With our visitors having left for home, I finally got started on the windshield removal today.
First the bench vise was removed and the bench covered with a camping pad. Next the spotlights and outer brackets were removed, along with the inside mirror. I decided the method with the least risk to remove the windshield would be to cut away the entire outside of the gasket.
This was done in two slices. The rear flap of was cut free first, allowing the portion against the glass to be separated and cut off, allowing the windshield to be lifted off the truck without resistance (indicated below).
I started with a single edge razor blade and found this too difficult to control so an Xacto knife was used. It soon became apparent that once a length of seal could be lifted, pulling on the cut portion while slicing the rubber allowed removing long sections somewhat easily (as shown here):
The remaining face of the gasket was stuck pretty tight to the glass in areas where sealer had been applied, so I slimed up a paint stick with Armoral and ran it around the entire gasket to loosen the bond:
The next step was slicing away the rest of the gasket, and cleaning up the mess. I was getting tired and it was getting dark so I decided to wait until tomorrow morning to remove the glass. Here’s how it sits tonight, although I later taped the windshield to the side windows for extra insurance until I get back to it. The gasket hanging down from the top is actually what’s left of the inside seal.
Once the windshield is on the bench I’ll clean up the body cavity and see it anything needs attention. So far so good.