Jump to content
Ultimate Subaru Message Board

Remove gen 1 brat windshield


Recommended Posts

I found a new friend with a tube bender and technical knowledge of building rollcages so I was thinking of putting a rollcage in my 78 brat off road project.However, one thing that is scaring me is the thought of removing the windshield and the rear window to get to all the various weld joints.Despite many attempts I have yet to remove an original windshield from any car without cracking it.One of the major downsides to my brat is the fact that body parts like glass and seals are virtually impossible to find anymore, so one little slip up and I wont have a windshield anymore. So I am looking for advice on how to remove the windshield and rear window with the greatest chance of success.

 

Also rather than punching holes through the floor and main structure of the car to weld the tubes together I was thinking it might be easier to just drill out all the spot welds holding the roof skin on, but I am wondering if all of the spotwelds are accessible once the windows are out?I briefly looked at it and it looks like there are roughly a billion little spot welds in the rain gutters,and presumably in the metal lips for the window seals.Any other spot welds in weird locations?

 

thanks in advance.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your best bet to avoid breaking windshields is to cut the rubber out. If the rubber is still soft, you may get lucky and get it out with a LOT of patience. Old, dried out rubber will probably break anyways so just cut the rubber out with a new blade. (I personally use a sharp chisel) I believe you can still get seals thru precision products? I really don't think you want to try drilling out spot welds. There will be a lot of them and also crimped over edges. Most times the complete roof is cut off in the middle of the A/B/C pillars to install a roll bar, then welded back on. Since the roll cage is now your structural protection, the roof is just there to keep the mud out.

 

Mark

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...