Any chance you remember the brand of seal your used?

 

Were "PRECISION" (in a green labled sealed bag), even the ones from DC, but they each tore through the thinnest part (between the lock strip channel and the glass channel) at the last corner .... except the last "non lock" strip one (fit better and was also "Premier"). One guy at the glass shop said he thought the older windshields were thicker or slightly bigger than replacements ... and mine is original to the truck.

In 1989 I had the truck repainted and I think that the rubber was replaced and it never leaked and it had the lock strip. Looking at the cross section, the tear likely would not have leaked, but I didn't wish to gamble. I did twice put the lock strip with metal corners in place but it just set on my mind. If I didn't know the tear happened, likely would have the lock strip type, but as it is, the solid black looks great on my all white truck with some black accents. It fit tight too, but didn't tear.

 

My son and I did both the back glass and windshield on his 78. Ditto on watching several you tubes. Also get the rope install kit and a couple of the hook tools. Hopefully you won't need them again, but they really do help.

If your back glass needs to be installed, do it first. It is easier and gives you some confidence. Try to get 2 helpers.

As far as glass goes, call a body shop and see if they will order it for you. I had my body shop guy order ours with his usual order and it saved us shipping. I picked it up and carefully brought it home to install.

If you have some patience and some good helpers, you can get it done yourself.

 

I’m in Lincoln and I asked waverly glass they said they can do a gasket windshield. Proceed with caution.

I did mine with neighbors help, research it, go slow, lube and wiggle it in bit by bit, then wiggle and lube more so you’re sneaking up on the final install. Use rope and the ball end tool. Painters tape holds trim on.

Does anyone know if carlite glass is still available? Also, 67-79 windshields are the same is my understanding. Anyone have a lead on new carlite green with no racing stripe? Sorry to hijack.

 

For the rope kit, head to hardware store and grab some 3/16" or 1/4" rope (if you don't already have some laying around) and to help insert the rope, you can use a nozzle that goes on a caulk/sealant tube. Cut the tip so the hole is just big enough to slide the rope through. Slide that over your rope, tie knots in each end of your rope. Make rope long enough to go around the circumference of the windshield with a couple feet to spare. When its time to install the windshield, put the gasket on the windshield, use foam glass cleaner to lube the glass as you're sliding the gasket on. Once the gasket is on, I would start at the top in the center of the windshield, or you can choose the bottom. Press the rope into the channel on the gasket using the nozzle you slide on earlier, hold onto the end of the rope and start dragging the nozzle through the channel to run the rope around the windshield. Using the nozzle will save a lot of frustration and time.

Once I had the rope wrapped around I would use some masking/painters tape to coil up the loose ends of the rope and tape to the inside of the windshield. This will keep the rope out of the way while you are getting the glass into place on the vehicle.

As far as hook tools are concerned, I used a snap-on radiator hose tool, it bends at a 45* angle with a bit of a dog leg, most of the "glass hook tools" I have seen elsewhere are a 90 degree bend and I did not prefer them when getting into tight corners. That's personal preference though.

 

Would it matter if I use nylon or cloth rope? I have plenty of 1/4" nylon rope, but the cloth may hold the soap lubricant better...?
The plan so far is to buy a Precision WBL819 seal from rock auto and see if I can get a local glass company to order the glass itself.

Anyone have experience with the LMC glass and seal?

Thank you everyone for the helpful replies!!

 

Cloth rope would be better, the nylon rope may slip too much and just slide out instead of pulling the seal over the metal flange. I always used the white cotton rope. The lubricant is more for the rubber than the rope, you want the rope to grip the seal to an extent, the lube allows the seal to slide over the metal flange easier. Without it the rubber can tear fairly easy.

This is what I prefer using

 

My preferred tools for the job

 

Followup:
Fed up with weeks of not getting any companies willing to come out for a install, return calls, or just order the glass for me... I ended up ordering everything from LMC Truck:

Windshield- Clear #49-9720-T
Windshield Rubber Seal #49-9231
Windshield Install Tool / Stick #38-0796-F
Total cost as delivered in Nov. 2024: $348.58

The glass and the rubber seal turned out to be of really good quality.
We used a length of 1/4" nylon rope, a heavy solution of soap & water, a small hook on a stick kind of tool, and the LMC plastic install tool was essential to get the outside of the seal to lay flat during the install.
It took 3 people without any experience (short of watching YouTube videos,) only one try to get it in.

Here is the video that we watched, prior to installation:

The work area was 55-ish degrees and the rubber seal was still pliable enough to work with.
Hardest part was initially getting the seal onto the glass, then keeping the seal on the glass down from the corners, top and bottom. The sides, once on were fine...
Ended up having to use 2" painters tape in several places around the glass to keep the seal from coming off before installing it in the truck, even with it not having the stainless trim.

Two hours later:




Markings on the glass:


Seal Packaging:


I would not want to do this for a living, but it wasn't as hard as I initially thought.
Thank You!! to everyone on this forum for your advice and thank you LMC for the parts!!

 

Glad it worked out for you

 

This might help and if not enjoy my story .... I did a body swap on a 79 F-150 cab 100% gutted nothing but a cab bare bones nothing else, I called a national big chain window shop said needed a windshield +install they came and to my surprise there were a lot of what if's that would make them abort any install I was made to feel like they. were even looking at my truck, rust and alignment were the biggest issues to force and abort mission, but that all said they put the new windshield in made it look easy but I swear they wanted to make me nervous with all their this truck is old nonsense , never knew there was so much science to installing a new windshield. Good luck with your project call the big chain shop but don't let them make you second guess your project their in it for money too ..

 

I did this because I couldn't,find any one and my friend with a bump paid to have the Chrome installed and when he got back ,just had glass with rubber installed ,with the guy saying we could'nt do it.This isnt me in the picture ,its just a picture I found on the internet ,that I used to install.alot of patience ,and soap(dawn),,blue tape alot ...The back was a piece of cake ..I had original carlite glass

 

I tried Carpenters rubber ,but was to sloppy,ended up with percision.It took me around one night give up come back the next day and nailed it.Sliding the SS in the rubber slot with alot of dawn,,wiping it so tape can hold,,,leave the tape on why you install in cab.....it will come off and out with all the lube for cab install

 

Been doing glass all my life, have only broke 2 pieces in that time. Once the glass holder at work dropped it the next was boss man said push harder, I warned him. The stainless border always made me cringe though.

 

The stainless has to be put in the rubber before installation in the vehicle. The guys in the body shop at a Ford dealership I worked at, found out the hard way.