I finally got around to changing my cracked windshield today. For those of you that have installed the sunvisor screws with no thought of screw length, and had no issues, congratulations on your good luck.
Upon my disassembly, I found screw indentations in the rubber gasket at all four bracket locations. I ground down about 1/2 the thread length of all eight screws so that they did not protrude past the frame housing. I was surprised at how long they were. While I was at it, I also ground down the screws holding the lower corner brackets to the frame.
Installation of new glass was not too hard if you pay careful attention to not cross threading any of the screws. But, I would particularly not want to do it again.
Ralph
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Complete MK 3.1 #6890, ordered 1-20-09, delivered 3-5-09, Licensed 10-15-2011, 3 link w/Levy LRCA, 17" FF wheels, 3.73, T-5, T&L 347", carbed, Lexus Indigo pearl with Wimbledon stripe.
There was a recent thread, where a builder made a small bracket that used the groove in the windshield frame, that his visors to mounted to.
Somewhat similar to the Darkwater mirror bracket. Great idea..No fear of those darn screws causing a crack in the glass.
or...lexan windshield....went 30 miles on maiden voyage of my MK 3.1 last May and, sure as hell...a cracked windshield..drivers side, lower corner up to top about 8 inches out from the top drivers side corner......decided i was NOR doing that again and sprung for a lexan windchield.....they ALL seem to have a bit of a minor wave distortion to them but you get beyond that after about the second drive...absolutely love the thing now...and not worreied about how much torque to put on the screws anymore.
why did mine break?...probably because my driveway is dirt and stone and turning into it ( 90 degrees with a hump in the middle) puts a little torque on the frame which the windshield is mounted to.....
on the road for 3 months and have 1,000 miles already...and i live on an island!!!
Just curious, are there any builders out there that have installed the screws, as provided, and not had any windshield issues?
I'm sure there must be, or there would be a large font warning in the assembly manual pointing out this issue. Or, is it a way to sell more windshield glass?
Just curious. Ralph.
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Complete MK 3.1 #6890, ordered 1-20-09, delivered 3-5-09, Licensed 10-15-2011, 3 link w/Levy LRCA, 17" FF wheels, 3.73, T-5, T&L 347", carbed, Lexus Indigo pearl with Wimbledon stripe.
Just curious, are there any builders out there that have installed the screws, as provided, and not had any windshield issues?
I'm sure there must be, or there would be a large font warning in the assembly manual pointing out this issue. Or, is it a way to sell more windshield glass?
Just curious. Ralph.
Sheesh.. I sure hope that's not the reason for not including a warning.
I agree though, there should be some amendment to the visor mounting instructions regarding this issue. I think FFR is just generally very poor, when it comes to instructions... of any type..Thank God for this forum, or half of us would still be looking at a pile of parts..lol
There was a recent thread, where a builder made a small bracket that used the groove in the windshield frame, that his visors to mounted to.
Somewhat similar to the Darkwater mirror bracket. Great idea..No fear of those darn screws causing a crack in the glass.
i used a gauge, a length of wire into the holes for installing my sun visors one side i had to trim the screws the pass. side was room for the screw length
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"Torque is the grunt
that gets us going, and Horsepower
is the force that keeps us moving"
MK3.1 #6945 her name is Buffy
p/u 04/04/09 roller 08/27/09
start-up Pearl Harbor Day 12/07/10
go-cart Memorial Day 2011
body on 11/11/11 Veterans Day
all legal except paint 02/12/12
372w handbuilt
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Mark III complete kit ordered 12/03/2007, received #6351 1/22/2008 Homemade mods: driver footbox extension with deadpedal and dimmer switch, widened passenger footbox, brake reservoir mounting bracket, under trunk storage box, custom dash and dash extension, heater forward box, custom glove box, under dash switch panel, Explorer motor carb conversion, first start 7/10/2010, paint by Performance Automotive 11/20/2010-5/7/2011, Graduated 11/22/2011
How about some details Jeff? What hardware did you use / fab to fit in the channel?
Nice job.
I used some 8-32 stainless steel button head screws with plain nuts. I had to file down the nuts to get them to slide into the track and also shortened the screws some. I had to do the same things to the hardware for the rear view mirror bracket. I'm surprised no one sells something like this.
Jeff
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Mark III complete kit ordered 12/03/2007, received #6351 1/22/2008 Homemade mods: driver footbox extension with deadpedal and dimmer switch, widened passenger footbox, brake reservoir mounting bracket, under trunk storage box, custom dash and dash extension, heater forward box, custom glove box, under dash switch panel, Explorer motor carb conversion, first start 7/10/2010, paint by Performance Automotive 11/20/2010-5/7/2011, Graduated 11/22/2011
Jeff's idea, is the brackets I was thinking of..should work perfect to avoid the trashed windshield.
Better put a patent on those Jeff..
Thanks for the kind words Bill. I saw other posts about cracked windshields and was too paranoid to even try mounting them the normal way. The look isn't for everyone, but I was willing to sacrifice that to prevent breaking the window.
Jeff
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Mark III complete kit ordered 12/03/2007, received #6351 1/22/2008 Homemade mods: driver footbox extension with deadpedal and dimmer switch, widened passenger footbox, brake reservoir mounting bracket, under trunk storage box, custom dash and dash extension, heater forward box, custom glove box, under dash switch panel, Explorer motor carb conversion, first start 7/10/2010, paint by Performance Automotive 11/20/2010-5/7/2011, Graduated 11/22/2011
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#6945
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