Windshield Replacement

Since I purchased this Nova it has always had a crack in the windshield, and since i plan on repainting the dash replacing the windshield now is a great idea. First I placed a call to Imperial Glass and spoke with my friend Artie. He said he has a windshield in stock and to call as soon as im ready. With the assurance that glass was ready to go I began work on removing the old one.

First was to remove the trim, I found the easiest way was to first pull the windshield wipers and cowl piece. This gave you access to the clips that hold the bottom trim on. Unscrew them and the 2 small screws inside the doors and gently pull the trim off the car. As for the top and side pieces using a special tool (which can be found at most auto stores) you slide it under the trim and feel for the clips, when you do pull slightly towards you and the clips will release.

Once all the trim is removed and if you plan on removing the glass yourself your best bet is to acquire another specialty tool for this job. A windshield removal knife cost about $12 or borrow one from a friend like I did, and it will make cutting through the old sealant a snap. You plunge the knife through the sealant at a 90deg angle and pull on the handle, this will make a nice cut all the way around the windshield.

Once the sealant is cut, you just press from the backside and it should come right out. The glass is not that heavy so you should have no problems doing this yourself. Once the glass is out next is to remove all the old sealant and make sure you didnt lose any of the trim clips. When removing the sealant take care to sand down and paint over any rust or damaged paint. Although you will not see this once the new glass is in it will prevent any other rust issues in the future.

After a lot of scraping I had the window rail clean and began on painting the dash. A quick sanding with some 320 grit, wipe clean with some prep wipes, and dry.

Firs thing was a few coats of primer to help hide the color.

Then after that dries, a few coat of the textured rustoleum black. Once it dries it give a nice finish, hides any small flaws and should look good i the long run.

The rest of the dash was done the same way, finally switched over to black. The dash pad got a treatment of the same paint but will eventually be capped over. Time to reinstall the dash pad, glovebox, dash ect.. In a few days the windshield guy will be here to install my new glass.

Before they arrived to install the windshield, I laid on 2 coats of clear on the dash. This gave it a nice sheen and will make it easier to keep clean. They arrived today on July 1st to install the glass. It was a quick job, some primer, sealeant and they dropped the glass in. The NON antenna glass looks so much nicer and cleaner. Now I have to really clean my other glass it looks horrible.