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pulling a windshield

Posted: Tue Oct 11, 2016 11:12 pm
by greg lousy
finally got a five day tag for inspection on the 86 golf.
got a fighting chance at pushing it through, but I'm a little stuck on the windshield, which is cracked . getting a new one and paying to have it swapped would about equal the market value of the car . no luck at nearest junkyards. Found a part out nearby on an 88.
anyone have experience pulling one? any advice? I'm planning on paying for a professional install, I just want to pull the replacement successfully. from what I've seen on line, the fit looks pretty tight on the golf. Thinking about working mostly from the inside and going at the urethane with a razer and little handsaw (about a sawsall blade size).
Pretty sure I'm going ahead with this, just hoping to pick up a little wisdom here

Re: pulling a windshield

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 8:33 am
by surfcam
I believe the pro's use a small sawall tool that has a blade that heats up. If you could rent or borrow one you would be away to the races. There are a few other tools available that can help. A wire saw that didn't work for me and curve knife blades tools. There's always the messy away to go. Hammer and foot.

Re: pulling a windshield

Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2016 1:35 pm
by greg lousy
ha... I'm trying to get the replacement one off... otherwise I'd be a hammer and foot kind of guy, just cause it sounds fun.

renting a tool is a good idea... I'll look into it... otherwise I'll probably try some hack stuff

Re: pulling a windshield

Posted: Thu Oct 13, 2016 4:24 pm
by Fatmobile
I use a razor knife/carpet cutter type tool.
Only it's about a foot long and has duct tape on the corners near the blade so it doesn't scrape/cut the glass,.. like the first one I did, ha.
I got it from the local windshield repair place when my friend worked there.

Re: pulling a windshield

Posted: Fri Oct 14, 2016 12:54 pm
by greg lousy
Yeah, I've seen such knives in my research. I shockingly passed inspection after converting the floor pans to about 80 percent bondo and sheet metal, so the prospect of driving 2 hours for a windshield I may break is less appealing. If i give it a go, I'll report back