I NEED A NEW WINDSHIELD GASKET FOR MY 72 CUTLASS WERE DO I FIND ONE?

 

If your talking about the front or rear windshields they used a bead of adhesive rather than a gasket. Someone else will have to chime in with the size of the bead as I don't remember. Years ago I purchased a 3M product from Supercarsunlimited in Portland Oregon. Clean the steel frame real well, lay in the bead that comes in a roll in a cardboard box, then carefully place the glass on it and press it down. Greg also sold me a tube of 3M product that fit in a calking gun to add where needed and little rubber rectangles to hold the glass up high enough to be centered in the frame. That's what I've done, hopefully others will add to the thread with their experiences. John

 

Best thing to do is have a mobile professional come in, remove the chrome and windshield and then reseal it. Costs a little money but at least the job will be done correctly. Mine cost 80 bucks for the front and rear, I already had them removed for the restoration though. Make sure you don't have any rust under there while it's out. If you want, and you have a friend to help you you could take it out yourself by getting a guitar or piano string with a coulple of blocks of wood to wrap it around for handles and saw through the old seal (you have to get a hole through it first to push the string through to the other side), then pull the window and just pay for the re-installation. Only bad thing about that is you have to remove the chrome yourself and I did a little damage to mine in the process.

 

It is called butyl tape and you can usually buy it at either an auto glass shop or most auto paint stores. I've removed and installed may windshields myself and it really isn't that difficult if you take your time. The biggest problem is being sure that the glass is centered in the opening when you drop it into place.

Note that if you are looking for this "gasket" because you have a water leak, be prepared to find rust at the pinchweld area. This is unfortunately common on the 1960s and 70s GM cars. Leaves and dirt get caught under the chrome trim and retain moisture, which leads to rust.

 

I don't know if he was BSing me or not but the guy that did mine said the butyl tape is not good to use for some reason or other (something to do with safety but I forget what it was.) I had already bought two rolls of it to do mine and he wouldn't use them so they are still setting in the garage if anyone wants them.

 

I'm waiting to put my windshield back in after I put on my vinyl top but getting prepared I stopped by the glass company that had install windshields in three of my other vehicles to get some advice. The bottomline is they were no longer allowed to use the butyle tape/rope as the gasket but use hot urethane. siad it had to be heated since it had a high viscosity.. He sent me to an autobody supply store to buy a couple tubes of Urethane, that is applied with a calking gun. Said to make sure it was high viscosity... Sure enough at the autobody supply store they had caulk size tubes of Urethean, plus sold me some primer to put on the metal before adding the bead of urethane.. He suggested warming it just a little to help pump it out... Haven't gvien it a try but did order a new windshield, tinted, top shaded and antenna, through windshiledstogo.com and pickup at a supply warehouse for $130. Adventrues continue in 2010
Richey

 

you want 3M Window Weld, part number 08606. it comes in a tube to be used in a caulking gun. this is not to be confused with RTV silicone. it's far different stuff

 

Does anyone know how large a bead of urethane to use as the pad to hold the windshield? I am guessing about little finger size??

 

Don't guess Richey
You're guesstimate may be good, but it depends on the size of your little finger too and you don't want to be playing around with taking out the windshield if you are too low in some places. Since you're obviously on good terms with the windshield place it would probably be a good idea to go back and watch them do a windshield and see how much urethane they use. Ask them for a recommendation on how to use it and how much on your car. Also take a look at the channel depth around the windshield and use a ruler to see how deep it sits compared to the windshield.

Richey, one more thing you want to do it you haven't already. Any trim clips that are in bad shape should be replaced B4 you put that bead and windshield in.

 

I installed the windshield with 1/4" x 15' 051135 08610 Windo-Weld butyl rubber "rope". After cleaning and painting the channel in the car body, wrap the rope into it, following the 3M directions. Then pull off the waxed paper and put the alignment blocks in the bottom of the channel. I used the 3M auto body sealer #051135 08500 in the channel and partway up the sides after the windshield was installed. You may find the OEM alignment blocks to be better than the generic ones supplied by 3M in their kit.

This method is relatively easy. A caulking gun with urethane would be a major mess imo for a first-timer. There is no problem with the butyl rope. It works very well. If your replacement windshield is thinner, or your year car is different from my 1966, you may need a different thickness than 1/4".

 

Not sure why the tape is not good to use? I have done several windshields and used both the tape and the tube sealer. Personally, I like the tape because it is not as messy but have had excellent results with both. Either way you can't go wrong.

When I have used the tube sealer, I used suction cups on the glass to hold it while lining it up to go into place. It's hard to use the sealer and wrap your hands around the glass when you put it in place as you will get that messy crap all over yourself.

Make sure you get the rubber blocks to position the glass at the base. You will need two or three of them.

Hope that helps.