This work guide details the removal and replacement of the front and rear windscreens. I am not preserving the rubber in this guide.

Before removing windscreens you'll need to remove the "accessories", i.e. the wiper arms.

I've found the easiest way to remove the wiper arms is to lever them up with a screwdriver, here I am using a hammer to give the screwdriver better leverage (also saves on scratching the paint).

The wiper arm is simply a push on fit so should slide off directly, if it is seized then try some wd40 or similar.

I tried a few ideas when removing the windscreen, the first of which was to get the chrome out first (forget that). I was going to try to preserve the rubber and show how to remove a windscreen and rubber intact but I was doing this job on my own and the rubber was stufffed anyway.

As you can see the rubber on the inside of the windscreen is a lip that can be easily lifted and cut away.

Here I am showing how the rubber was cut away as much as possible.

A sharp bladed stanley knife, craft knife, scalpel or similar will have little trouble chopping through the rubber, just be careful about slipping and cutting yourself.

With the rubber cut away on the inside completely I've thrown some foam onto the bonnet so that I can push the windscreen out and not have toworry about it slipping and smashing on the bonnet.

With the rubber cut away it is relatively easy to push the windscreen out, you may still have to do a little prying and probing to get it to move away from the sealant that was used on it however. I used screwdrivers to lever the windscreen outwards and left them there to hold it as I levered at other points.

Slow and steady wins the race where windscreen removal is concerned, these old original windscreens don't take well to twists or knocks.

I started at the top center and worked my away around to the top corners, once that was free I was able to lever it forward and out she came easily with no danger of breaking.

Here it is removed and laying on the foam I left on the bonnet. You can see that it leaves a hell of a mess behind that will need to be cleaned up before the replacement windscreen goes in.

Here's the bottom corner of the windscreen, you can see where I finished cutting (was too hard to reach the rest). The idea now is to get the chrome out which with the lip removed is now only held by one external layer of rubber.

The old windscreen rubber was so stuffed that I could simply pull it away from the chrome in segments.

This is a final look at the rubber, you can see how the sealant went around the rubber and how the chrome sits in the rubber.

Next we do the rear, this one was far easier for me as the rooflining was being replaced too so I wasn't worried about the knife slipping and cutting the lining. I did the same as the front and cut the inner lip away then pushed the rear windscreen out.

Again I used screwdrivers to lever the window out.

This is a quick look at the rubber before I remove it to clean up the window and remove the chrome.

As with the front the rubber was old and perished, I used a small screwdriver to lever the rubber away from the chrome and it literally disintegrated in many spots.

Here I am just levering the chrome away from the window with a screwdriver, since the rubber was so perished and breaking so easily this was the easiest way to get the chrome out. If your rubber is still in good condition then you would have to be more careful and pull the rubber lip away from the chrome before taking it out.

Here is the front after I scraped off the old sealant around the steel lip.

Here is the rear with the same cleaning up done. Note also that I removed the chrome from below the windscreen on the car, you'll need to do this if you have it as when you put a new seal and window in you will literally get sealant everywhere.

The rear windows will tend to rust at the bottom corners, this car had rusted through completely in small spots at both corners due to water getting trapped and having nowhere to go.

My first step was to clean the old sealant away, then I resealed the windscreen lip with chassis black to help preserve it. This was fairly effective but the chassis black did get torn away by the contact cement used to hold the new roof lining, this was only in the areas where the roof lining was held by the lip though of course.

A better look at the chassis black, I wacked it on pretty thick (a couple of coats) so hopefully it will do its job.

The rear window opening was done as well, I also ended up doing the parcel shelf and the sides of the rear of the car, anywhere where I could see had any sort of surface rust was converted and covered with chassis black (it was all covered over by the roof linings, windscreen seal, shelf covering etc so none remained visible when the car was finished.

I layed the old windscreens out on the grass for cleaning up, if you have an old carpet or similar that would be better as the denizens of my yard liked the taste of me...

First step to cleaning up the old windscreen is completely removing the rubber, here I am showing again how the old rubber was falling to pieces in my hands.

Depending on how good your rubber is you should be able to pull it away fairly easily. Unless it is nearly new however I wouldn't put it back in, better to go buy a new seal and do the job properly.

Once I removed the rubber I was left with a layer of sealant and broken rubber that needed to be removed, to do this I just used a sharp knife and ran it along the windscreen edge.

Here is how the first touch up with the knife went, it'd probably do but I wanted to be sure so I went to more trouble and did it again with the knife.

The second run around with the knife cleaned it up well, this was actually smooth and good enough but if you wanted to go fursther I guess at this stage you could use a chemical clean.

The rear window withthe rubber removed and cleaned up, ready to go back into its new rubber and into the car.

The new rubber were bought from Rare Spares. I've been told that Rare Spares rubbers "don't fit", are "poor quality" etc but in my experience these rubbers went on the windscreen and into the car beautifully. The only issue I had with them was that the moulded lip to hold the chrome wasn't long enough for the lip on the chrome by about an inch or less at both ends, this is mentioned later but I just modified the lip on the chrome and the rubber was perfect.

Serial number etc of the kit, make sure you get the correct one for what window and model you have.

Here is the only issue I had with the Rare Spares rubber. The chrome strip comes with a lip that goes into the rubber and which holds it there. The rubber naturally is made to take that lip. On this rear windscreen rubber the cut that was made for the chrome ended too soon, it looked like it was designed to be there (judging by the groove in the rubber) but the actual cutout ended a good inch further back. To get around it I used the grinder and took an inch off the lip of the chrome, it was simple and quick and there was no more issue.
If you do have issues with a Rare Spares product they do appreciate being told, I contacted rares about this to inform them of the problem even though I wasn't bothered by it, there response is posted in a later image.

You'll need atleast two tubes of windscreen sealant to do the job, three if you really want to put it everywhere.

I'm not sure if this was good sealant to buy as it says "Windscreen sealant is not recommended to bond replacement windscreens". Maybe that is just a general disclaimer though because it has been holding water out so far.

You'll also need a tube gun like this one, you can get them from bunnings and supercheap easily enough.

Before putting the rubber on the windscreen or putting sealant into it, lay it out on the ground and make sure you arw putting it on the right way, these rubbers come with three lips, one for the glass, one for the chrome and one for the lip on the car. They have an edge that is repeatedly grooved however and this is the one that will face outwards and mate with the car.
Here I am showing how I put a decent bead of sealant into the lip that will mate with the glass.

Once you are sure you have the rubber in the right direction you can start putting it onto the windscreen, this shouldn't be too hard. I just pushed it in by hand and then rubbed my thumb up in down as I was going to make sure the glass had bottomed out in the seal.

Another look at the difference in the chrome to the rubber and how the groove in the rubber didn't go far enough. I tried cutting the groove incase it was only sealed at the top but it was a fairly solid piece and wouldn't let the chrome sit properly even when cut.
It contacted Rare Spares anyway and here is the response:
My name is Lance Corby, I am head of the quality department at RSP.
Thank you for your feed back on the HR rear screen seal. After looking at your photo I can see the problem you encountered and I agree with what you say, the groove in the seal should extend out to the corner to allow the trim to sit correctly.
There should be an insert in the corner mould tool during manufacture to ensure the groove continues up to the corner, it must have been left out whilst that seal was made. I will have our staff check our current stock to ensure other customers are not inconvenienced as you have been.
Greg I thank you again for this information, we do appreciate...

The only answer to getting the chrome to fit was to modify its lip, here I am showing how I took about an inch out of either end with the grinder, this took seconds and allowed the chrome to sit properly. Best to use a cutting wheel on this job.

When you first put your chrome segments in that may not appear to line up properly like this, don't panic howver as what you need to remember is that the rubber is not in its proper position yet. When it goes into the car it will push forward slightly and inwards, allowing that chrome to mate up perfectly. You can also force it by hand to do so before putting it into the car.

Here I am showing how I moved the rubber forwards and inwards by hand and the chrome mated up perfectly.

Before putting the windscreen in be sure to check the lip is in the whole way around. I found it best to do the rear window first as its shape is more solid and holds the rubber and chrome far more easily, it made for good practice before the front windscreen.

The rear window is now ready to go back in. You have a few options for sealing it though, my father used to fill all the lips with sealant and then also run sealant completely around the window, smoothening it flat before putting the glass in. This was very effective at stopping leaks but also really messy.

My idea is to use a single large bead of sealant around the lip of the opening for the window. On the rear I left it as a bead and I found that when the rubber went in a lot of selant was forced inwards. I did the same on the front but I smoothened it out with my finger, spreading the sealant out to cover the opening before putting the windscreen in, this seemed to work far better.

There are a few tricks to putting a windscreen in, firstly it is a two person job. You need someone on the outside pushing inwards to help the windscreen seal as it is pulled in. Secondly you need to run a line around the lip of the rubber before you push on the windscreen, this is detailed in the following images.

This rope is like a family heirloom, it has put a great many windscreens into our cars. Any rope will do though, it'll need to be about 5mm in diameter and you want to make sure that there is no chance it will break under the strain.
Here I am showing how I pulled the lip back and pushed the rope in, all the way around the windscreen (starting at the bottom center and ending at the top center).

Here is the rope in place and the windscreen actually ready to go, this is the top of the windscreen facing me. What you do is put the windscreen into the hole and make sure the two ends of the rope are inside the car. Then as the person on the outside puts their weight on the windscreen (where the rope is being pulled) you pullthe rope inwards slowly and this pulls the inner lip of the rubber into the car. The person on the outside follows the rope, putting their weight where the rope is and following it around the windscreen.

Here is the windscreen before I have started pulling the rope in. The very first step is to make sure you have the window pushed in as far as you can get it and that it is sitting flat and central to the hole.

Now I am showing how I am pulling the rope inwards and it is in turn pulling the lip of the seal in. I had my wife help me on this job but I can remember helping my dad when I was only a kid so you don't need a big person outside the car putting their weight on the window...although it does help...
Note too all the sealant coming in, it is always a hell of a job to clean up so if you have a nice interior either remove it or cover it before you start.

When the windscreen goes in you might get sealant squeezed out around the edges. It's best to clean this up straight away before it dries.

An image of the sealant cleaned away.

Serial etc of the front windscreen seal

Always before starting lay your new seal out and make sure you have it orientated correctly. You need to make sure that you are going to put it on correctly or you'll end up having to remove it again.

This image shows the grooves that are on one face of the rubber, these grooves help the rubber grip and seal against the windscreen hole.

Another thing I did before putting everything together was cleaned any dirt and crud out of the chrome, this was to help it sit correctly and not distort the seal.

With the front windscreen I found it easier to first put the chrome into the rubber, that way I knew it was orientated correctly for its installation onto the glass. I couldn't put the rubber on with the chrome already in it of course (I did try however) but it helped to make sure I had everything correctly laid out.

The front windscreen chrome was nothing short of a bastard to put in, it kept pulling the rubber off the glass, it kept pulling out of the rubber, it actually took me 2 hours to get the rubber and chrome onto the windscreen and 10 minutes to install it all into the car...

I used some tie down straps to hold it all in position while I did the other side.

Here it is ready to go, the tie downs are holding the chrome from pullin it all apart, I figure the chrome was in the old window so long that when it was removed I put a slight twist in it which made it want to pull away with the rubber. The tie downs held it until I was ready to put it in anyway.

A decent bead of sealant around the lip of the windscreen hole which I then smeared out with my finger.

Here's the windscreen sitting in the car ready to be pulled inwards, this image is looking down at the passenger side from over the top of the car (I was standing at the top end of the bonnet).

Here you can see the rope hanging on the inside, this is looking in from the bonnet. I always:
1) sit the windscreen in the hole at the base
2) then lean it into the car
3) push it into the hole as much as possible making sure it is square and central
4) start pulling the rope from the top middle in segments around the windscreen, keeping it even.
5) hold weight on the windscreen where the rope is being pulled out , following until it is all done.

Here I am just giving an example of holding weight on the windscreen, no I am not a hobbit my foot is bent upwards with the strain I am putting downwards on the bottom of the windscreen.

Finally here it is all done, I left it in the sun and in the shed for a few days before I dared to get it wet, when it did rain not one drop came inside, I am however still to see how it goes in the rain while driving (with the water being forced at it under pressure).