How To Install A Car Windshield & Van Windscreen Repair

Installing a windshield? Are you looking for instructions or help on how to install a windscreen in your car or how to install a windshield into your van? Look below for some tips and advice on installing a windshield or windscreen into your car, van or truck it is not as easy as most people think! I just had a new windshield put in my car. Last summer a big stone had a disagreement with the windshield and now cracks were starting to spread across my field of vision. Not only were the cracks annoying, they can be downright dangerous.

The sun hits the cracks and blinds everyone inside, so it was time for a change.

I called up a long time friend who has been in the glass business for many years to install the windshield. Decades ago, most car windshields were set into rubber mouldings that slipped over a metal frame on the vehicle's body. Slide the rubber into place on the body, squirt in a little rubber lubricant, place a strong cord or string inside the rubber channel, and while one person pushed, another would pull the cord out, forcing the rubber over the edge of the windscreen. Anyone working on antique automobiles still goes through this process.

Some of the newer vehicles used butyl rubber tape to seal the windshield. Butyl did a good job of sealing, but installing the glass was a little trickier. The old windshield was "cut out" using sharp knife blades and saws to cut through the butyl. Then all the remaining butyl in the car's frame was cleaned out with a scraper and a new strip of butyl was rolled into place on the frame. Rubber blocks at the base of the wind shield positioned the wind shield and the new windscreen was set in place. Set it in the wrong place and the butyl stuck to the wind shield firmly. Then we had to try to lift it off again, install new butyl and try again. Making a mistake wasted time, so we were careful setting them in place. Finally, the mouldings were reinstalled around the windshield, as these were what really kept the windscreen in place.

My cars windshield is typical of what we find on all modern cars, trucks and vans. Instead of soft butyl rubber to seal the windshield, now a Urethane adhesive is used to bond the windshield to the body of the vehicle. Glass has now be