Expert: William Forster - 1/5/2008

Question
Woke up this morning to find my son's 1995 Ford probe had the Rt rear qtr pannel window smashed in.  Recieved 2 phone quotes to repair, $700+  & $1000 +.  One guy had a use piece for a couple hunderd bucks.  How would I go about removing the broken piece and installing the new one?
Thanks for you rhelp!

Guy

Answer
First, remove as much loose glass as you can get out of the window frame then sweep the glass up- in case you need to get into the back seat for something. With gloves and a razor blade knife, carve out the old band of window urethane. Be careful, the broken glass will snap and pop while you do this- use safety goggles, please! Once you remove the strip that has glass on it, carve the old urethane out as close to the body as you can without scraping the paint. Now, carve the urethane off of the used quarter glass. Purchase a tube of 3M window-weld urethane caulk, and apply a bead all around the window frame on the body right over the old sealant. Cut the tube nozzle at about a 60 degree angle, and when caulking, have the gun nearly vertical to the surface. This will produce a very tall band of sealer, guaranteeing a perfect seal. Now, carefully set the glass. slowly wiggle and push it into position, and secure it with some masking tape. Crack one of the door windows open at least an inch, and leave it open for 24 hours. You see, if you don't, when you shut the door the pressure from closing the door can pop a hole through the band of sealer, causing a leak. Ever have someone shut a door on a car, and your ears popped? That was from the instantaneous pressure build up- the door compressed air in the car, and it couldn't escape fast enough for the vent to equalize the pressure. It takes the path of least resistance- like a nice wet band of window sealer. Bill