1970 s2 0453R Reassembly

[Kendo]

I recently used these guys to get a tint strip for the top of my truck's windshield. I doubt they'd have the pattern for an Europa, but the material looks good. And their install kit was useful.

https://www.precutautotint.com/

[dakazman]

  Thanks Kendo,
   At least now I have a price point to shoot for. our windscreens need at least 26" X 55" to make the entire piece.
 so the 40" can do the entire window and you just have to cut out the center.  At least that is the plan and I'll run it by the tinting shop. Those guys are very talented and can add practically any graphic.  I just want to hide some sins easily and from what I see from a front view, I'll try to hide the defroster vents.  I also see I have to shorten the vent covers and bring the castellated nuts lower.
  BDA, I see from the outside that the field of view would be approximately 16 inches from the outside view. I have sun visors that are ready to install, but from 15 ' away it brings the field down to 10'? gotta sit iside and have a picture taken. I'll install the visors and we'll see .
 I guess its time to make these determinations, at least my crash pad only needs allen screws to loosen pad.
 Dakazman

[BDA]

Looks more and more like a car!!! 

[dakazman]

  BDA ,
  It sure is. I even got in it and just looked slowly around looking for items to add to the to-do list.
Amazingly I just sat there in the seat and smiled.
  Started trimming the windscreen determining the best method of cutting in the corners. I started with the top piece since it had enough length to practice cut and joining the trim to the corners.
At first I just made a square cut. Then decided on a slit method it gave it a smoother aesthetic  look . The bottom trim doesn’t have much to waste after one side is fitted. The two side pieces have a good amount to make some adjustments.
   Went shopping today and also purchased the darkest tint film I could all for $18 . Delivery of the sealant and primer won’t be here for 3 days, Amazon special

[kram350kram]

It appears that the chrome trim hooks around the edge of the windscreen, like the original trim? Is that why you are installing the trim prior to windscreen install ?  I made my trim out of steam bent wood , metal and covered it with chrome wrap. Took weeks to do! I planned to surface mount it with urethane adhesive after the screen is in, but if the correct trim is now available might need to rethink my install .

[dakazman]

Kram, yes it does attach under the windscreen edges . As far a I see possible, you cannot attach trim after laying it down.
   In this manner you should not see any mismatches in the aperture , which I seem to have on the left lower edge.
  I cut trim with a rotary grinder with a cutting wheel , works well but you really have to control it from running away or on the chrome area. At $325 you don’t want to slip up.
  I like the slice method on the corners that I tried it makes it uniform especially on the lower corners.  The 3 pic is a final as the 4 pic still needs to push down or sliced a little more .
  There I no way you can attach the corners without notching them .
 I love the look of this trim over the seal type .
Dakazman

[dakazman]

  Trimming complete 😁 now to polish up the aluminum corners.
 But first to tint the front window, learning what it is I’m gonna try to duplicate is called the matrix border.
 

[dakazman]

  Anyone have a ballpark measurement of the rear view mirror location , centered for sure but how low? To top of mirror?
Dakazman

[BDA]

So first, I have the original TCS mirror bracket which I would guess is probably similar to what you are using. The "button" that  is glued to the windshield is just shy or 2" from the top of the windshield. I can't be very exact because the trim covers the edge of the windshield so it's a guess. Now in case you're using something different to give you some perspective about where the mirror might be in relation to the windshield, the arm of the mirror bracket is about 2 2/2" long measured from the center of the button to where it turns and mounts the mirror. The mirror is about 2" high.

Hopefully that helps...

[dakazman]

  That’s perfect 👍👍

[dakazman]

  Sorry BDA , I went digging through my interior box and found the mirror unfortunately it gets secured to the roof. 🥱.  It may not be original but it’s in good shape so I just may glass in a block to mount it .  It may also be safer not to attach to glass .
   Film cut to a rough opening will play more tomorrow. I also managed to paint the cover for the ac lines under the bonnet.
   
    Anyone recognize this knob, first come first served. Radio maybe?
Dakazman
   

[kram350kram]

DMAN, See your trim is rounded, not tri-facet like the original. Did you get from RD?

[dakazman]

Yes I did buy from RD .
  You formed wood and had it chrome plated with plastic? Now I get it , wow  You need to post pics.
   I haven’t really looked at the trim details just the width of the chrome.
Dakazman

[BDA]

I know that r.d. used to sell trim that looked very similar (including the tri-facet) to the original windshield trim which was discontinued long ago but it was a little bit narrower than the original. So r.d. had new corners made up to match the new trim. Not it appears that that narrower trim is NLA. I don't know if r.d. had to have new corners made to match the new trim but I can see how this can end up with an endless (ok, not endless but continuous) stream of corners to match whatever trim is available at the time.

FYI: I just looked over at SJ Sportscars and they seem to have the same style trim.

[kram350kram]

From a post I did in 2021.

"Thought I would share the windshield trim I made. I was not happy with the trim currently available, the shape just doesn’t match the corner pieces. Anyway here is what I did;
Used 3/16” cedar plywood formed by clamping to the windshield and body to get the correct shape, top and bottom pieces. This took weeks by wetting, bending and the letting the wood dry and starting over. The plywood pieces were left wide, about 12”,  which made the bending easier as there are compound curves involved. The bottom piece was particularly hard to bend and get to conform. The sides pieces where easy, basically straight but they do have a slight inside/outside twist to them. Once the plywood was formed, it was cut into strips so it could be slipped/ inserted into the corner pieces. To get the triangular shape to match the corners, I epoxied sheet metal strips .040 thick to the cedar, then used a flexible body filler to create the bevel. Sanded and epoxy primed the pieces. I have yet to cover the pieces with a chrome body wrap but a practice piece worked out very well. After the windshield is installed I will epoxy the pieces to the windshield with a urethane adheasive.
This was a huge amount of work to say the least. Just my luck it will all blow off at speed!"


Update 2024: Pieces are now complete with chrome wrap. What a nightmare. Plan to use butyl, windscreen to boby and then urethane adhere the trim to the windscreen.

One question: Were the original corner pieces polished or a brushed finish?