[MGZRreplica]

Hi
I have a 3door 1994 220
I’ve removed the inside trim in the boot.
My rear quarter glass has a leak.
Has anybody on here removed them and cleaned them up and refitted?
Thanks in advance.

[JOHNDQ]

Yes hell of a lot of sealant there and you'll cut through the 2 plastic location pegs too. I use the Sealy braided cheese wire tool for windscreens

[Johnny 216GSi]

Hi
I have a 3door 1994 220
I’ve removed the inside trim in the boot.
My rear quarter glass has a leak.
Has anybody on here removed them and cleaned them up and refitted?
Thanks in advance.

I know people who've tried and the glass has just broken.

You need a proper glass technician. Not an amateur, no matter how keen they are!

Body shops employ roving glass techs who do the job of removal for a glass-out respray. and refitting. There's obviously just a fixed fee for doing this.

It may be worth either finding a local body shop (somewhere with people you like) who have someone they use regularly and then they can give you a price.

I've never tried looking up such a person online to see if they just operate in the local area for anyone who wants such a job doing.

I'm about 15 miles west of Birmingham and I know my previous body shop uses one, and I have the name and phone number of a roving glass tech who tells me he can do such a job too although I've only ever asked him for rear screen removal and fitting. I expect he's not operating outside the area and if you went the body shop route, you'd have to drive there on a specific pre-arranged day for removal and hope the guy turns up. I can give you the details anyway if you get stuck.

As JDQ says, you (and even the glass tech) will cut through the original plastic locating lug(s) on the inside face but don't worry as when it comes to refitting, they've got an eye for getting them in the right place before the bond cures and can pull them whilst the glass is bonding so they look good and are equal/symmetrical on both sides. The tech who did my rear quarters when I had a glass-out respray got a really nice line-up looking side-on and also with equal gaps and alignment to the rear screen which he also did.

You can clean the remains of the silicone bonding agent off the plastic inner faces (Stanley knife with shallow slicing through the sealant remains) and make them look as clean as you want for when you get them refitted. It's a good opportunity to clean the inside glass faces too and make everything look like new before handing them back over.

[crepello]

Pity this is such a tricky job. Makes it nigh on impossible to salvage these
glasses from scrappie yards.

[Johnny 216GSi]

Pity this is such a tricky job. Makes it nigh on impossible to salvage these
glasses from scrappie yards.

The one contact I have was given to me AT a scrapyard by the owner because I was thinking about salvaging some rear quarters but never did. I assume people are going to find front and rear screens and anyone providing such a service would find it quite lucrative particularly if they can turn up on-demand or if they can remove the glass to be safely stored at the scrap yard until you return.

I think there's a whole business in parts removal in general which isn't being exploited as it should. Either full stripping by the scrapyard owners and on spec. they pay for tricky glass removal and build a stock, or to always have someone who can help getting tricky items off cars ready to turn up. Not just glass - think about all the underside components going to waste when the car is finally weighed in for scrap.

As far as we are concerned, we should somehow be able to formally organise a scrapping exercise and pick a car clean leaving just a shell quite possibly without its sills, arches, slam panel, etc. But then the problem becomes parts storage. I think you then find a parts dealer who's flexible who can store identified and catalogued parts and can retail them out to make their own profit in exchange for free storage.

[JOHNDQ]

I doubt you get a glass company to touch them. I know the MG Rover breakers tried and everyone said they wouldn't do it, they ended up cutting the 1/4 panels out and selling them with the metal still attached it's honestly not a hard job just takes time and you probably mark some of the paint. If you use the wire tool you definitely won't break the glass.... Unless you drop it

[Johnny 216GSi]

it's honestly not a hard job just takes time

Probably true. It's just that if you aren't used to doing them then you don't know the rules. The rules being that if you cause any flexing at all to the glass itself, whether it's in a sealed unit or it's just bonded to the body like the front and rear screens, it'll break. That includes any prising action you may be tempted to try (the glass will shatter before the remains of the bond gives up) and I suspect cutting the car around the glass too unless it's a clean cut all round - no part cutting and bending the metal out to work the uncut metal back and forth, so you stress fracture the whole thing off the car. Levering anything where the lever or fulcrum touches the glass will just chip/crack or shatter it instantly. And so on (and so on). You just have to be extremely careful and probably only use the wire until it's completely free. And as you say, don't drop it when you cut through the last bit of sealant and you've forgotten about gravity.

[HA54SYM]

I looked she’s for a set of these and in the end the scrap yard cut around them into the metal out the shell. Seemed a waste of a shell but 2x glass removal companies told the scrap yard on viewing they would not touch them.

[Johnny 216GSi]

I looked she’s for a set of these and in the end the scrap yard cut around them into the metal out the shell. Seemed a waste of a shell but 2x glass removal companies told the scrap yard on viewing they would not touch them.

Don't feel too bad about the waste of a shell. I only know 1 person who's re-shelled 1 car, so it's not a widespread practise and not necessary yet for the cars. Since the VIN plate and the engine block with serial number are the two things you must have to rebuild a certified classic almost from scratch, by inference most people would want to try and keep the shell during the restoration effort. I'm aware that some classic cars these days can be re-shelled using newly manufactured shells and the VIN plate transferred - it still counts as a "restoration" rather than being classified as a new road car (which would need new certification).