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FL-Frank
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2015
Posts: 823
Location: Jupiter, Florida
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 Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2017 4:35 pm Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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So...I got my c molding back from the chromer yesterday, and the glass guy came out today to remove the front and rear glass and to install the chrome molding with the new seals I got from WCM. The glass guy was recommended to me by a local high end restoration shop that does a lot of early Porsches 356/911's.
Windhield came out without any problems.
The installer had some difficulty getting the molding into the seal, and said he believed the molding was bent out of shape slightly.
After he finally joined the 2 moldings with the seal and the glass, he was unable to correctly install everything back on the car. There was a gap on the driver side that the seal wouldnt cover, and there was a gap along the bottom edge in the middle that the seal wouldnt cover. After 4 hours, he told me this was the best he could do. His opinion is that the seals are fine, but the problem is with the moldings. I told him to take it all out and to put the old seal back in which he had done in 10 minutes.
Needless to say, I'm very disappointed. The cost to rechrome the molding was ridiculouly expensive, and now it cant be installed on my car????
Looking for some advice here. I'm not sure the problem is the molding. Could it be the seal? Is there a better fitting seal out there for c molding?
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“Tinker Toy” 1967 Savannah Beige Beetle Sedan...........Mostly Original Survivor
“Fritz” 1964 Gulf Blue Karmann Ghia Coupe...Complete Pan-Off Restoration SOLD |
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c21darrel
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Joined: January 22, 2009
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Location: San Dimas
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FL-Frank
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2015
Posts: 823
Location: Jupiter, Florida
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| Posted: Wed Nov 22, 2017 10:36 am Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Moldings |
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| c21darrel wrote: |
| Are there manufacturer markings on your glass? Some (FY i believe) are known to be small which causes what you describe. Installing windshields...there are many, many threads in the ghia forum about problems, pitfalls, solutions... how others made it happen. Often the chrome is slightly out of shape. It needs to have the same shape as opening and can usually be encouraged to fit with some correctly placed persuasion. |
The winshield is marked Safe Vue.
After reading through many of the posts on the topic, I'm wondering if the better approach would have been to install the rubber on the glass, then the glass with rubber installed on the car, and then the chrome molding installed.
Even though the glass guy that came out yesterday had told me prior to seeing my car that he has done "many Ghia windshields", when he arrived and looked everything over, he seemed surprised and mentioned that the molding seemed much larger than what he's worked with in the past. Makes me conclude that his past Ghia experiences have only been with T molding installations.
This morning I called and spoke with the owner of a vw specialty shop located about 30 miles from me to see if they can do the installation. He said they couldnt do the job, but suggested I check with a shop about 60 miles away from me in Fort Lauderdale. Further away than I prefer, but I will contact them anyway to see if they can do the job.
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“Tinker Toy” 1967 Savannah Beige Beetle Sedan...........Mostly Original Survivor
“Fritz” 1964 Gulf Blue Karmann Ghia Coupe...Complete Pan-Off Restoration SOLD |
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c21darrel
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Joined: January 22, 2009
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Location: San Dimas
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PeteSC
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Joined: January 26, 2011
Posts: 881
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| Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 9:02 am Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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| Having recently installed new glass/rubber/c-molding I can say I had no luck installing the molding with the glass out of the car. I found to get the c-molding to seat in my seal it takes an incredible amount of pushing it into the seal, which means pushing it away from the glass edge. No amount of tape I used would hold the seal on the glass while attempting that. I found it easy to install the seal & glass into the car (and did it solo in about 10 minutes), then I roped in the molding afterwards. A little silicone spray helped a lot. Also making sure the channel is correctly bent to match the profile of the windshield is key. |
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Andre@KGPR/Airhead
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Joined: June 15, 2011
Posts: 228
Location: Ventura CA
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| Posted: Sat Nov 25, 2017 4:43 pm Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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I’ll do a video on this as soon as I can. We have a beetle windshield install on our YouTube page that we installed the trim in first.
I need to do a Ghia one though, as we make those parts... it’s more difficult to describe than to actually install it, heh. Stand by. |
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FL-Frank
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2015
Posts: 823
Location: Jupiter, Florida
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| Posted: Sun Nov 26, 2017 4:16 am Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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| Andre@KGPR/Airhead wrote: |
I’ll do a video on this as soon as I can. We have a beetle windshield install on our YouTube page that we installed the trim in first.
I need to do a Ghia one though, as we make those parts... it’s more difficult to describe than to actually install it, heh. Stand by. |
That would be most helpful and much appreciated!
_________________
“Tinker Toy” 1967 Savannah Beige Beetle Sedan...........Mostly Original Survivor
“Fritz” 1964 Gulf Blue Karmann Ghia Coupe...Complete Pan-Off Restoration SOLD |
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FL-Frank
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Joined: August 08, 2015
Posts: 823
Location: Jupiter, Florida
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| Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2017 12:37 pm Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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I made contact with the owner of the VW shop in Fort Lauderdale, and he also informed me that he can't help me.  He said the issue is the seals available today don't have blocked corners, and they won't hold the molding in place correctly. I explained that the seals I have came from WCM, and that others have been successful using these seals. He appologized, but said he still couldn't help me and doesnt know of anyone in the area that can.
I plan to be on the look out for other early Ghias that may be present at our local shows over the next few months, and will see if I can get possible leads regarding experienced molding installers in our area.
Meanwhile, if anyone knows of someone located in South Florida that can help me out, please let me know.
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“Tinker Toy” 1967 Savannah Beige Beetle Sedan...........Mostly Original Survivor
“Fritz” 1964 Gulf Blue Karmann Ghia Coupe...Complete Pan-Off Restoration SOLD |
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FL-Frank
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Joined: August 08, 2015
Posts: 823
Location: Jupiter, Florida
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| Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 11:09 am Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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I still have not found anyone locally that will agree to do this job for me. I’ve done a lot more research on the topic, and was planning to tackle the job myself, considering that I already have the rechromed C profile trim and new C profile seals with blocked corners, and I would bite the bullet and buy a new 17.25” windshield. Since the windshiled thats in the car is not the original one, I’m pretty sure its less than 17.25 in height...thus the failure we encountered trying to install it with the C profile seal and trim. I’ve spent the past several days contacting the variuos glass suppliers out there, and none of them have the 17.25” windshield. The tallest I have found is 17 1/8”. 
So, now I’m wondering if I would be better off using my existing windshield glass with T profile trim and seal for the windshield? I’ve read that the opening in the body for the glass is the same size regardless of model year, and new T profile trim, sleeves, and seals appear to be readily available.
Has anyone successfully installed T profile trim and seal on ‘65 or older Ghia?
What if any appearance difference is there between C and T profile trim once installed?
Any other concerns I should be aware of before making the final decision to go with the T profile trim and seal?
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“Tinker Toy” 1967 Savannah Beige Beetle Sedan...........Mostly Original Survivor
“Fritz” 1964 Gulf Blue Karmann Ghia Coupe...Complete Pan-Off Restoration SOLD |
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c21darrel
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Joined: January 22, 2009
Posts: 8211
Location: San Dimas
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| Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 1:18 pm Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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| FL-Frank wrote: |
I still have not found anyone locally that will agree to do this job for me. I’ve done a lot more research on the topic, and was planning to tackle the job myself, considering that I already have the rechromed C profile trim and new C profile seals with blocked corners, and I would bite the bullet and buy a new 17.25” windshield. Since the windshiled thats in the car is not the original one, I’m pretty sure its less than 17.25 in height...thus the failure we encountered trying to install it with the C profile seal and trim. I’ve spent the past several days contacting the variuos glass suppliers out there, and none of them have the 17.25” windshield. The tallest I have found is 17 1/8”.
So, now I’m wondering if I would be better off using my existing windshield glass with T profile trim and seal for the windshield? I’ve read that the opening in the body for the glass is the same size regardless of model year, and new T profile trim, sleeves, and seals appear to be readily available.
Has anyone successfully installed T profile trim and seal on ‘65 or older Ghia?
What if any appearance difference is there between C and T profile trim once installed?
Any other concerns I should be aware of before making the final decision to go with the T profile trim and seal? |
If you have all the rubber and trim for C channel....why not put it in with your current glass? You can "shim" the glass to make the seal think its a larger windshield.
Differences... The T style is anodized alum, it is not as shiney as chrome.
It fits deeper into the rubber, in my opinion its an easier install. As long as all the parts match, you can put it in any opening.
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PeteSC
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Joined: January 26, 2011
Posts: 881
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| Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 8:36 pm Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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| The 17 1/8 should work. Put a piece of 1/8” nylon rope in the top edge of the seal to “shim” it as Darrel suggests. You could even put a little bead of roofing tar in there with it if you’re worried about that compromising your seal against leaks. |
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Andre@KGPR/Airhead
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Joined: June 15, 2011
Posts: 228
Location: Ventura CA
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| Posted: Tue Jan 23, 2018 5:21 pm Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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| FL-Frank wrote: |
| I made contact with the owner of the VW shop in Fort Lauderdale, and he also informed me that he can't help me. He said the issue is the seals available today don't have blocked corners, and they won't hold the molding in place correctly.... |
Our new USA seals indeed have the molded corners, as do the German ones, which have been available for years. Here's a pic of ours laying on the ground which shows the blocked/molded corners:
VS. a drawing of the other style which is also available (and we carry), where the profile is extruded, cut to length, and the ends fused. It's a circle, really:
We've had good luck installing both types here, but obviously, the corners are going to need more attention in the second type.
T-Channel trim goes into the rubber before the windshield is installed, like in the beetle install video.
C-Channel trim gets roped in after the windshield is installed, and it's critical to have it all shaped and placed perfectly in place, because once it's roped in, it's in! |
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boinkffd
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Joined: October 07, 2004
Posts: 231
Location: South
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| Posted: Wed Jan 24, 2018 9:27 am Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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| I picked up a set of the German front and rear from KGP&R. I had Safelite come out and did the install as they had a vintage installer section. My understanding is each region has employees who are trained in installing glass into classic cars. |
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FL-Frank
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Joined: August 08, 2015
Posts: 823
Location: Jupiter, Florida
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| Posted: Tue Feb 13, 2018 5:38 am Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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| boinkffd wrote: |
| I picked up a set of the German front and rear from KGP&R. I had Safelite come out and did the install as they had a vintage installer section. My understanding is each region has employees who are trained in installing glass into classic cars. |
Interesting...they told me they couldn’t help me???
What year Ghia and which trim....C or T did they install for you?
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“Tinker Toy” 1967 Savannah Beige Beetle Sedan...........Mostly Original Survivor
“Fritz” 1964 Gulf Blue Karmann Ghia Coupe...Complete Pan-Off Restoration SOLD |
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c21darrel
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FL-Frank
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Joined: August 08, 2015
Posts: 823
Location: Jupiter, Florida
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| Posted: Mon Mar 05, 2018 1:47 pm Post subject: Re: Windshield Seals for C Molding |
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I finally found someone locally that agreed to install new seals and trim on my coupe’s front and rear glass. 2 guys, took them just over an hour to remove the front and rear glass and seals, and to install the new seals, trim, and glass.
I sourced the seals and the T trim from KGPR, and everything went very smoothly.
What a difference the new seals and trim make vs. the cal look seals that were on the car since I acquired it!
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“Tinker Toy” 1967 Savannah Beige Beetle Sedan...........Mostly Original Survivor
“Fritz” 1964 Gulf Blue Karmann Ghia Coupe...Complete Pan-Off Restoration SOLD |
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c21darrel
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