serious windshield gasket problem. anyone else have this problem?

[chewychevy67]

i tried 3 windshield gaskets from precision for my 79 gmc pickup. all three have been too long. too big on the glass too. anyone else have this problem. rubber is nice and tight everywhere. in my past windshield endevors on my 67-72's precision has been spot on for fit. any suggestions. anyone else have good fit with another brand?

[primrrd]

sorry for the frustration.
when i got my new w/s (81 silverado)
- i had removed it to fix a little rust hole that was leaking water into the cab at the pinchweld...
I told the guy i wanted a new gasket...
He talked me out of it... sd that mine was still fine and that to use a new aftermarket gasket was inviting a whole new issue b/c they were hard to install and didnt fit or look right. He did put a new sealing strip in it though...
i ended up cleaning mine real good with an sos pad and it even cleaned up to look new. A buddy of mine had the same issue as yours with am gasket not fitting.
He ended up buying a good original one out of one of those suburbans that kept the square look up to the 90's in a junk yard.
**
maybe someone has a better source.
one thing to note though...
you will install the gasket on the w/s and use a rope to pull it in.. you might try it on the glass...
Best of luck!

[william-theglassman]

i use precision all the time .done several squares this year .have one to do tomorrow morning . i will try to take some pics while installing .they are too long all the time . force all the corners out to make it fit better. dont get too frustrated i have to fight a lot of mine too.just have patients.

[WarBeard]

We had to pull it real tight into the corners.

[1981Sturgis]

What is the correct procedure to install the windshield?
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[chewychevy67]

i tried it on the glass first and it was to long. thats why i tried it on the truck to see if the galss or rubber was out.

[william-theglassman]

the gasket always goes on the truck first on the squares.pull the corners tight use easy release tape [ masking tape]on the top if needed. put the glass in the groove on the bottom first .i use a stiff plastick stick.some glass guys call them bones or fiber sticks to work the rubber while lightly pushing the glass in .i like using the gaskets the take the rubber lace.i wont use the self locking ones unless i absolutely have to .precision gasket and pilkington glass .just take your time .

[rs72z]

Just keep working the slack around the pinch weld through the corners you can eventually work all the excess into the corners. It's not easy but it will work, just like glassman said. We just put the one in ny cc a few months back and it looked just like yours.

[rustyrodknocker]

poor fitting gaskets make this way harder than it has to be. I always save a decent factory rubber. I cant for the life of me understand why todays manufacturers cant make two good gaskets in a row when they were spit out by the hundreds of thousands 40 years ago. rubbers that are to long are prone to leakage also.

[Gordonr1973]

My Precision gasket seemed too long as well when the glass guys can to install it.

They did what the other folks as suggesting, just work the excess into the corners and when its all said & done, it did actually fit fine.

They said once the truck sits out in the sun for a while it will shrink somewhat to fit better.

[tucsonjwt]

Soft Seal is supposed to have better products, but much more $$.

[i8tokyo]

Took my 78 C-20 to have the windshield replaced yesturday using the standard (non-deluxe) gasket. They worked on it for over 4 hours and could not get it to work. They said that this was the second time in the past month that they have ran into this problem. The way they fixed it the last time was to use the deluxe gasket with the insert. Maybe there is an issue with the newer gaskets? Unsure what else to think, but these guys at the window shop say they have replaced hundreds of gaskets on the square bodies and that this is something new. My original gasket was too old and checked to reuse. I'll let you know how it turns out.

[william-theglassman]

i have never heard of delux or non-delux gaskets. sounds like an excuse to me.i dont like the self locking gaskets because they are a little thicker . me having a hard time putting a w/s in with a self lock i am still only going to be there an hour. absolutely no rubber gasket w/s has ever taken me more than 1 to 2 hours even if i struggled with it . hope i didnt just jinks myself.haha.there are steps that need to be followed to anything right .if not and someone is trying to hurry a lot of time will be wasted ,glass broke or worse.............paint scratched. i am not perfect i have problems from time to time .but everyone gets 100% from me from some pos car to a show truck.quality control is almost gone with everything .i got a gasket once that was twisted ,how the heck does that happen?

[i8tokyo]

The difference they stated was that deluxe gaskets use the insert trim, where the standard (non-deluxe) have no insert trim (the chrome or black strips that insert into the gasket). Maybe these are the self-locking ones mentioned earlier? I think they screwed up the antenna connection too because it is not centered now and even though it is connected the radio will not pickup station one. :\ Good lord the things we do because we love our trucks.

[william-theglassman]

its possible they didnt slip the antenna wire into its connection .seen that a lot.the self locking gasket is not better or worse than the insert one . just a little harder to use . it is for the early squares .73 and up .i couldnt tell you what year they were changed to lace ups. once installed one is as good as the other as far as looks ,and sealing up.a lot of folks like the chrome strip insert , i dont because the chrome always fades and ckacks up over a short peroid of time.i put a self locking one on my dads 74 .i had it laying around the shop for years and my supplier forgot to send me the other type so i made it work.i am not bragging or trying todiminish anyone else skill but i did it in about an hour by myself. they are not that big a deal. i will be doing one with the insert on a friends truck when he paints it soon .i will take some pics of the removal and reinstal and put them up .

[i8tokyo]

Originally Posted by william-theglassman

its possible they didnt slip the antenna wire into its connection .seen that a lot.the self locking gasket is not better or worse than the insert one . just a little harder to use . it is for the early squares .73 and up .i couldnt tell you what year they were changed to lace ups. once installed one is as good as the other as far as looks ,and sealing up.a lot of folks like the chrome strip insert , i dont because the chrome always fades and ckacks up over a short peroid of time.i put a self locking one on my dads 74 .i had it laying around the shop for years and my supplier forgot to send me the other type so i made it work.i am not bragging or trying todiminish anyone else skill but i did it in about an hour by myself. they are not that big a deal. i will be doing one with the insert on a friends truck when he paints it soon .i will take some pics of the removal and reinstal and put them up .

Thats what I like about this forum, you can learn so much from others experiences. My background has been speed and performance since 74'. I have very little along the lines of body/chassis/interior and such. But after joining this forum, and reading what others are doing, the fear factor went away. Nothing I can do that can't be undone for the most part and the tools to do it are typically somewhere in here. Thanks for your input. Hopefully they will figure it out next Saturday when I take it back in for the new gasket.

[Firebirdjones]

That is correct, the deluxe has the simulated chrome strip. On the squares (by the late 70's at least, and on my 79) it has that plastic chrome molded around the perimeter. Because of this, I have put off installing a new windshield for years because every glass company I have contacted say they can't install the rubber seals with the chrome strip, and I prefer to keep the truck as per factory, so I've put up with a nice big chip in the glass for years.

I ran into this issue with my 72 as well, which uses an actual stainless trim around the windshield (3 pieces) that is supposed to snap into a groove molded into the windshield rubber. The original windshield was hit by a rock last year pretty hard. Glass company tried for 15 minutes to talk me into a plain black windshield molding and I wouldn't do it, that's not how the CST's were built.
They reluctantly agreed to finally install the correct windshield molding with the molded groove for my stainless to snap in. Took 3 guys 4 hours to do it an it still wasn't right. A week later the 2 side stainless moldings flew out going down the highway. I"ve left it that way since as I don't want anyone else touching the truck, fed up with it. I wish now that I left the original windshield in it with the crack, at least it had the stainless around it and looked correct.

It's hard to find a good glass guy (surprising in AZ with all the busted windshields we get) and because of this I've been reluctant to fix my 79. Even though that truck should be easier, since the rubber comes with simulated chrome already on the rubber.

My only concern now after reading this thread is that with the rubber molding pictured above having so much slack,,,I'd be afraid it would crack that plastic simulated chrome,,,that stuff isn't all that flexible, and I haven't seen any suppliers carry it.

[chewychevy67]

it did work. got it in yesterday.

[william-theglassman]

chewy . glad you got it in..... firebird . i can get the chrome insert for the squares easily .all i want. there are at least 3 different gaskets for the 67-72 trucks.your glass guys may have tried to put the chrome in the wrong gasket if it was a new gasket. one has a deeper grove.if done right the chrome should be tight to the rubber.no big gaps.most glass men are intimidated by the old stuff .and wont even quote prices for the job.call around and ask a lot of questions and make sure they dont mind if you watch. i like for the owner to right there with me while doing the work .i am not to much worried about them doing it themselves after they watch . they can try but will be calling me to fix it .

[Firebirdjones]

It was the right gasket, the problem I believe were incompitent workers.

They were bickering with each other on whether to install the stainless while the rubber was on the glass, then install the windshield,,,,or install the stainless after the windshield was installed in the truck.

I leaned toward the first method myself since the rubber would be more pliable and easier to install the moldings,,,, but they ultimately decided to put the windshield in the truck first, then try to pry the rubber open and force the stainlesss moldings in. Unfortunately as I had thought, that didn't work well since the glass and rubber molding already being in the truck made for a very tight fit since it was already squishing the the rubber slot closed.

They never really got the moldings in all the way (I don't believe) since it flew out 3 days later. I wasn't all that impressed with the overall fit of the rubber molding either, it didn't seem to fill the windshield frame as well as the original, and it give the appearance of being too small (pulling away from the corners).

Some day I will install another new windshield and try to find someone more qualified for the job. Right now I'm just fed up with it as it not only needs to be redone, but I'll need all new stainless moldings too. I'd rather get my pickup truck fixed first, find the right simulated chrome strip molding for it and see how a different glass installer does on this one, then I might entrust his work on my 72. It's frustrating for sure.

[william-theglassman]

make them buy you new chrome . we stand behind everything we do .no matter what !

[Boostaddict]

Since this thread isn't too old I thought I'd throw this out there... the chrome trim on my original '80 windshield trim is trashed. The windwhield itself is okay but not great... it has a couple very small chips and a crack around the antenna which I'm told is common. Any idea what a "reputable" installation of a new windshield with new gasket/trim (simulated chrome trim I'm assuming) might run me? I know that I should call around and just ask, but most chain shops around here will probably be clueless.

And a follow-up question... if my seal isn't as bad as I think (there is some thin rubber falling off around the corners though) does anyone know if the replacement reproduction chrome inserts (that places like LMC sell for $20) will fit/work with the original windshield seal?

Thanks,
Wayne

[i8tokyo]

Mine ended up costing me $243 installed and out the door tax included. That was including the trim pieces.

[gramps77]

Is Soft Seal the preferred manufacturer? I read they are with other vehicles but if one from LMC or any of the other parts places is comparable, no reason for the extra $$ spent.

[Firebirdjones]

I prefer Soft Seal for my classic car stuff. Know the owner/operator who was part of the Tri-5 chevy club we participated in for many years. Excellent quality products from my experiences.

However I haven't bought anything for the 1st gen trucks through them so can't comment, other than to say I wouldn't hesitate to use them for my trucks if I needed it.