I looked at old threads on this and I was wondering what people’s experiences are with having a shop install a new windshield on a 308 lately. I had a rock chip low on my WS with a tiny crack starting and had Safelite come out to repair. He said it had been repaired before and the “cap” had come off. Said he could not repair it again, but fixed the “cap” meaning he made it flush so the wipers would ride over them smoothly and would reduce moisture entering it. Obviously, no guarantee against the crack getting worse. As always, this car always fights any repair. I’m not interested in a DIY in replacing the WS, and I’m not sure what the answer is to replacing it with the seal instead if the original trim that Ive read about. I want a pro who knows what he’s doing to fix it. Any experiences out there?
The fit of a replacement could be a challenge for you. More than a few have had issues with the windshield curvature and gaps. OEM's are big bucks and impossible to find and the replacements are a crap shoot from what I hear from others. Do a search on the site and read up on some experiences.
I purchased a windscreen from Ferrparts on eBay last winter for a euro, 83, 308, QV. It dropped in with no problems. I recommend you check and see who some of the local glass installers are in your area, who do work for various dealerships. These guys usually have seen it all. Your Safelight store may be fine but in our area these tend to be manned by younger people who may not have the experience you want. You especially want some one who is willing to be patient with the windscreen trim. Good luck to you! Richard
The Safelight site, when you go online to request a quote or set up an appointment, has a pull down menu for car brands. They do not even include Ferrari.
Tom Spiro (spirot) had a new windshield installed on his 328 last year; send him a message and he'll tell you about it.
I had a new windscreen fitted about 18 months ago, rang the local mobile glass fitter, windscreen was $280 Australian plus $90 for fitting. I was lucky as it fitted perfectly
New?? I assume so...….wow. That's great news, as I understand it Pilkington Automotive is making them. Primary line is architectural glass. I would be curious if another maker is "getting it right". People say Mike as he went thru as I recall FIVE glass, before one laid in!!
I heard the winner was the SEVENTH. I also heard that some incorrect were new replacements and others were original pieces, meaning the chance of getting one that doesn’t fit your particular car is very high.
Possibly... There must be a high variance in our roofs, and I guess some quick grinding at the Factory install?? I don't know.
I bought a set of dated rear glass pieces for my ‘63 Corvette Split Window from Auto City Glass, a company that comes up often in comparison to Pilkington. I was very happy with the glass, and many other vintage Corvette owners are too. Wonder if they make 308 glass? Of course, if new glass and original glass both fail to fit many 308s because of the “hand built” nature of them, it won’t matter, will it?
I was told that as the cars were being basically hand built at the factory, custom glass people Come in and would do measurements of the cars in batches of 100 at a time, resulting in variance between cars and some “OEM” windshields not fitting other original cars. Of course, then the repros were hit or miss. I saw some photos of windshield 2 or 3 inches off, no chance of fitting.
Mike tried to do what I did when mine cracked a few years back. Hagerty allowed me to buy whatever windshield I wanted and at the urging of others I chose to try to get an original Sigla first before opting to buy a repro. I went to Ferrari of Newport Beach and had them order one from the factory. Took 5-6 weeks and apparently I received one of the last Siglas. The dealer received it and I had them bring in an installer to install it. I wanted them to be on the hook if the windshield didn't fit was my thought. Fortunately for me it fit perfectly with no installation problems. I feel like I was lucky for once. Mikes experience was the opposite . Hopefully he will chime in or you can search for his thread. Good Luck
The first one I bought was out of Europe and it was about 3 inches off in the bottom right corner. The dealer took it back without any hassle at all. The one from Russ fit in like a glove. Excellent quality and like I said it was a perfect fit. Ferrparts is up I5 for me so I had a friend pick it up and bring it down.
This was the first windshield. As you can see it would have made driving a little challenging in the rain. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I've seen other photos with the same gaps....Wow. According to Mike he is hearing that there are places that can reheat the windshield to get it to bend more and conform to the frame. I just wonder if the template size is exactly the same on all of them and all that varies is the curvature?
The tubular framework of the 308/328 was placed in a jig before weld up. As was door pillars, windshield frame, etc. Can totally see a discrepancy of 1/8” from side to side, as you see in many American cars But 3 inches? I’m not buying that. Would think the discrepancy has more to do with incorrect dimensional aftermarket glass.
Search for my handle here for my debacle. I am mired in this as we speak. Been a year now, two ill-fitting OEM glasses from F UK from a large domestic F parts supplier, had to fight to have them accept returns with freight on them. Now I have the original pretty much shattered original glass back in so at least I can drive it a bit while I try to find the unicorn that is a properly-fitting 328 glass...