Need a windshield - updated 7/21/03
 

Ed, DV or anyone
Picked up a crack in my windshield this weekend.
What windshields fit the Classic and where are the best prices?
Want to get one already in the frame, not even going to try to just replace the glass.
John W.

John, the glass is pretty easy to replace and the cost is much less. All you need to do is remove the 4 screws from each side and the windshield assembly will come out. There are 4 small screws (2 on each side) that hold 2 "L" brackets on the lower windshield channel. Once you remove the bottom channel the glass will slide out. Use the existing rubber around the new one and reassemble. You will want to look and see why the old one cracked. Sometimes you may have a screw extending to far into the frame. One of the easiest ways to crack one is to use it as a hand hold when you get in and out of the car. Finish Line has new windshield glass or complete assemblies that will fit the CR car. 1-888-436-9113
Don

The OEM Cobra windshields fit, and they're available tinted as well. Like you, after the first hassle, preferred glass and frame pre-fitted. Purchased from cobraspares.com, a UK based Co that specializes in OE Cobra parts.

Jack21
Do you have a part number, I see a lot
John

Lemme bounce over there and look it up.

Part number is CWST for tinted glass and frame. Price is in British pounds L 360. Conversion is somewhere between 1.4 and 1.6 to US$. The glass only is L 120.

Go to cobraspares.com and look around. Got the 3 1/2" LeMans gas cap with locking inner filler. 4" bullet style mirrors. Front & rear bumper hoops. Lucas pieces. Etc.

Okay
Thanks a lot guys.
John W.

John,
Just a note here and a question. Why / how did it break? Rock, foreign object, or you simply woke up one morning and it was cracked?

Fella's if you have to bend or pull in the arms more than a 1/6th of an inch to draw the arms up tight use shims! If it's a large gap and we have seen some gaps almost a full 1/4, we will take the arms off the windshield and bend them to fit.

You can also replace the glass, with just a little care, leaving the frame attached to the car. Only takes about 25 minutes. Strongly suggest if you do it this way though, you have two people. It really isn't tough to do!

DV...oh ya-been there done that :(

How not to install a windshield in a Cobra.

Well, I wanted a tinted glass windshield, so I took the original out, sold it, and bought replacement from aforementioned cobraspares. They back these things relly well, buy the way.

What I should have done was take glass and frame to a windshield shop for mounting. This part is not as easy as it looks. But you're right, once the glass is in the frame, it's pretty easy with two people.

Shall I share my stupidity at this point? Friend of mine suggested black RTV instead of the rubber gasket. Couldn't seem to get the frame to tighten up. The RTV doesn't protect the glass all the way around and where glass touches metal, the glass is crack prone. Actually, this was crack #2.

Stupider yet. I was chasing the visor threads with a tap to clean out the RTV, and nicked the glass. And that's where it cracked as soon as the car began being driven and the windshield began normal vibrations. But it passed inspection, so screw it. I should have installed screws into the threaded holes I did not want to fill with RTV.

Now I'm being told almost daily by people who see the car, "Hey, did you know your windshield is cracked?" So I replaced it with a complete new package. And there was enough difference between the old frame, and the new frame that I couldn't just swap the glass in frame. But yes, I added shims behind the arms so as not to stress the glass in the frame.

3 days after I get this done, a construction truck nails me with a rock and leaves me with a nice star crack near the rear view mirror. It, like paint chips, is the cost of driving the car in everyday traffic. Auto stores sell these star crack kits. Or, perhaps I'll just take it to a windshield shop and let them do it.

Update
One of the guys from the Sandwich Factory group (Tri-County Cobras) came by this weekend with a tinted windshield in the frame he found in his attic?? Don't even ask - I have no idea!!!
When we took out the screws we found that the old windshield had been stressed into place. It is about 3/16 wider than the brackets so when they installed it, they pushed the middle out toward the front of the car to make it fit.
In addition, the tops of the brackets are out about 3/8 of a inch.
Finally got the passengers side shimmed and now have to work on the drivers side. Got too hot, quit for the day.

I have a classic roadster ll broken windshield.I got one from vintage wheels fits great and it’s glass