Fitting drivers window/glass - Chimp/Griff
Discussion
Right, I shall try and give something back to the community:
Following my driver's window smash on the weekend (http://tinyurl.com/23eqjom) I thought it would be useful to explain the fitting procedure as it is about as annoying as Paris Hilton's life.
First things first, the glass. According to Auto Glass this is the most impossible glass in the world to source, the mould has been destroyed and there will be no more made... they found some through David Gerald or someone like that (you can buy it on ebay for £50 most of the time). I understand the glass for the Chimaera is the same as for the Griff. However, when we put our sheet in place the bracket was in the wrong place, leading us to suspect the fittings may be different between the cars.
Ok, so the process. First you have to get the door off, which is a royal pain in the arse as many on here have stated (unless you have child labour handy, but with broken glass everywhere you may want to think twice).
Then remove the speaker (easy enough depending on type, normally pull the face off and a few screws). There are then four bolts. The first is to the left of the speaker (towards front of car) and easy to find. The other three require cow birthing levels of arm movement (up to the armpit). It's best to look at the picture below:
The nuts were finger tight in mine, and therefore easy-ish to undo. No.4 is not easy to reach, be patient. Once you have got these off you will need to lift the panel off vertically as there is a metal brace (as I have called it) which slots down in to the door. For older cars (or those with an ash-tray) I believe this was a philips screw behind the ash tray instead of the brace.
Next you can remove the door insert which has four screws located along the top line. The picture below will give you an idea:
Once this is all removed you can tear back the plastic (you'll see), hoover out the glass and remove the old bracket (two bolts). Once the old bracket is out we found it better to clean this of glass fragments and reattach in the door. The bracket which came with the new glass was way off line. When sliding the new glass into place we found it easier to attach the bracket and slide the new sheet of glass (with no bracket on it) into place (if yours lines up fine then go with it). Ensure the leading edge is true to the metal a-frame at all times. Slide the glass into position with the bolts finger tight. You then need to wiggle a bit until the glass is true to the a-frame, this is the guideline. Once happy tighten and reattach everything and go for a long drive so you forgive the car!
Hope this helps someone, this took a couple of hours to get right!
Rus
Following my driver's window smash on the weekend (http://tinyurl.com/23eqjom) I thought it would be useful to explain the fitting procedure as it is about as annoying as Paris Hilton's life.
First things first, the glass. According to Auto Glass this is the most impossible glass in the world to source, the mould has been destroyed and there will be no more made... they found some through David Gerald or someone like that (you can buy it on ebay for £50 most of the time). I understand the glass for the Chimaera is the same as for the Griff. However, when we put our sheet in place the bracket was in the wrong place, leading us to suspect the fittings may be different between the cars.
Ok, so the process. First you have to get the door off, which is a royal pain in the arse as many on here have stated (unless you have child labour handy, but with broken glass everywhere you may want to think twice).
Then remove the speaker (easy enough depending on type, normally pull the face off and a few screws). There are then four bolts. The first is to the left of the speaker (towards front of car) and easy to find. The other three require cow birthing levels of arm movement (up to the armpit). It's best to look at the picture below:
The nuts were finger tight in mine, and therefore easy-ish to undo. No.4 is not easy to reach, be patient. Once you have got these off you will need to lift the panel off vertically as there is a metal brace (as I have called it) which slots down in to the door. For older cars (or those with an ash-tray) I believe this was a philips screw behind the ash tray instead of the brace.
Next you can remove the door insert which has four screws located along the top line. The picture below will give you an idea:
Once this is all removed you can tear back the plastic (you'll see), hoover out the glass and remove the old bracket (two bolts). Once the old bracket is out we found it better to clean this of glass fragments and reattach in the door. The bracket which came with the new glass was way off line. When sliding the new glass into place we found it easier to attach the bracket and slide the new sheet of glass (with no bracket on it) into place (if yours lines up fine then go with it). Ensure the leading edge is true to the metal a-frame at all times. Slide the glass into position with the bolts finger tight. You then need to wiggle a bit until the glass is true to the a-frame, this is the guideline. Once happy tighten and reattach everything and go for a long drive so you forgive the car!
Hope this helps someone, this took a couple of hours to get right!
Rus
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