johnireland

My brother-in-law went through an amazing experience trying to put a new piece of glass in his windshield frame. I helped him for a few days and he worked on it on his own for a few more and in the end the look was not good. He got the rubber from the right sources...but that is where the problem lies. Shortly after we got the window "in"...it cracked from the stress.

The replacement rubber you can find today for this car, including that from Porsche's own restoration suppliers, will not work. One of the top west coast 356 restoration places flatly refused to even try it, saying the 356 R Roadster is a nightmare. Another highly recommended 356 place worked on it for two weeks and then told my brother-in-law to come get his car as they could not make it fit.

Finally a third source and windshield specialist (who also refused to even try it) said the problem is with the rubber, that what my brother-in-law needed was the old Italian rubber. Luckily this guy had a piece NOS. And he had the name of the one guy he thought might be able to do the job. So with a new piece of glass and the old Italian rubber, he called Frank Valiente of New Era Auto Glass.

Frank came out to the owner's house and in a couple of hours the window was in and fit perfectly. And the price was more than fair.

I post this because my brother-in-law asked me to out of deep gratitude to Frank. Any of you 356 people struggling with glass issues, Frank's number is 818 974 3673 or 661 526 4237.

jcnesq

Thanks, I'm going to keep that info in my 356 file. I have a coupe which I'm sure is easier, but I do know it's not hard to break a new windshield in installation and I wouldn't try it myself.

Whose rubber did you use on the first go around? Main local suppliers seem to be International Mercantile and Stoddard / NLA Stoddard.

dave292

There are special instructions on Roadsters for installing a windshield. I think the 356 Registry has instructions on their website. I may even have a copy if I can find it.

dave292

PS….when I restored my 62 Roadster I used all new rubber from International Mercantile. No issues.

johnireland

Believe it was Stoddard. The car from hell seems to be the B Roadster, not the cab or the speedster. At the same time, my brother-in-law found all sorts of horrors...holes that didn't line up on trim pieces, rubber that would just not fit, the front trunk not fitting the same way it did when it was taken off...hinges, lights, nothing was as it was supposed to be.

As the old carpenters say, "measure twice and cut once."