How to make the job easier - tips & tricks

[Lee]

Had a customer come in with an older GM car. He couldn't put on the window crank. He asked me to do it for him. I put the clip on the crank and pushed it on. He turned beet red after I put it on. Seems he was trying to put the clip in the handle with the handle on the regulator shaft.

[chanceany]

In today's market with Insurance companies the way they are & with some customers the way they are. Plus, the introduction of airbags, & with bigger larger, but thinner w/s, not to mention the fact that in a lot of today's cars the w/s is also part of the roof support. Your better off taking all cowls, moldings, wipers, & anything else needed. Now back in the 80's & early 90's it was okay to flop & drop them, especially when your main replacements were w943,w1005,w1099,w1090,w935,& other like w/s.

[Desert Tech]

Man I just joined this forum today, crap i'v never looked a forum up, and i'm crazy excited about talking to others in the field. I leave the cowl on with 1168's also it saves alot of time, especially if some schmoe before has stripped those plastic insert screws. I have never rolled the bead, and i install solo. A 1217/1199 cowl should come off though, and we've all done em a hundred times so they only take two minutes to get off, an 1168 cowl is gonna take longer. 15 windshields a day is crazy, absolutely crazy. I hate to naysay but thats a alot of glass stabbing, maybe with two other guys, one cleaning and priming, the other removing mold/cowls/etc. adn one guy cutting, maybe your a superhuman, maybe you fell into some radioactive ooze and your pituatary gland got way stimulated and now your super fast at autoglass replacement. Again though i like leaving the 1168 cowl

[Desert Tech]

I also leave the cowl, it's a time saver. Especially if the schmoe before you has stripped those plastic insert screws. I install alone and have yet to roll that bead over. I think a 1217/1199 cowl should go though, we've all done a hundred so they really do only take two minutes, but i think the 1168 cowl is gonna take longer. 15 windshields a day is crazy, absolutely crazy. Maybe if you had one guy preping/priming, another removing cowl/moldings/etc. and one guy cutting. I hate to nay say but thats alot of glass stabbing. Maybe you fell into some radioactive ooze, and its messing with your pituatary gland, making your motor skills all crazy fast. But i do like leaving the 1168 cowl, clever time saver, and through experience i give it a thumbs up.

[Desert Tech]

whoops posted twice kinda new here i apologize

[AGN]

I don't pull every cowl. It depends on how close the windshield sits to the body and how far it sits below the cowl. In the case of an 1168 the windshield sits 1/2 an inch below the cowl...why bother taking it off?

AGN

[AGN]

I prop cowls on 1319s and I have on some 1341s. On the 1341 it really depends on what kind of time frame I am dealing with...if its warm and I have time I'll remove it...if not prop it and stick it. I've never had one come back when I've propped it like that.

Do you remove the cowls on 1217s?

AGN

[slsuby]

I remove 1217 cowels but not 1341's. The problem as I see it is so many cowels (especially as they age) become almost impossible to remove without damaging. Sometimes you have to pull them to avoid the dreaded 'chili-dip' when you set your glass but I feel that many of them can be done safely with the cowel on.