Coupe quattro windshield removal

[cgharibo]

I'll be undertaking the removal of a windshield from my 1991 Coupe. Is there a write up or any advice on this?

[Tractor Dave]

B2 Coupe?

[K Simmonds]

I'm guessing B3... If that's case it isn't an easy job at all and one most windscreen replacement service's bodge due to time constraints, though as long as you have the car in the dry and take your time it's not actually that difficult.

If you can confirm that it is indeed a B3 platform Coupe, I'll have a go at photographing and uploading the relevant sections from the Bently manual for you, which provides all the information required accompanied by high quality illustration's. It's the A post trims that are the tricky part by the way the rest of it isn't too bad at all.

It'll be an interesting test of my skills with a smart phone, I'm something of a Luddite so it may take me a while.

[cgharibo]

Yes, it is a B3 Coupe. Any uploads would be greatly appreciated. I am educating myself and would like to purchase whatever I need to buy.

Any quality tools anyone would recommend that will make the job easier?

Thank you!

[K Simmonds]

Right... Okay, to start with you'll require the standard tools for removing a bonded windscreen, you get what you pay for with these, do a bit of research, ie watch some YouTube videos on the topic so you know the basics. Taking your time and being super careful not to damage the paint work along the roof line is the main thing to watch for when it comes the actual extraction process. What takes a bit more time is dealing with the various bit's of trim, especially the A-post's! You'll need a drill with a nice sharp decent quality bit for removing the heads off the rivets quickly and cleanly so as not to damage the trims, I can't remember the exact size off hand but something around 6mm or 1/4" as your the in USA should be about right, but I'll check the manual as it may specify exactly what size to use in there...

I'm about to go out for a walk but when I get back I'll dig out the Bently manual and have a go at photographing the relevant info and uploading it, though you may have to wait a while, I've only in the past month gotten a smartphone and am still getting use to using one, I'm typing this on my laptop. Still, it'll be a good test for me as it'll be my first attempt at using my phone to upload anything to the forum, I've managed to use it upload pic's to eBay so I should be able to work it out.

[cgharibo]

I really appreciate that!!

[newsh]

Right... Okay, to start with you'll require the standard tools for removing a bonded windscreen, you get what you pay for with these, do a bit of research, ie watch some YouTube videos on the topic so you know the basics. Taking your time and being super careful not to damage the paint work along the roof line is the main thing to watch for when it comes the actual extraction process. What takes a bit more time is dealing with the various bit's of trim, especially the A-post's! You'll need a drill with a nice sharp decent quality bit for removing the heads off the rivets quickly and cleanly so as not to damage the trims, I can't remember the exact size off hand but something around 6mm or 1/4" as your the in USA should be about right, but I'll check the manual as it may specify exactly what size to use in there...

I'm about to go out for a walk but when I get back I'll dig out the Bently manual and have a go at photographing the relevant info and uploading it, though you may have to wait a while, I've only in the past month gotten a smartphone and am still getting use to using one, I'm typing this on my laptop. Still, it'll be a good test for me as it'll be my first attempt at using my phone to upload anything to the forum, I've managed to use it upload pic's to eBay so I should be able to work it out.

Kit, get the Tapatalk app and use it to sign into the forum, it’s really easy to post pics with it.

[K Simmonds]

Kit, get the Tapatalk app and use it to sign into the forum, it’s really easy to post pics with it.

Just woken up on the sofa, I must have gone to sleep after getting back home from my walk, did about 4 1/2 miles in a little over an hour as it was a fairly pleasant afternoon.

Right, cheers John, you've probably saved me from getting very cross with my phone, imagine early man discovering fire, that's a bit like how it is for me with one of those things... I've not even heard of Tapatalk but I kinda understand how app's function so I'll do just that and check out how it works.

I've got to cook my super and try and crash out again fairly early as I have to get up and and go to hospital tomorrow morning for some routine X-rays, but I'm sure I'll find time tomorrow to suss it out.

[K Simmonds]

Okay... This is a trial run, it's very hard keeping still enough to get these in focus and I'm still experimenting with the camera settings. Let's see what these look like once uploaded and on my laptop...



That's a pity, these look a lot better on my phone, not so good on here though once I've had to downgrade them to medium size, I'm not paying to use Tapatalk VIP. I'll have to have a bit of play with the various settings and try and find something just the right height to use a temporary tripod, bare with me please...

[SteveH]

Good luck getting the screen out without breaking it. I would buy a replacement as your old screen is probably scratched and pitted from use. I tried the standard screen removal toolkits from eBay and they were useless. The lower corners by the dash are a difficult angle to get at. Once I cracked mine, I used an air chisel to get the rest out and that was still a lot of hard work. The old black screen bonding material was as hard as rock after 20 something years.

[cgharibo]

That still works K Simmonds, I appreciate it!

Thanks for the comments Steve, I will try my best! Any tips on how to not crack it, when I go at it.

[K Simmonds]

I wouldn't be confident in getting it out without breaking it unless perhaps you remove the dash first, as Steve has rightly pointed out the bottom corners are a sod to get at, even then I'd still wouldn't be 100% sure it's not going crack, got bare in mind the glass is probably the best part of 30 years old. I sort of assumed you wanted to get it out to replace it, do you want to remove it to paint the car? Refitting one is also quite a performance, there is as good as zero margin for error in getting it sitting at right depth for refitting the A-post trims correctly.

I'm still experimenting with my phones camera as I'm sure I can do a better job, what's annoying is the photos look perfect on my phone, can even read all the details in the diagrams perfectly but as soon as I convert them to medium on Tapatalk and send them to my laptop they look out focus, which I don't really understand.

[Bowie69]

Don't worry about using medium size, I often post at 2000px wide if there is detail to be seen.

[K Simmonds]

Cheers for the advice, however it seems I have to pay (all be it not very much) to be able to use anything over medium size and I don't really intend on paying for any app's at all.

[newsh]

Cheers for the advice, however it seems I have to pay (all be it not very much) to be able to use anything over medium size and I don't really intend on paying for any app's at all.

That’s really weird, I don’t remember paying , if I did it must have been a one off payment of a couple of quid cos I’m pretty tight when it comes to paying for apps! Certainly worth every penny though because I hardly use the laptop any more.