I’ve decided that I’ve put too much into this frame to let it go. Look how off this paint is:

So, I’ve got a call in to the body shop to fix this. We’ll see what kind of service I get.

I did take the Jeep out last night with no window frame (illegal as hell), just to warm it up so all the gaskets don’t dry out while I finish this project from hell. I stayed on back neighborhood roads, but drove 10 miles. I feel good again for another couple weeks.

Well, I picked up the windshield frame from the body shop and over all I am happy with the results. It seems that the frame color (paint code: PJN) is slightly greener than the rest of the Jeep. I am not sure if this is due to the fact that the paint on the Jeep is older and so has varied a bit from the original mix over time. But, it is close enough that it doesn’t really stand out much. I am a perfectionist and so that side of me isn’t happy with it. But, it isn’t worth changing. Nothing will ever be perfect and the sooner I come to that realization, the happier I’ll be.

However, another problem: The triangular shaped brackets that connect the frame to the dash on the inside and the associated torx bolts ARE STILL AT THE DAMN SHOP. They removed them to prep the frame and forgot to give them back to me when I picked up the frame this morning. And, of course, I didn’t notice they were missing until I got home and by then it was too late and the shop had closed (Saturday reduced hours). I am about to go on a work trip and so have to wait until Thursday or Friday before I can drive back to the shop to pick up the missing hardware. Maybe then, I can finish this job.

If the return trip commute goes well after this next 4 day flying trip, I can install the frame back onto the Jeep next Friday and the glass guy is scheduled to come out on Sat morning to put the glass in. Maybe then, it’ll be DONE!!!!

After a month of dealing with this windshield frame issue, I decided to bring it to a professional to do for me. I made many calls and finally found a place called JD’s Paint and Body in Mulberry, FL. This sounded like the kind of place I was looking for – a small shop, kind of informal, good price and good work, etc. I had originally called Canon Buick as their owner is a friend of the family and was referred to JD.

I brought them the frame within an hour of my first call. A week later, my only real complaint so far is that this think should have been done 3 days ago. They sure have taken their sweet time. But, at this moment, it is done and is to be picked up tomorrow morning. Supposedly it turned out well. I will post some pictures. It will cost about $182 bucks – I spent that much attempting to do it myself (oh well, you learn by living).

Unfortunately, I am leaving on a flying trip Sunday and won’t be back until either Thursday afternoon or Friday (if at all, due to spring break loads). I want to make sure the paint is completely dry. After waiting this long, hell, what is another week and change??

Here is the story of my windshield frame restoration on my YJ.

Of all the glorious things about Jeeps, one of the bad is that on the Cjs and the YJs (not sure about the TJs), it is just a matter of time until the windshield frame begins to rust. Be it a pebble knick tossed back from another vehicle or some other similar reason, the paint gets compromised some how and the rusting process begins. Inherent in this particular design is that water can get trapped underneath the outer reveal molding or under the cowl seal. Based on my research, this seems to be the most common place for rust to begin and develop. I’ve heard of rust forming on the lip at the bottom of the windshield frame where it pokes into the cowl seal, but I didn’t have that particular problem on mine. My problem was of the former type.

From the outside, glass installed, it looked like this:

and one other visible spot here:

I finally decided to tackle the project because I had a good period of time off of work. First order of business was to figure out how to fold down the windshield. I had heard many times that those Torx bolts were a real pain in the ass in deal with. I barely knew was Torx was, but went to Advance Auto Parts and purchased a set of sockets with a 3/8 in drive. I have an adapter so, I was able to use them with my larger 1/2 inch breaker bar.

The first step was to remove the soft top from the upper channel. Then, all that remained were 6 Torx bolts. The lower bolts that bolt into the dash were a piece of cake to remove. In fact, the driver side bolt was already loose on mine. I didn’t even know. I basically removed it by hand. Then came the upper bolts that connect the roll cage to the windshield frame. These bolts require a T-40 Torx head. The two on the passenger side came out without a hitch. MAKE SURE YOU APPLY HEAVY PRESSURE DIRECTLY DOWN ONTO THE BOLT AS YOU TORQUE IT. Torx bolts love to strip out. The driver side worked out decently, but I did have to struggle a good a bit with one of them and ended up destroying the bolt head in the process of removing it with a vice grip. Luckily, I had done the initial break before the head stripped. Once removed, I simply tilted the frame down onto a rolled up towel I had placed onto the hood to absorb the weight.

I then removed all of the soft top hardware, both the side rails and the top as well and placed the screws into separate ziplock bags labeled accordingly. Next is to remove the windshield wiper motor. It basically involved removing 3 more torx bolts (uneventful removal), and popping the motor drive arm off the linkage. To do this, take a flat head screw driver and insert it between the motor drive arm and the longer “drived” arm, and pry them apart. There is sort of a ball in socket design to it and merely requires a bit a pressure to pop them apart. Next remove the wiper arms. To do this, pull the arm off the glass until the small hole can have something inserted into it, such as an ice pick or a small jewelers screw driver. Insert into the hole and release the pressure as if you were letting the arm move back to the glass. It shouldn’t move all the way to the glass though due to the inserted object. Now, merely grab the root of the arm and wiggle back and forth with a pulling force as well. It should pop off after a few cycles.

Now its time to face those notoriously difficult Torx bolts on the hinge. I understand that the lower hinge bolts are significantly worse than the upper. I cannot comment directly on that as my restoration doesn’t involve removing the lower bolts. However, the upper weren’t that bad. Just apply a hefty force directly downward on the bolt while rotating the breaker bar. All 8 of mine snapped without issue and were removed. I did destroy 2 of the bolt heads in the process, but removal was by and large uneventful.

At this point, I knew that there was nothing holding the frame to the vehicle anymore. However, I couldn’t get it to come off. I think 13 years of being bolted in position caused it to stick a bit. I got a hammer and a small tower and taped around the perimeter of each hinge to break it loose and it worked great. Then, I reached down and with a good heave pulled the frame entirely off the Jeep and placed it aside.

Here is what it looked like:

To be continued……