Written by Brent Carter. Submitted to KGCNA Email List:

Measure the height of the Windshield in the center.

1956 - 1966 1/2 Windshields are 17 1/2" high.

1966 1/2 = VIN 146 530 702

1966 1/2 - 1974 Windshields are 17" high.

Yes, you do want the correct one.

Help yourself. Make yourself a workbench. Get a low endtable or sturdy crate/box about 14" x 24". Place a folded packing blanket, big pillow, whatever, that completely covers the top edges, on top of your workbench.

Clean everything!

Clean the Body opening, completely, with polishing compound, including the paintwork a few inches out from the opening. It will never be more convenient than now.

Scrape open any rust bubbles in the Body opening and treat with POR-15 paint, or your own favorite.

Paint those repairs Body color.

Take a

toothbrush and the Trim out onto the lawn. Get the back side scrubbed clean.

Then it will stay in the Seal.

Polish the face of the Trim with Never Dull.

Razor blade

both inside and outside of the Windshield at the edge, to get the old Seal remnants and dirt off.

Polish the entire Windshield inside and out.

As Jim said, shape the Trim to the Windshield.

Without the Seal.

Now the Trim conforms to the shape of the Windshield.

After that is done, take the Trim halves to the Body.

Re-shape the Trim to fit the Body,

trying to work on the outside edge in compromise.

Pay special attention to the corners. If the Trim does not lay directly against the Body in the corners, shape the Trim so that it does. Hold the Trim on the palm of one hand, and with the heel of the other hand, wipe accross the outer edge of the Trim with pressure until the shape is correct.

Lay the Windshield on your workbench so the Pillar sides hang down.

Find the seam in the Seal and orient it to the upper center of the Winshield.

Start at any corner.

Spread open the Seal and slide it onto the Windshield.

Have a helper hold it there.

Go to the diagonal opposite corner and repeat.

Do the last two corners.

Slide the Seal to adjust tension so the tension is even all around.

Then, with one hand above and one below, spread open the Seal and push it onto the Windshield on the straight sections.

With the Windshield and Seal between your belly and hands, wiggle the Seal and pull it toward you. Go all the way around. Seat it completely.

Dan, you wrote T-Trim, so assuming, install it now.

You need no tools.

Position and press one corner into the Seal as you spread open the Trim groove.

Continue gently to the other corner, then finish the straight sections.

Open the Trim groove in the Seal with one thumb, and press the Trim down with the other.

Inch by inch. Take your time.

Install your two joining clips now!

Then install the other Trim half the same way as the first.

Early C-Trims are best installed after the Windshield is in the Body.

Choose your installation rope carefully.

1/8" diameter nylon works well.

Smaller rope tends to cut the Seal Lip during the installation.

Thicker rope makes getting the inner Seal Lip over the metal seam in the Body more difficult.

Start installing the rope in the middle of a Pillar.

Tape one end of the installation rope to the inside of the Windshield near the Seal.

With a popsicle stick or similar tool, press the rope into the Seal all the way around.

Install along the lower edge, up the other Pillar, across the upper edge, down past the Pillar you started at, back across the lower edge, and half-way up the second Pillar again.

Cut the rope and tape the loose end down to the inside the Windshield.

Yes, you want two layers of rope overlapping on the lower edge.

Tension the rope as you press it into the Seal, and it will stay in place with just the ends taped to the Windshield.

Call a local automotive paint supply store and ask if they have mastic sealing cord for Windshield Gaskets.

Can't remember the trade name just now.

It is used

for domestic mini-vans, and comes in a flat roll in varying cross section sizes. It is usually black, sticky, and inexpensive - less than $10.

Imagine dried rubber cement, rolled between your palms into a 50' long string 1/8" in diameter.

Cut two 1' long

sections of this and install one into each lower corner of the Body opening, right against the metal seam.

It is tricky.

Spray both of your hands with glass cleaner before handling the mastic cord, or it will stick to you like a leach.

Hold the 1' section of mastic cord by both ends, and lower the drooping center into the middle of the corner of the Body opening. 6" goes up the Windshield Pillar, 6" goes toward the center of the Body.

Repray your hands, and press the mastic cord down onto the Body with your fingertip.

Repeat for the other lower corner.

This is a sure-fire way to make a leak-proof installation.

Keep water out of your KARMANN!

Did i mention this was going to take a long time?

Before attempting installation, remove the Rear View Mirror and both Sun Visors.

Spray Glass cleaner all around the Body opening and all over the outide of the Seal.

It is important, working as a lubricant.

With a helper, set the assembly into the Body opening.

Position the inner Lip of the Seal (lower edge) over the metal seam in the Body, and center the assembly side-to-side.

Wiggle it gently into the Body opening.

Center it side-to-side.

The technique of your helper is all important. Your helper must apply just enough pressure to the assembly -with flat palms - to keep the inner Lip of the Seal over metal seam in the Body, but without applying so much pressure that it is diffucult to pull the rope.

Your

helper must follow just behind your progress, applying just enough pressure to work the Seal into the Body opening.

If you are tearing the Seal with the rope, your helper is applying too much pressure.

If the inner Lip of the Seal is slipping back over the metal seam in the Body, your helper is not applying enough pressure.

Make small circles

with the rope as you pull the the inner Lip of the Seal over metal seam in the Body.

After you get the lower edge done, and start up the first Pillar, you need to push the assembly downward into the Body opening.

This is important.

If the assembly is not pushed down into the Body opening, the possibility of cracking the Windhield is greatly increased as you pass the top corner.

Push the assembly down into the Body opening by pressing down at the upper edge with one hand, and gently slapping the Windshield with the palm of your other hand, using a downward motion. Your helper should press down on the upper edge on her/his side as you slap down.

You will see it move.

Get it pushed down all across the lower edge.

Then continue with the rope, up the Pillar, around the the corner and across the upper edge.

Keep spraying glass cleaner as you work.

Be extra careful with the rope as you pass the seam of the Seal at the center of the upper edge.

After you have the entire the inner Lip of the Seal over metal seam in the Body, it is time to seat the Seal. You are almost there!

Press and slap the Windshield gently, and you will see the assembly move into the Body opening. Go gently now. Don't hit it hard, just enough to move it.

If the outside Lip of the Seal has fallen into the Body opening, don't freak out, just get a dental explorer or some sort of hook and pull it back up.

Now you know why many KARMANN Ghias have cal-look rubber, dont'cha!