mortymower

I had a new windshield installed by safelite today (87 w/ antenna) and it does not sit flush. I watched him do it and the new glass has a thick rubber seal all the way around it in a V-shape. He layed down a bead of sealant/glue and put the windshield on but it sits an eighth inch above the surrounding body parts. He tried to put the original trim seal around it and it sealed on the windshield side but is sticking up an eighth inch on the body side.

He was very nice and insisted he redo it on monday, but he said he thinks he can just cut away some/all of the rubber seal on the glass off and then just lay it flat on his bead of sealant. Will this work and is it okay to use the original trim rubber or should that be replaced. Just wondering so I can give him any tips when I go back. Thanks

KuHL 951

Did he remove all the old gun sealant and extruded seal? The guy that did mine removed all the material down to clean painted metal before even attempting to install a new seal and urethane sealant. It doesn't take too much old material left behind to raise the glass too far. He sounds like he wants to make it right but to me that means a new gasket and sealant, not a trimmed gasket. Most insurance companies cover the cost of a new seal as part of a replacement.

xsboost90

sounds like he has the wrong windshield. if he has a cabrio window i believe they are taller than the stock ones. The early windshields are smaller- i saw a company install an early into a late car and they just filled in the 1/4" on each side w/ sealer! Tell them to get the correct window.

mortymower

I meant to say it fits it just sits a little to high, like there is too much glue

S2cab

Or the windshield was manufactured wrong. Look for text on the new windshield. Who is the manufacturer? Is it Porsche factory glass, or made by someone else? Safelite has a few of their own glass factories, & are famous for a) not measuring the original windshield to be copied correctly, & b) reproducing the botched measurement incorrectly. Missing the curvature by 6" is never out of the question, so if the glass is a little too high, or the width or height 1/2"-1" too short, what the hell. They are the Mickey D's of the autoglass industry.

tjbreen

I had the same problem when I replaced my windshield. It looked crappy from the start with the gasket not sitting flush. I took it back and they replaced the entire thing, new glass and all because they said it was impossible to remove without breaking it. Still it was a compromise, they were sent the wrong gasket and had to reuse the old one but it sits nice and flush now.

88BlueTSiQuest

Sekurit is the factory manufacturer, IIRC. I don't think any of my glass says Porsche on it anywhere, just Sekurit.

333pg333

Sounds more like this doesn't it?

mortymower

Thats exactly what it sounds like, he said that he always leaves a little old glue if he can because new glue will bond best to the old glue rather than metal.

Darwantae951

I had the EXACT same experience with Safelite. NOT happy with them at all. I contacted the man who installed it and he said "I installed it correctly and Safelite will not replace it." I had a Porsche shop look at it and filed a complaint and Safelite replaced the windshield free of charge. My hood touched the windshield when it was all the way up and cracked it on the passenger side. On top of that he used a razor to remove the old sealant and scraped paint off the car...

-Darwin

mortymower

Yea, he was very nice and tried to be carefull the entire time ( I watched) and he did not hesitate to offer to redo it. I just want to know what to tell him, show he dig the old stuf out all the way down to the metal, trim some of the gasket that came on the new glass, or just not put as much sealant in with his caulk gun?

xsboost90

they should ALWAYS remove all of the old glue- what a moron. I had a windshield installed once and they pulled the aluminum frame off of it, put an aftermarket trim strip around the window that looked just like the oe but attached to the glass and glued it right in. Worked perfect.

S2cab

It should be scraped down to the pinchweld, the entire pinchweld primered, windshield setting tape run around the entire winchweld, & then urethane shot around the entire pinchweld. The windshield is then placed in to the setting tape, sometimes rubber setting blocks are used on the bottom to space the windshield evenly with the pinchweld, pressed down until it is flush, & the molding lined up. The molding is usually taped down for 2 or 3 days until the urethane cures. If the molding wraps around the windshield, it needs to be placed on to it before setting.

F18Rep

Yea, my Safelite experience wasn't all that great either. I think the Mickey- D's assessment might be right - perfect for your econo commuter car. A good body shop would have done better work but the price would have been 700 instead of 500. Next time. Bruce

S2cab

A lot of body shops farm glass work out. You need to find one with old school employees that do it all, not specialists. Safelite had a business plan that was to get all business in an area, outside that area if necesary, & making money wasn't a requirement. They ran a lot of the mom & pop shops out of business by taking any job at a loss, just to take the job from the competition. Skilled labor was replaced by kids, who weren't paid much, & the level of execution dropped because of this.