Ok, where on earth can you find a windshield? Safelite was no help.

 

a. safelite sucks

b. when i bought one for peepers, i called around, and you need to ask two questions, the first is how much, the second was do you have it. the prices were all over the map, but a lot of places didn't have the glass.

 

Black Dragon has them for about $150

 

I would google for local auto glass companies in your area and see what you can come up with. Safelite is too big and impersonal and generally too expensive too.

In addition to black dragon you can also get them from RockAuto. Under $200 even after shipping (at least last time I checked). Granted you still have to get someone to install it, or buy the glue and do it yourself.

One word of warning, make sure whoever is going to install it has done an FB windshield before. The bead of urethane needed to hold it in place is thinner than what most new cars need. If they put the glue on too thick the windshield trim won't fit worth a damn. Unfortunately I'm speaking from experience...

 

Dude, I have never installed a windshield in my life but at this point I'm going to have to try it myself. I have all the stuff from Black Dragon but I don't remember exactly how it goes back on.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

I've actually never installed a windshield before either, but I have done the windshield trim a bunch of times (I remove it when I repaint my cars) and I've also removed and re installed the quarter windows on a few, and it's the same glue.

I'll have to dig through my phone pics, but I took some up close shots of the various windshield clips and such to show how it all goes back together since this question has come up before. I'll see what I come up with.

My comment about the windshield glue bead was something I learned from a real knowledgeable glass installer that did the windshield on my fist rx7 back in like 2003. He had done dozens of them back in the 90's when these cars were more common and gave me a step by step on how to do it since he could tell I was interested in learning. But basically, the adhesive they used on FB's isn't the same as what's used now, and was applied about half as thick (3mm or so) while the urethane that holds modern glass in is closer to 5 or 6 mm thick. He applied the glue just like he would on a modern car, but then used a paint stick to carefully remove some extra so it would sit correctly.

Fast forward a few years and I needed a windshield installed in my other FB, that guy had left the company and the hack they sent out wasn't aware of how to do the job correctly (seems common, I've talked to other members on here who have had similar issues). He wasn't interested in some "kid" telling him how to do his job, made a mess of it, and to this day the trim doesn't fit right since the glass sits up to high. I'm tempted to buy the special tools and just redo it. Especially since the glass isn't all that expensive (the old one will most likely break on removal, I'm not that gentle haha)

 

Pics of the clips would be huge help because I didn't take pictures when I removed the windshield. I don't see anyway I could have removed it without destroying it.

 

I agree, it's near impossible to get the windshield out without breaking it. I've tried on a few parts cars and was always unsuccessful.

Anyway, heres a few pics of the clips used for the bottom and top pieces of trim. The clips for the left/right side pieces can only go on one way and should be self explanatory. Basically you just pop the clip onto those metal pins on the body the way my pic shows, snap off that little "leg" and then pop the trim over it. The 3rd pic shows the lip on the trim piece and where it has to go under on the clip. The pics are all of the bottom piece of trim, but it's the same process for the top piece.

The order in which you should reinstall is - bottom piece, 2 side pieces, top piece (the top is 3 pieces, but I find it easiest to slide them together then install on the car, rather than try to do one piece at a time, it's very fiddly) Oh and if you removed the rain channels above the door, those should go on before the top trim piece, since the top piece slides over those rain gutters...

Best thing to do would be a "dry run" without clips so that you can see how it's all going to fit. The bottom and top usually pop into the clips with little drama, the sides can be a bit tighter, basically hook the door side of the trim first, then rotate it down toward the glass and push it over the other half of the clip.

Clips are available from Black Dragon, and should be from most glass shops, since it was a fairly common clip type back in the day. Can't hurt to buy some extra in case you break one.

Hope that helps.

 

Oh and this is the car I mentioned above where the glue bead is too thick and the glass sits too high. You can see in the second pic that the clip won't even fully seat on that metal pin. After taking these pics (a few months ago) I was unable to get it to all sit correctly and put the trim aside. This particular glass is badly pitted since I didn't protect it properly when doing all that rust repair. I'm planning to buy a windshield from Rock Auto sometime in the next few months and just changing it myself. Should be fun...

 

I dread my next windshield replacement - - last glass guy did such a hack job that I'm unsure how I'll get the trim back off without destroying it.

Getting kind of sand-pitted at this point, as all windshields do out here given time.

 

Mines the same way. I wonder if the pits and scratches can be polished out instead?
Or would that just be different set of problems equally as bad as replacement.

 

Damn, it's a shame so many of us have had problems with the glass being installed wrong...

 

I'd think it would be hard to maintain "optical flatness" while doing so, but I've never researched it.

 

Yes those pics help a lot. I have all the hardware from Black dragon but I have to admit, I'm nervous about it.

 

Mine is pretty pitted also but I'm going to live with it because I don't think I could find a replacement that has the original factory "gold" tint that mine has (even if I could find someone that knows how to replace it correctly!)

 

IIRC the FSM ( Foxed.ca - Mazda RX-7 Manuals look in the 1980 it is much clearer) has pretty detailed steps on how to install the windshield. It details were to place the seal dam and how to cut the nozzle for the proper size and shape. blackdragon has the seal dam and spacers also.
You should use two people with some big suction cup handles and do a dry run and mark with masking tape to get it centered.
I have never broken a windshield when removing it. Use a peice of mig wire and two wooden dowels to cut the sealant.

 

lol! i bought the things the window is supposed to sit on, told the guy the window sits on these, and its STILL in wrong

the window actually sits on these little spacer things 8871-63-911 on the bottom, and 0839-70-449 on top. its a little wedge, with a lip, it sits in the cowl, and window sits on the lip, its super simple.

on a factory windshield the bead of glue (silicon is for fish tanks), is small, so the clips can all be removed and installed separately.

 

I needed a new windshield in my car and had it at the shop to replace the windshield that the company ordered and it was the wrong size! Mazda did a mid year change on windshield size in 1983, the earlier cars came with a shorter windshield I think the dimension is 54' wide x25 1/2" tall at the center of the windshield. the "newer" cars are an inch taller in the center dimension.
so as a warning to anyone needing a windshield have them check for the proper size.

 

quick up date on the windshield. they no longer make either the large or small windshield. They now only make one that is a happy medium. It will fit 79-83.5 cars just fine I had mine installed on Thursday. and of course its from China.

 

Still no luck on finding a windshield. The black Dragon one is tinted green. Why on earth would they tint it green? It's not even legal.

I looked at Rock Auto and couldn't find one. I'm resigned to the fact that I will have to install it myself but I need to find one first.

This has stopped me dead in my tracks.

 

Windshield? Replaced mine by calling around. Eventually found a hole in the wall place, had a rusted out chevy imnpala body out front, it was a stones' throw from the projects. He did a great job on the windshield. The dude was a little rude.

This guy rebuilt low riders from sheet metal. He wasn't some pecker head that thought if it wasn't in his one company catalog, it didn't exist. If you are still having trouble, drop me a line.

5 years later, it leaked. I used plasticoat, that stuff they spray on boats with screen door bottoms in the commercials. Problem solved!

 

I think the green tint refers to the strip along the top of the glass doesnt it? One of mine has that, just a UV shade so to speak.

What year are you looking at on Rockauto, I just did a quick search on an 84 SE and the windshield is listed there under "body-exterior"

 

every window has a tint to it, if you go hold a piece of white paper on one side you can tell. its really subtle. most glass is green.

the late 85 GSL-SE's had bronze tint

 

What about the clips that hold the A pillar trim? Are they available? I broke a couple in the course of removing the trim.

 

I think blackdragon or mazdatrix will have them.