Has anyone successfully removed their windshield finishers (the notoriously leaky gaskets that surround the chrome trim) and replaced with only windshield sealant?

I spoke to a paint shop that used to handle jag repaint work in the 80's and he mentioned that's what they did.

My thoughts are to remove the gaskets and fill to the brim with sealant. I've read some posts regarding this, but wanted to hear any first hand knowledge on the functionality and aesthetics of doing so.

 

I've never seen it but I'll wager it's been done in the past. No reason it couldn't work from a functional aspect. Cosmetics might be a different story

What I've always meant to investigate, but always forget, is a 'finishing' strip/moulding from some other of car that would fill the bill. Something looking decent but eliminating the poor (and needlessly complex) multi-piece Jaguar design

Cheers
DD

 

I might add that the Jaguar pieces were never intended as 'gaskets'. Keeping water out of the car, and holding the glass in, was accomplished entirely by the urethane (or whatever Jaguar calls it) adhesive. The rubber pieces were simply to close out the glass-to-body gap and hold the bright trim in place....and to hold water so the corners of the sheet metal would rust thru

cheers
DD

 

Did that to mine looks works great

 

That does look nice.

1. Did you do both the outside and inside finisher? For the inside, did you remove the entire gasket or just razor the top off??
2. Any overall tips?!!?

 

Yeah I had the windscreens out for channel repair. I cleaned the pinch weld with alcohol, applied a bead of sealant to it and laid in the glass.
I had determined where to place it so that it was centered and the gap was the same all around. Sat the glass on some wood "feet" I made that would be buried in the final application of sealer. They held the glass up and centered. The sealer was 3 M 8088 or a number close to that ...(get 2 tubes) Once the glass sealant was set up (10 minutes or so), I filled the entire channel to the brim, one shot. NOTE Have the stainless ready,..all old sealant removed, stainless NOT bent ...it must lay flat on the glass. As soon as the channel has been filled with sealant,.. level it off using Mineral spirits on a rag...just dampen the rag and use it to gently wipe away the excess sealant. Quickly take the stainless and sink it into the sealant before it sets up - right away ! Gently wipe the excess away USE ONLY smooth long strokes no back and forth action, think of it as feathering.. Get it to where the sealer is one identical thickness all around.
You will need many clean rags and at least i qt of mineral spirits (Home Depot 8 bucks ) Be gentle but quick you have only about 20 minutes before it all sets up. It was 65 degrees when I started and about 75 when I finally got finished ...it was a race Too much mineral spirits and it will all get mushy.
i did not use any finishers at all inside or outside...just the glass . sealer and the stainless. Got a few unused bags with "finishers' out in garage - would never use them again.

 

I recently replaced my windscreen and refitted the rubber finishers in a shallow bed of w/s sealant to form a decent seal. The benefit of retaining the finishers, as opposed to replacing with a full bead of sealant, is a neater finish that looks original. That's what I'd recommend doing if your finishers are in good condition.

The glass of course is sealed in the cavity with urethane as Doug mentioned, but that doesn't prevent water getting trapped between the glass and the trim, eventually causing rust at the lower cavity edges. So it's definitely worth sealing the around trim. Exactly same procedure for the rear screen.

 

Sorry I forgot to mention there was an interior gasket that grasped the pinch weld and the glass laid on the gasket which had the sealant applied to it. Hope that is not confusing. I re read your post and realized you did not have the glass completely out as I had.
I do not know how effectively you would be able to seal the glass without removing the stainless.

I would want to get to the point where the stainless was out as well ,.. in that case I would just yank the glass at the same time and start from there ...pinchweld with gasket and sealant then lay the glass back in. and apply sealant as in first post

 

If you saw my car up close and no one told you, you would never notice the finishers were not there.
Takes a bit of skill and patience to get a uniform bead all around.
Another benefit - no shrinking plastic finishers pulling away at the corners that is where the water problem starts,, at the corners.

 

I think I'm going to have to a bit of investigation. I know I can get the outside finisher removed fairly easily, but I think the inside is a little more involved (i.e. I'll need to take out the stainless trim).

 

I think the problem will be the stainless as it is buried in the sealant. While you can remove the outside plastic finisher rather easily, and not too much of a problem getting the inside one removed as well. Getting the stainless out will require removing the glass. Not really a big deal.
When I pulled the glass on mine, I used an old serrated steak knife and carefully inserted the knife through the factory sealant (what there was of it) between the stainless and the body, and "sawed " along the top and down the sides of the glass very carefully making an effort not to touch/scratch the stainless..
The top of the glass can then be tilted away from the body (glass , stainless and whatever old sealant still adhering to the glass will free itself from the car body) then the bottom bead of factory sealant will come loose. There was very little sealant at the bottom of both front and back glass along the bottom channels on my car, ..poor factory practices - skimping on vital weather proofing methods/materials, that eventually causes rusting in these channels....
To remove the stainless from the old sealant, you will have to pull the glass and the very carefully separate the stainless from it.
Then remove all traces of the old sealant from the glass and channel.
After the repairs to the channel were made ,..I used POR 15 to paint the channels...never to rust again.

 

To the job you initially described shouldn't require removal of the stainless trim, therefore neither should the glass need to be disturbed. Both the finishers should pull out without too much trouble. Then leave everything else in situ and apply whatever replacement method you decide on for the finishers i.e. either replace with sealant, or seal in the finishers if they come out in good condition. If you really want to remove the glass for another reason, then above all be extremely careful with the stainless trim - they are fragile and easily bent, and replacements are not easy to find.