Rusted windshield repair using POR15 and Kittyhair: Procedure and results

These sub $200 prices, what brand glass are they installing?

I'm thinking Pilkington or PPG (PGW?), but I'm afraid it won't even come close to those prices.

sikwan said:

These sub $200 prices, what brand glass are they installing?

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fuyao (MIC? dont recall noting what the prev one was, but orig quote was over 240 IIRC)

will just have to see if it stands up to a winter (ski season) in the wild wild west

but.. that's why i took the $50 deductible/option on comp.cvg, figuring 1 windshield/year more than covers it

New windshield removed ( came off very easy ) , old urethane removed from body and glass , windshield re attached with new molding . Windshield guy admitted fault and fixed his mistake that was caused by ordering and getting delivered the wrong year sprinter glass after the urethane was put on the frame already and by the time the right glass showed up some 20 minutes later the urethane was starting to harden no wonder it never bonded in the first place . I told the guy that I appreciated his honesty and that he is not a bad guy for admitting fault and fixing his mistake .

Gaspiping Sprinter said:

New windshield removed ( came off very easy )....
....
told the guy that I appreciated his honesty and that he is not a bad guy for admitting fault and fixing his mistake .

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good job!
i always appreciated when my customers told me they had a problem with something i did.
(vs just talking stink about me, behind my back to others...)
it gave me the opportunity to prove to them that i STAND BEHIND WHAT I DO.

seems like that guy (sort of) does too, except it sure would've looked better had he admitted that
on the day he did it, eh?

but alls well that ends well.
(esp since you discovered the leak in october not december

outbound said:

good job!
i always appreciated when my customers told me they had a problem with something i did.
(vs just talking stink about me, behind my back to others...)
it gave me the opportunity to prove to them that i STAND BEHIND WHAT I DO.

seems like that guy (sort of) does too, except it sure would've looked better had he admitted that
on the day he did it, eh?

but alls well that ends well.
(esp since you discovered the leak in october not december

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He said " I didn't want to scrape off the already hardened urethane on that day because the frame was just painted " . I guess he pushed his luck and it came back to bite him in the rear end !

undergoing this job today/tomorrow. I'm following the original instructions in this thread although I'm using METAL-2-METAL body filler instead of the kitty hair product. i searched high and low and found a glass installer i have confidence in. Will see!

Below are my before pics.

I had the window replaced about 3 years ago. The guy who took it off said it was installed very poorly.

I'll put up post-job pics once job is completed and will circle back around after this coming winter (bring it snow gods!!!!) This is my first time doing this kind of job. Hope it goes well!! Seems pretty straight forward.

Hack job!!! Not super happy with the end results but there again I'm not trying to win any beauty pageants and I'm just tired of hearing folks say.. Hey, you should take care of that rust. You know, rust never sleeps.... THANKS GENIUS!

I definitely have a new found respect for professionals who can make things look perfect.

The process of taking off the rust was tough. It took 4 hours of grinding and scraping. I had a softball game, usually play 3rd base, but since my arm was so tired I ended up playing 2nd base.

I used the 3m wheel and then an old flat head screw driver to get out stubborn pieces. Getting all of the previous gasket was just as hard to get off as the rust.

The POR 15 was fairly easy to apply but it didn't seem to want to be sanded down to take away the look of where the rust was. Perhaps I needed to use bondo over the POR15 to take out all the little dimples.

ONE BIG OOPS IN THIS JOB WAS GETTING SOME OF THE THE POR15 METAL PREP ON A SMALL PART OF THE PLASTIC ON MY DASH. LOOKS HORRIBLE THERE NOW. HOPEFULLY MY OOPS WILL HELP SOMEONE ELSE OUT.

I do have confidence that rust around the windshield will not come back!

I'll circle around again after the ski season to post images after it's been exposed to the salt out in Utah.

Thank goodness I found this thread - I'm just getting ready to take on the same job.

I have a crack in the windshield that's about a foot long and am assuming there's no way to do a quick fix now and put off the complete job.

Or would a windshield repair product hold well enough to last for a few months? It would really help me out if I could do it right after the holidays.

cacaw said:

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Or would a windshield repair product hold well enough to last for a few months? It would really help me out if I could do it right after the holidays.

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If you drill a stop hole it will get you by. My limited experience is that doing the crack fix sooner rather than later is best so don't delay.

Some info is here (and post #15 too).

https://sprinter-source.com/forum/showthread.php?p=505222#post505222

vic

Thanks Vic. It looks like the crack started where the rusty windshield frame is pressing against the glass, so I hope I can do the whole job pretty soon.

I'm not clear on how the windshield drainage system works. Is it obvious once the windshield is removed? I don't want to accidentally block any of the drainage channels.

Koert

cacaw said:

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I'm not clear on how the windshield drainage system works. Is it obvious once the windshield is removed? I don't want to accidentally block any of the drainage channels.

Koert

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To my knowledge the only drainage is where the fancy strip doesn't fit closely around the lower corners, and a couple intentional molded in drains in the general area of the windshield wiper shafts.

I'm not particularly impressed by the design. It takes very little muck to plug the drainage.

On my 2004 I scraped the rust and painted followed by sealant all around and an overlay of Eternabond tape at the bottom. The water sheds over everything. 2004 cured.

The 2006 looks pretty much rust free. I couldn't figure anything really great for that. Given the angles and the design I can't keep the water out. I used some short pieces of string trimmer plastic string in spots to push under the fancy trim along the windshield bottom. That helps to provide extra drainage. (My theory is always that if you can't keep the water out at least give it a chance to dry.)

I now use the WD40 red straw to periodically spray into the lower fancy trim channel. I figure it will help to hold rust at bay. Will it soften the windshield bedding sealant? I'm pretty certain that it won't.

vic

The windshield urethane is quite durable, I doubt silicone of any kind of poses a problem.

On my van I have gotten into the habit of blowing a bit of compressed air under the seal occasionally. Sometimes when its wet/raining. The first few times you would be amazed at the amount of crap that gets blown out.

Above the windshield crap can accumulate between the glass and body on top of the adhesive, so it may be a good idea to flush that out once in a while.

Or cover that seam with calk like my mechanic did after a new windshield was put on:

-Randy

Aqua Puttana said:

To my knowledge the only drainage is where the fancy strip doesn't fit closely around the lower corners, and a couple intentional molded in drains in the general area of the windshield wiper shafts.

I'm not particularly impressed by the design. It takes very little muck to plug the drainage.....I now use the WD40 red straw to periodically spray into the lower fancy trim channel. I figure it will help to hold rust at bay. Will it soften the windshield bedding sealant? I'm pretty certain that it won't.

vic

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Good idea Vic. There are rust prevention coating sprays available (BoeShield is one) that might work even better because they leave a tenacious oily or waxy coating. I am hesitant to trim or leave off that dumb weather strip so was thinking of this as an alternative. Pain in the butt to apply... but can't hurt, might help!

Well done on the detailed writeup Doug!

Starting on this now but thankfully being in the desert and van being covered in vinyl wrap 15 years the rust is very minimal. Still very tempted to pull the windshield to make sure it is done right.

*Lots of very helpful Questions and Answers also found on the Amazon Product Page here: https://www.amazon.com/ask/questions/asin/B00J594B5C/ref=ask_ql_qlh_hza

How hard is the windshield to remove? and once I remove it can I set it in place again to drive 2 blocks to get the windshield replaced with a new one?

I have a bullet hole in mine and this seems like the time to do the rust repair. Ordered the new gasket already and have done extensive work with POR15, my only concern is that it has to dry for a day, without a windshield on, before I can take it to the shop.

Anyone remove the windshield themselves?

The windshield is bonded in. Sikwan had a thread where he removes and replaces his windshield. It's in the write up section.

So when you guys use POR-15 and there is stuff outside the window seal that is exposed to UV light, What do you guys use to protect it? Can you just use a clear coat or does it have to be an actual paint?

Clear is fine as long as its uv rated.