Drat and Godamnit

[Jas11n]

Picked a small crack up in the screen approx 4 weeks ago.
Been waiting for some details of Autoglass in Coventry (direct phone number not supplied by Autoglass) from a friend who recommended them as doing as a good job.
We've all heard the horror stories, I've personally been through this when I had a screen replaced in a previous Coupe at Billy Smarts Circus in Darlington a good few years ago, erm! hang on, was Auto Windscreens, but sure they sidelined as a circus sideshow, bunch of muppets

Anyhoo, Friday night saw a big silver Merc saloon hassling me, saw it off, but on a bit of enthusiastic driving around a roundabout the crack decided to stretch it's legs, right across my view.

Only one thing for it, as my mate has gone awol, I've had to bite the bullet a book the car into Autoglass's depot in Middlesborough (closest depot to me) for Tuesday morning.
Explained to the lovely young lady on the phone that the job needs doing RIGHT, no shoddy work, or it'll be pasted all over the internet.
So far impressed with the young lady over the phone, she understood where I was coming from, had heard about an Audi Coupe screen being a little difficult (she mentioned it before I said anything) and assured me she would forewarn the guys in the depot that Mr Anål was coming to see them

Most maddening thing is, my screen was perfect, no delamination ANYWHERE, no pitting, no chips and no scratches

Say hello to Cracks R Us;

Fingers crossed, will repot back if they succeed or devalue my car in a couple of hours flat.

[s2driveruk]

sorry to see that I know they messed mine up a couple of times, third time lucky they seated it right so no more terrible wind rush on the passenger side top corner...

[4WheelDrifter]

Good luck getting that sorted.

[Jas11n]

You guys are filling me with so much hope

Jas..
[It'll be fine - he says "praying"]

[s2driveruk]

i made them come out with me after each fitting to see how quiet it was......make sure they don't nick the leading edge of the paint along the roofline as i have a bubble of rust back again after it was repaired and painted about 4 years back :wacked:

It'll all be fine Jas

[Fat Audi 80]

Good luck mate, I can see me needing a 'screen before long. A couple chips and horrible white delamination....

Cheers,

Steve.

[Jas11n]

I'm a happy man. They did a superb job.

Had a 20min chat with the guy who was doing the job (their head fitter)
He said he'd done around 20 of those screens over 15 years of working for Autoglass. I asked what makes them such a pain and is it really one of the hardest to do.
It WAS one of the hardest was his answer, lots of new Merc's, BMW's and some jap crap have even harder screens now. At the time of the Coupe coming out in roughly 1988 it was behind a particular Bentley model as being the hardest to replace. Reason the Bentley was hard was because of all the wood trim inside that had to be removed.
Now, the reason the Coupe screen is a bit of a pain is the riveted on side trims.
These have eight rivets each side, two close together at the top, two close together at the bottom and four spaced out evenly in between.

Drilling the rivets out isn't that much of a pain, other fitters make the mistake of removing the felt door trim to gain access, but with the help of an assitant, the trim can be peeled back at each rivet and removed.
Next up he has to make sure that when the new screen is seated, that it either doesn't sit to high and also doesn't sit to low (as in the thickness of the bonding material between the glass and the frame). If it sits to high, the trim when replaced will sit at the wrong angle and also may snap the little plastic clip that holds it flush with the roofline at the top due to the strain placed on it.
If it sits to low, then a gap will be left between the glass and the rubber/sponge material fixed on the underside of the side trim. This allows water to leak down the back and is the primary cause of the edges of the screen delaminating.

Autoglass will only order the top and bottom rubber trims, the rivets and also new sponge/rubber trim that fits under the side trims, from Audi dealers themselves. The screens they fit aren't original Audi, but are Pilkington, which I think have a good enough name in the glass industry.

Whole job took three hours, he said as he's done a good amount before he can move quick, so about an hour to remove trims, remove old screen, prep up, replace the screen and refit the trims..
Then leaves the screen for two hours for the bonding adhesive to cure enough for the car to be driven. He advised on not washing either the car or the screen for at least 24 hours.
First thing he said to me this morning was, "whats the attraction with these cars"
I went off on an Audi based lesson in why they are a good solid, under rated, stealth, jap crap killing machine

Unfortunately, new health and safety at work laws meant I couldn't watch, query and snap pics whilst they did the job. I was a little tense sitting in the waiting room for three hours I tell ya.


Only quibble I have after coming home and having a good look is;

BUG splats on my shiney perfect screen

Jas..

[Paulgo]

Nice work dude glad it all went well and I might be payingthem a visit soon too - that'll make their fitters day!!

I hate to say this and steal someones thunder, but where's the pic of said new shiney windscreen then to make all us delaminated suffers jealous!

Glad it all worked out mate and you might sleep better tonight!

Paul

Ps When did you become the Hoff? Thought that was someone else on here

[Jas11n]

where's the pic of said new shiney windscreen then to make all us delaminated suffers jealous!

You are as bad as that other bloke who always says "got any pics?"

Just for you..





Car is covered in dust, but I ain't allowed to wash it, will I survive 24 hours

Oh, avatar is from fans, I've nicked it, living life dangerously and on the edge as an avatar theif

[Greg_S]

Much better, i will have to get mine done soon since the top trim doesnt sit flush with the roof from a previous replacement before I had the car

[Fat Audi 80]

Thanks Jas, and glad to hear you are happy! (You bloody perfectionist )

I think the job is perfectly possible with care, patience and the correct parts. I will look to get mine done when I am feeling brave.

Cheers,

Steve.

[newsh]

Nice job! I don't think mine is quite that perfect..

[Jas11n]

Oh, one last thing I forgot before we close this scarey screen thread.
Had I paid full whack for the screen out of my pocket, it would have cost £590 all told. So thats roughly the same as what I paid cash 6/7 years ago.
£50 excess paid through my insurance this time (phew)

Oh, as said above, they sourced everything apart from the screen at local dealers Teeside Audi.
They had invoiced Autoglass for the rivets used, 16 x £570 each That would have made the bill to my insurance company over £9000
Erm, try 57p maybe?

[s2driveruk]

glad to hear it all went smoothly. you mentioned the top retaining clip breaking if under too much stres, this is what happened to mine before i bought the car. The clip is metal but no idea if it can be replaced or not...my scree is so stone chip pock marked that i almost hope it gets broken soon for a replacement yours looks shiny like the rest of your car now

[Jas11n]

glad to hear it all went smoothly. you mentioned the top retaining clip breaking if under too much stres, this is what happened to mine before i bought the car. The clip is metal but no idea if it can be replaced or not...my scree is so stone chip pock marked that i almost hope it gets broken soon for a replacement yours looks shiny like the rest of your car now

Ah, didn't know that clip was metal. Was just going off what the fitter said. They wouldn't let me be Mr Nosey boooo Really would have liked to see what it all entailed. I could see a bit from the reception, but car was wrong way round to see anything in detail.
Still , Middlesborough branch of Autoglass get the thumbs up for screen replacement on Coupes
Along with Coventry, thats the NE and Midlands covered.