The above photo was taken in May and it clearly shows the windscreen frame attached to the pillars and installed on the car. Since then I had ordered a set of corner joints, 2 sets of screws and painted the pillars car colour. So far so good. I then fit the corner joints and of course they don't fit. I can't use the old ones because they are rotten and liable to brake if you so much as look at them. I am lucky that in amongst a pile of screws that I have I am able to ascertain that the thread is UNF 6-40 and that I can buy some taps for very little money to enable me to make some new brackets. I am unlucky because of all the metal scraps I have kicking around the only thing that is the correct thickness is a piece of angle iron which needs cutting into strips before I can begin.
I make loads of these damn things and it takes hours. Eventually I make progress.
I put it together and trial fit it on the car and all is good so I start to fit the screen. This is a nightmare, I just can't get the U channel with the rubber onto the grass.
Eventually I give up and go and look on the internet for guidance from those learned people who have done it before. I discover that it is a hard job and this makes me feel better. I also discover that there are different thicknesses of rubber and glass, for crying out loud even the fact that I have had the channels re-chromed is a factor. So I decide that I will bodge it and just put the rubber on one side of the glass and if necessary use some silicon sealant. I am not worried about this as I am using a second hand screen which has a crack so I don't mind if the glass breaks in a few weeks time as it needs replacing already. I go back and just throw it together with the rubber on one side but of course what happens is that the rubber seats itself correctly, would you believe it.
So I feel a little chuffed that it has all come together after being so cheesed off with it but this nice feeling only lasts as long as it takes me to fit the screen on the car. It doesn't fit in despite the fact that it fitted perfectly last time I tried. During the process of ramming the damn thing into the pillar brackets the glass cracked again, and again. Oh well.
In many ways I am not bothered at all because I knew this was going to happen which is why I was fitting a cracked screen in the first place. Well that and the fact that I am out of cash and I want to get the car on the road so I am happy to forget about the cost of a screen at this stage. However, what does bother me is that now I have tried the screen it is really clear that the bottom pins on the pillars are too far apart and this can only be solved by filing down the newly chromed channels and making yet more corner pieces. In other words this item needs a lot more time and attention given to it and I don't want to do that now. It feels like a task for the half term holiday.
I'll end on a good note. I arranged for the insurance to be upgraded from the current status of 'laid up' to full road use. Surprisingly the cost was really rather good value at £58. I had got the quote via email last week so called to see what the cost would be to have my wife added only to discover that I had already added her to it. Having bought it I received the details in an email and discovered that the policy also included RAC breakdown cover and I was expecting to pay £50 for that alone, total bonus. Well done Hagarty Insurance.
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