Strategy #2 total Restoration – BJ8 Windscreen

In this strategy steps (a) through (e) from the previous article (Strategy #1) must be
completed first. You may also complete step (f) but the separation of the windscreen from the side pillars can also be completed after the removal of the intact windsreen/pillars assembly from the car.

To pursue the total restoration of the windscreen the steps below are followed:

a. Remove the door draft excluder, aka Bristleflex from the front edge of the door jamb. It is only necessary to strip the Bristlefles down to the inner sill/door shut face. Bristleflex is available from SC Parts Group, Moss Motors, and several other parts dealers. (Please, see the list of Parts and Service Providers in the previous article.)
b. Carefully loosen the glued edge of the upholstery kick panel from the doorjamb using rubber cement solvent. If a mild rubber cement solvent is used and the kick panels are not damaged they may be reused and re-glued during the re-installation process. If the kick panels are old they may disintegrate during the solvent treatment. I found Heritage Upholstery and Trim in Vancouver, B.C. has well made replacements.

c. Open the car door and locate the pillar mounting plate at the bottom of the pillar. There are four bolts in this plate located near the hinge in the doorjamb. The bolt heads are in the doorjamb space near the hinges. The nuts and washers are inside the cockpit behind the recently removed kick panels. Remove the four bolts noting their proper orientation for later re-assembly. You will note there are two aluminum panels between the pillar mounting plates and the car body. These are called “packing plates”. I know they may look cheap and like somebody’s bad idea of a shim but they are essential to the re-installation. Don’t lose them. Note that the bolts are not all the same length and that there is a bracket from the steering column anchored by one of the bolts on the driver’s side.

d. Carefully remove the windscreen from the car. The whole windscreen assembly is heavy and unwieldy. You might want to seek an AHCO volunteer for assistance in this step. Also, take special note of the manner in which the rubber weather seal on the frame bottom is trimmed. The replacement weatherseal will require trimming similarly to look correct and to keep rain or wash water from entering the door area and flooding the floor and carpets.

Chrome plating of car parts requires special preparation. Complex assemblies such as the BJ8 windscreen must be completely disassembled. Electroplating quality can be defeated if metals of differing electrical characteristics are in direct contact
while in the plating bath. I had heard this in the past but considering the intricacies of the windscreen pillar I decided to confirm my understanding. Scott Hunt of Oregon Plating stated all metal components of the pillars and windscreen must be separated including drilling out rivets in each pillar. Even the small anchoring brackets at the center of the windscreen frame bottom must be removed. Moreover the entire mass of the pillars must be broken down. Each of the pillars consist of four individual pieces:

a. a large, heavy chrome piece which is connected by five rivets to,
b. a stainless steel component that serves as the four bolt pillar mounting plate,
c. an internal steel support piece also riveted to the mounting plate by four rivets, and
d. the small hook for anchoring the convertible top to the top of the windscreen.
These hooks are also riveted to the top of the heavy chromed member of the pillar assembly. The multiple rivets in the windscreen pillars were a concern to me. The concern wasn’t related to rivet removal. I figured I could remove the rivets with a
little judicious work with an electric drill, files, and the occasional blunt instrument.

Good fortune came my way as I contemplated the disassembly of the pillars. Early on in the project when I was exploring the science of chrome plating with Scott Hunt at Oregon Plating Co., removing the rivets seemed easy. However, reassembly of an item whose fit and finish needed to be perfect to allow the exact windscreen alignment seemed rather daunting. I wondered how I could do rivet pounding without ruining the chrome job. Scott had the answer. He merely pointed in the direction of the chrome shop and said, “Let me introduce you to Harold.” That day a rivet expert was in visiting Oregon Plating. So, fortuitously, I met Mr Harold Wallace of Camas, WA. Mr Wallace is one of a disappearing class of craftsmen. Subsequently, Harold removed all of the rivets from my windscreen pillars and then, after the plating process, reconstructed the pillars without a scratch in the new chrome. Harold is a perfectionist. He insisted that the rivet heads be chrome plated. He also polished the stainless steel components of the pillars to a finish nearly indistinguishable from the chrome-plated components.

As I said in my discussion of Strategy #1, I had the re-glazing done by Mr Rick Gugat of R&D Custom Glass. He did a very good job. However, I would consider doing this task myself now that I have been through this project once.Ok, so we are now done with the cleaning and re-glazing and re-chroming and riveting, and the windscreen is ready to be remounted. Now comes the truly nerve wracking part of this whole job, the reinstallation of the windscreen on the car. This is the point where the entire windscreen glass erupts out of the newly chromed frame and ends up all over the bonnet and the garage floor. If you have heard very much about Healey windscreens you will know I speak the truth. It can happen. How do you avoid this?

As in the first paragraph there are two strategies at this stage, as well. You can try lifting and reinserting the entire windscreen as a unit. That is, the windscreen frame and glass can be lifted over the car and lowered into the original location. If you are really lucky the windscreen will simply slip into position straddling the scuttle with the two pillar mounting points lined up and perfectly parallel with the sides of the car and the four bolt holes through the scuttle. Yeah, Right!

The second strategy is the more prudent and the one more likely to succeed without breaking the glass. Install the assembled pillars first. Don’t forget to place the packing plates between the pillar mounting plates and the scuttle. Leave the four bolts on each side finger tight. Before re-mounting the windscreen frame and glass assembly to the pillars, the area at the base of each pillar must be re-sealed. I found DAP ‘33’ white glazing putty worked well. The DAP product has a consistency of modeling clay allowing it to be shaped around the pillar base and to adhere to the underside of the fender, thus forming a watertight seal against rainwater and car washing.

The next step is to re-mount the windscreen to the pillars. Here again an extra pair of hands is recommended. The windscreen must be lowered in place mindful of the rubber weather seal. It can be easily dislodged, especially at the ends. It must lie properly across the scuttle surface. Attaching the windscreen frame and glass to the pillars can be challenging. Having left the pillar bolts loose will help in aligning the pillars with the frame side members. A trick I found helpful at this juncture was to use bolts approximately 1/4” longer than the original bolts to aid in aligning the frame and pillars into the proper position. The metal of the frame sides is heavy and the bolt holes in the backside of these sections are shallow and the threads are difficult to engage. A little extra bolt length can help by assisting in engaging the threads and drawing the frame into proper position. Once all is correctly in line one can then replace the longer bolts with the correct length chrome headed bolts. There is a total of eight frame to pillar bolts for the assembly. Again, allow a little play in the bolts before the final tightening.

At this point the job is nearly complete. Gently begin to snug up all of the bolts and screws. As you do this be mindful of the strain and torque the tightening process may be placing on the glass. This is especially true if the pillar mounting plates did not align perfectly parallel with the scuttle sides. I found it best to tighten each bolt a little, move on to other bolts and return to the first bolts for a final wrenching. You may also want to erect the convertible top to check how it fits to the top of the windscreen.

Finally, replace the center bolt at the base of the windscreen and snug it up too. Then reinstall the scuttle top liner. Remember to be careful of the little demister nubbies on the underside of the liner. Then must engage the several small holes in the metal of the scuttle.

Now go get the Windex and several sheets of newspaper. Crumpled up newspaper makes an excellent material for wiping off Windex and glass cleaning. Then sit down in the drivers seat, fire that Healey up and go for a drive. How long has it been since you have been able to see the road ahead that clearly? Scary is it?