass offer a lifetime guarantee I wasn't going back to let them have another go at it.
I decided to kill two birds with one stone and have the new screen taken out, the rot treated properly and the screen put back in (with PTFE tape) by a non-Muppet so that hopefully it wouldn't creak. I took the car to Langley Autocraft in Kings Langley (at JZ Machtech's recommendation) and the boss there (Peter Barclay - he has a 993 himself) did the work, etching out the rot etc. Although the screen (he managed to get the new one out without breaking it) still creaked a bit when I picked the car up (which was a dissapointment), he then popped some of the infamous PTFE cord under the external rubber and it only creaks very slightly now. I'm proposing to spray some Halfords rubber lubricant in the channel when I get some time to see if that banishes it completely. From memory I think that Peter removing the screen, treating the rot, applying the PTFE tape, repainting the channel of the surround (fortunately all the new paint is hidden under the rubber) and refitting the screen came to £ 160 or 180, which I was more than happy to pay out of my own pocket to know that the tinworm I'd seen at Autoglass was sorted. The PTFE cord was free of charge!
FWIW, if/when in a few years I get another big crack I'd probably ask the insurer to get Auotoglass to deliver it to Peter. I'd then give him my car, ask him to get the old one out whilst I'm there and we can then view the surround. If it is corroding again we could then agree for him to re-treat it before he puts the new screen in. I suspect he could do a better fitting job with a fresh screen than he could with my removed screen which would have had bits of black goo around its border. I'd also specify all new rubbers in case that helped banish the creaks. (If your screen doesn't creak you probably wonder why I seem creak obsessed, but it is maddening!)
I hope this is of some help. In case Paul Howells doesn't chip in, do make sure that whoever takes your old screen out slips a plate or something over the windscreen mounted VIN so that it isn't cheeswired off. It is a brutal process cutting the old screen out.
Good luck. I'd be interested to hear how you get on.
micksummer
New member
Thanks Nigel for the info. I had the team muppet to do the screen on my C2, they had 2 go at it and still couldn't get it right! At least now I know where to take the car to if I need a new screen next time! You live and learn.
Just an update on the creaking screen. I'd read on Rennlist that the stuff to cure this is 'Pedro's Ice Wax', a bicycle chain lubricant. I couldn't readily find this in my local bike shop, and so thought that Halford's Plastic & Rubber Lubricant would be a good substitute. Wrong!! Not only is it rather messy to apply, but because of its thin runny nature it has a habit of seeping out from under the rubber onto the paintwork, especially if you apply too much....! Whilst it helped to quell the creak it didn't eliminate it, plus the creaking has got steadily worse again over the last 2 months
I've recently got hold of some Pedro's Ice Wax - £ 4.95 (inc free delivery) for a 120 ml bottle from mudgrubs.com:
http://www.mudgrubs.com/store/show/51-Pedro-s-Ice-Wax?sort=price
Having been driven mad driving back yesterday from a very wet PCGB track day at Castle Combe (there was a lovely speed yellow ex-Isle of Man RHD 993 RS there with just 12K miles on the clock) I finally found the time to apply the 'Ice Wax' earlier on today. A revelation; the creaking is completely banished. One doesn't need to go mad with it - just curl up the rubber trim around the exterior of the windscreen and apply it lightly to the 'fur' on the underside of the rubber, so as to lubricate where it contacts the metal windscreen surround. Bliss! I dare say it will need reapplying in due course if/when the creaking returns, but it is so good to return to creak free motoring.
I've recently got hold of some Pedro's Ice Wax - £ 4.95 (inc free delivery) for a 120 ml bottle from mudgrubs.com:
http://www.mudgrubs.com/store/show/51-Pedro-s-Ice-Wax?sort=price
Having been driven mad driving back yesterday from a very wet PCGB track day at Castle Combe (there was a lovely speed yellow ex-Isle of Man RHD 993 RS there with just 12K miles on the clock) I finally found the time to apply the 'Ice Wax' earlier on today. A revelation; the creaking is completely banished. One doesn't need to go mad with it - just curl up the rubber trim around the exterior of the windscreen and apply it lightly to the 'fur' on the underside of the rubber, so as to lubricate where it contacts the metal windscreen surround. Bliss! I dare say it will need reapplying in due course if/when the creaking returns, but it is so good to return to creak free motoring.
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