4001 windscreen and stainless surround removal

Subscribed. I hope you find an answer!

 

I will have a look at the spare trim in my garage. I had new time when windscreen replaced and kept the old. Can't remember seeing any damage but will.look

 

We found that the trim, both F & R, is simply applied on top of the glass, once it's in place. It's held by nothing more than an adhesive such as Surethane or silicon, which has tempted me to leave it off, if not for the incongruity versus the rest of the brightwork.
I don't really expect to deal with 130+ mph airflow to try to rip it off.....at least on a regular basis, and it's shown to stay on the cars over the decades, AFAIK.

The glass (and its method of attachment) itself isn't magic, either. It's installed like pretty much any other car's. Some installers seem to use the "Ferrari mystique" to either pad their pockets nicely, or avoid them altogether, falling for the rumor themselves (leaving the heavy padding for those who know better and know how to be sly about the "Ferrari Tax").
Like any big piece of glass stuck into the chassis with adhesive all-around, breakage during removal is a possibility, but typically, replacement is on the car owner, not the installer, contrary to the story of "covering my potential loss" by those aforementioned installers "in the know" to justify their significantly higher price. Check their disclaimer - they usually specify that the owner assumes the cost of a broken/replacement, as already noted.

All of the above also applies to reinstallation.

 

I removed both screens from my project car a few weeks ago. They both came out without any damage to the screens or trim. They are just sitting in the frames in the pictures until I can store them safely. I used a really sharp very thin blade & slowly cut under the trim from the middle to the outside a small amount at a time. Once the trim was off I was able to excavate down the side of the screen then from inside the car sliced the remaining sealant out to the excavated edge. It took days & I ended up with blisters on my fingers but was worth it in the end.

The other car I have waiting for a restoration was a different story though! The rear screen had a couple of small cracks at the bottom edge due to rust under the screen & as soon as I touched it they started to run. I gave up then & it ended up with lots of cracks but is out. I learnt with this one that if you are too rough or scratch the edge of the screen with the blade it WILL start a crack from the edge that runs inward. I cleaned the up the front one on this car & found a small crack on the left hand side like the rear one had so I know it will need a new screen (also has a star in front of the driver). I have included a picture of this crack - if you have any it is game over. The glass on these seems very thin - I think they may have tried to reduce weight in this area.

Cheers Al
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

bien joue Allan beau travail

 

Go slow and be patient. There is a a lot of adhesive! The trim is NLA.

 

Prof glass shops use a tool that cuts the sealer with a razor sharp tip on a aluminum handle...with a short wire cord and a "pulling" handle to drag the blade along the edge.
I have used thin "piano" wire before, use a hollow needle pushed thru the sealer wherever you can, push the wire thru, pull out the needle, put a loop on each end of about a foot of the wire and fasten on plastic or wood handles....it's a two man job, one person inside, one outside, the wire cuts like a cheese cutter.
If you don't have thin wire, ask anyone you know that does saltwater fishing, they should have thin wire leader that will work fine.

Gary

 

I have seen the wire method used on other cars.
It would probably be ok for removing the trim - being careful not to let it start curling up.
I would not attempt it on the screens as it relies on the wire dragging along the bottom edge of the glass. The edge of the glass on mine is not smooth & the glass is very thin. The chances of the wire scratching the edge & starting a crack are high. In most cases the sealer on our cars will be 30-40 years old & not that flexible anymore so you do not want to put much force on the screen until it is completely free.

Cheers Al

 

A little comment here - in attempting to do an all-glass out repaint of my car, coincidentally the first glass to be removed from my car which was indeed the rear glass - mine shattered... I had to import an OEM replacement from the UK after looking high and low for alternatives... Not for the faint of heart, not for those trying to keep a tight budget, not for those weekend warriors to tackle this task of removing the entire glass since these cars are older, and certainly above all else, please be cognizant of using kid gloves in the process, irrespective of how much confidence there may be at the time it was decided that it needed to be done. HFS, I have the utmost faith and respect on my guy who attempted this yet mine broke, so good luck to anyone who wants to remove their glass and trim and seals!

 

Well OttoB it looks like this "weekend warrior" did better than your guy.
Sometimes it comes down to - do nothing & the rust will split the screens as both screens on my rusty car had already done or take your time & give it a go. I don't think many professionals would spend the time it takes to gently remove these in one piece.

This is what I used for the trim removal. A number 10 feeler gauge with the leading edge nicely sharpened on the edges. Just keep working your way around sliding it under & the trim will eventually just fall off.

Cheers Al
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Nice work! My windshield did not make it out alive, but my rear glass squeaked out.

 

old thread revive sorry, I still dont quite get whats holding the trim? are you saying if you cut from the screen side as above and cut between the painted door pillar and the trim it should come out? does anyone have and end profile shot showing how much of the trim is in the seal/sealant?

 

None is embedded/inserted/stuck IN the sealant. It truly is attached on TOP of the glass. Installed correctly, the outside edge of the trim lines-up with the edge of the glass, and sealant makes it look like it's doing more. I go back-and-forth on leaving that trim off of #22579 when it's ready for glass, as sort of an updated look. It can be added later if it just doesn't look right, with all of the side class surrounded by trim.

 

cheers thanks, thats good news

 

Both front and rear windshield were removed when I did the respray on my car....both broke Trim is glued on...

 

I tried to remove the front window and were sucessful. I were using a chemical stripper (Entlacker) with formic acid to weaken the glue (and the painting &#128526. It took weeks, but it works. Frank
Image Unavailable, Please Login