Rear Window Reveal Repair
- Glass Removal -

With your supplies at the ready and provision for protecting your car, you can begin the project.

1. Disconnect the car battery.
2. Beginning with the lower left piece and working counterclockwise, remove the four window reveal trim pieces. If the trim is already loose, gently prying with your fingers and a flat blade should free the pieces. Firmly attached pieces may require a special trim removal tool. The example trim came loose with finger pressure. Special tools were not tried or needed. Use your judgement when approaching your car always being mindful not to harm the glass.
3. The interior rear window frame must be removed to avoid damage while cutting the gasket and cleaning away old gasket material.

From inside the car and using a screwdriver with a flexible shaft, carefully remove the lower screws holding in the cloth-covered, metal frame surrounding the rear window. The lower screws are extremely difficult to remove. Go slowly to avoid stripping the heads and tearing the cloth. A standard shaft screwdriver will work for the upper and side screws.

Unscrew the reading lights. The light fixtures can then be popped backward.

Carefully remove the frame from the car and store in a safe place.

Now would be a good time to recover the frame (if desired), and to replaced your reading lightbulbs.
4. Use masking tape to mark the position of the glass relative to the opening. Cut the tape so that one half remains on the glass and the other on the vinyl. It may also help to measure the space between the glass and the opening at lower left and lower right, upper left and upper right, and at the sides. Write down the measurements and refer to them when replacing the glass.
5. Gently make a hole in the gasket between the rear window and the fiberglass frame. A flexible, sturdy plastic stick or heavy gauge wire are useful for making the hole.

Cut about three feet of the cutting wire in your Window Remove Kit. Thread one end of the wire through the hole. Attach the handles to the wire.
6. Cut the butyl. With one person in the car and another outside of the car, work the wire in a sawing motion around the glass. Take care not to snag the wire on the trim clips. It is highly likely that you will destroy the setting blocks located at the bottom of the glass.
7. Lift out the glass and place it on a soft pad - butyl side up. The suction cups are useful for pulling out the glass that first, critical inch.

Your car is now vulnerable to the elements! Keep a plastic sheet handy to cover the rear window opening in case of rain or, better yet, birds.
8. Remove the butyl from the car. Old butyl material will still be on the frame. The stuff is sticky, gooey, stretchy, and generally a mess to handle. A variety of attacks is needed to remove it.

A metal scraper combined with a heat gun set on "low" work best for removing the bulk of the material. If your butyl is original, you'll find a string inside the goo. Carefully tugging on the string while scraping the underside of the butyl is an effective technique. However, take care that the metal scraper does not gouge the fiberglass. Removal of the paint under the butyl is inevitable. Whether or not to repaint is up to you.

Notice the blanket covering the package shelf and backseat in the picture. The car interior must be protected from falling butyl material.
9. Clean the frame.

While wearing gloves, soak a tough shop rag with 3M Adhesive Cleaner. Wipe up all of the old butyl. The brass bristle brush dipped in cleaner works well for scrubbing stubborn areas. Wear goggles to prevent cleaner and debri from flicking into your eyes. Once all the cleaner has evaporated, use a vacuum to clean up all the debris. Make sure the surface of the frame is clean and smooth to the touch.
10. Remove old butyl from the glass. Place the glass on a pad that has some grip. Use a plastic scraper to scrape the material off the glass. Again, multiple techniques are needed. Try scraping perpendicullar to the gasket as shown. Sometimes a parallel stroke towards the edge of the glass moves sticky spots.

With luck, gently pulling by hand can remove many feet of old butyl.

Never lean on the glass! You can break it!
11. Clean residue off of glass. Using a shop rag soaked in 3M Adhesive cleaner, wipe up the remaining material on the window.

Once the butyl is removed, clean the glass with soap and water.

Ensure that the inside edge where the glass will meet the Windo-Weld is oil and lint free by wiping it down with a rag soaked in alchohol.

Continued. . .

- I N D E X -
1 - Introduction
2 - Supplies
3 - Glass Removal
4 - Hardware Removal and Replacement
5 - Weld, Glass, Trim Installation
The Imperialist