VW Beetle Repair
and Photos

A little tricky, but I'd never done one before. I bought the windshield and a one piece Cal look rubber kit from So Cal. The shipping on the windshield was more than the windshild. This is an item you should try to buy locally, or wait for a bug show in your area.

Tools: sharp knife, soapy water, 14 or 16 gauge insulated wire, paper towels and rags, friends

Note: I got a good note from Randy who writes that silicon spray is a bad thing to use when installing a windshield. Silicon never dries out, and as a result it is possible that in a crash the windshield could pop out (that's a bad thing). This sounds possible to me, and Randy is a professional autoglass installer. So, use soapy water to lube the gasket. I've used soapy water on other rubber installations (especially bicycle handgrips) and it works great.

Overview:

1. Cut old rubber on the inside to remove inside lip. Gently loosen rubber from metal body and lift glass and rubber out
2. Install new gasket on window. This is tedious.
3. Clean the mating surface of the car so the gasket will not leak.
4. Make the gasket and metal of the car slippery with soapy water (don't use silicon).
5. Run a strong insulated wire in the rubber where it will go over the metal of the car
6. Lay the windshield in the hole.
7. Starting at the top, pull the inner lip of the gasket over the flange on the car with the wire.
8. If things aren't working, ease the windshield out, and repeat steps 5 through 7.

Starting off, you cut the old rubber on the inside. It is impossible to remove the old rubber intact without breaking the glass. If you cut the lip off the inside of the rubber, then you can very, very, gently pry all the way around the rubber until it comes loose from the body. It will be stuck. Of course, friends to help you ease the glass out really help. It takes at least two people on the windshield for installation. I used silicon to make the rubber gasket slippery, but that was a mistake. Soapy water works just as well, but you don't have to worry about the windshield poping out later (this is a problem with silicon). Remember, when removing or installing the windshield, if you bend the windshield it WILL crack.

I haven't installed rear glass. I removed a rear side window, and put in a hinged pop out window that I bought used at a VW car show. It is probably the same process as with the windshield. I did make a concerted effort on the rear side window to remove it without cutting the gasket. Not possible.

This is really a two or three person job. It was a real pain to just get the gasket onto the windshield. It's one of those operations that takes 30 minutes with your finger tips.

I used some 14 gauge insulated multistrand wire to install the windshield in the car. You run the wire (or cord or whatever - something that won't snap if you pull real hard on it) in the gasket gap that fits inside the car. Clean the body work of the car very carefully. I used rubbing alcohol, and dried it very well. Lightly lube the car with soapy water. You and a helper put the windshield in place. You crawl up on the hood, and press from the outside, while your helper pulls the inner lip into the car with that wire. You can see the outer gasket kind of suck into the windshield seat. If the gasket doesn't suck in, and if the lip isn't well over the inner flange, you either need to adjust the windshield, or quit and start over. I had to both push in (towards the rear of the car) and lift the windshield. We started at the top, and the bottom had the tendency to push out. At one point I was using both knees and both hands to firmly yet gently hold the $#*&%* thing in place. It's kind of nerve wracking. Once things are going well it takes only a minute or two to pull the wire in and seat the whole thing. Viola! Mine doesn't leak, and I've had no problems.

The inside lip on the rubber gasket was smaller than stock. It didn't cover that metal clip stuff that holds in the headliner. When So Cal sold me that Cal look rubber they didn't mention this. I don't know if all the Cal look rubber doesn't cover the inner lip, or just what So Cal sells. I'm taking out my headliner, and not replacing it with the stock item, so I didn't care. This would have been a real show stopper for some people. If you want those headliner clips covered, ask when you buy your gaskets.

Kids in the car after the windshield has been removed. The red area is where the old gasket (my car's original color was red). Clean this area very carefully. I used water, then rubbing alcohol.

Click to for a larger view. The metal tab strip is trim retainer. The gasket from SoCal didn't completely cover this trim retainer on the inside. It was very noticable where the trim retainer holds the headliner in at the top of the windshield.