Windshield install question.

[Cubrath]

You are doing it right. The metal on top of the windshield is thick and with a #3 hole it is thought to get the trix nuts in. What I did was drilled the hole to the #3 then took my deburring tool and slightly tapered the top of the hole. Then load your trix nut into your puller and work it into the hole. I tried to start it in at an angle then twist them with the tool to get them to seat in the hole. It won't seat all the way in the hole until you pull it. The metal at the top of the windshield is the hardest because of the thickness of the metal. When you get to the boot cowl they go in much easier. Keep practicing on a thin peice of aluminum. You will get it!

[jmorrical]

Since this thread mentioned GerberMask and windscreens it seems like a good place to ask for help.

I have had my kit since 2015. Seven years later I finally get to the windscreen installation steps. The Gerbermask pulls off the windscreen cleanly in some areas, but more the 80% of it a hard dried glue residue remains on the acrylic glass.

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Pulling the paper leaves this hard dried glue. It's grainy and hard dried not sticky or tacky at all. I tired Goo Gone, WD40 and 3M General Purpose Adhesive Cleaner with no success. On some trimmed scrap I used denatured alcohol and it cut the dried glue quickly. Before I moved forward with this I reached out to Kit Support. They referred me to Great Lakes Aero Products. I think they might have manufactured our windscreens. They gave the 'red light' to denatured alcohol and told me to soak the paper before removing it from the windscreen with 100% Mineral Spirits perhaps more than once. I have tried two days of their protocol soaking the Gerber mask paper several times, even overnight, with no success. The residue does not soften or come off with mineral spirits.

Last evening I tried this 3M Adhesive Remover. It softened the hard dried clue and I was able to remove it. I cleaned the glass with mild soapy water and flushed it with clean water. It didn't glaze or etch the plexiglass. Great Lakes Aero cautions using anything that is not expressly for acrylics saying I would ruin the windscreen.


Seems my options are to buy a new windscreen for $800+ or use something more aggressive than Great Lakes prescribes and take my chances. What would you do?

[stede52]

You might want to try something like this: https://uscutter.com/orange-peel-adhesive-remover/,
it's used by vinyl sign installers to remove old left over adhesive from surfaces

[jmorrical]

I decided to use 3M Auto Adhesive Remover after trying several other choices. It seemed most aggressive yet not damaging to the acrylic plexiglas windscreen.

It took a 16 oz + aerosol can, but all the hard dried glue is off the windscreen. You must work it immediately as it is sprayed on before it evaporates or dries. I thought letting it soak a moment would help it work…not. Once I figured that out it came off well. After washing with a gentle soapy water and rinse the windscreen looks good, no glazing or discoloration.

The 100% mineral spirits Great Lakes Aero Products recommended was a useless two day trial waiting hopefully for results. Perhaps that would work on glue that was sticky or tacky. They also suggested following up with a couple applications in rotation of mineral spirits and isopropyl alcohol to clean the glass even after their warning about denatured alcohol??? I'm not sure what to make of that. I will final clean by hand buffing using Meguiar’s Mirror Glaze Professional Machine Glaze 3 as they suggested.


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