Porsche 944 Project Story - Windshield Woes / Status Update 

Oh wow! I can imagine… I attended UH Hilo for a semester and transportation in general was a challenge. Do you guys have a Porsche dealership?

@@NC944er Nice! I live over on Maui. Unfortunately the dealership is on Oahu. After some digging I got a fw360 windshield sitting in my garage for an 1985.5, hope It fits!

Ha! Yeah, “water leaks” is one of the search tags I used. 😂

Those were the good old days! 😂

Thanks Max! I’m happy to provide insight along my journey if it helps out other 944 owners. 👍

It’s becoming a lost art when it comes to these cars. I’m glad mine is done as well, but I now ride about 100 feet behind all vehicles on the highway in fear of rocks. 😂 I ended up paying about $1,200 for the glass and then $700 for the install by Porsche dealer + $200 for the adhesive kit. All in was around $2,500… which is pretty wild. Coincidentally, the shop “did the best they could” with the outer rubber seal on mine and didn’t cut it to length. They left it up to me to decide how I wanted it to finish, so I just ended up pulling it off and re-seating the entire thing.

Yes sir, best of luck! 👍🏼

Yeah man! Maybe ten years ago or so, the factory glass could be secured for about $450, so it’s more than doubled in price since then. Pretty wild!

Yeah, if yours is leak-free, I’d leave well enough alone. 😂

@@NC944er yes, no leaks!

Yeah, you were telling me about that, pretty cool! How did you run the wiring for it? I’m guessing you could also use a generic “shark fin” antenna.

@@NC944er I didn’t do it, it was done before I got the car. But, I pulled the headliner back and investigated it. The roof is double layer so you have a hole in the roof and a larger hole in the sublayer so you can attach everything. The wire runs down the b pillar.

So crazy! I’m glad you were able to get it done. Thanks for sharing. 👍🏼

Yeah, I would be less concerned if SafeLite could confirm a future production status of their Fuyao option, but getting information out of them has been difficult. For some reason the customer service group can’t speak directly with the parts group. The shops are also starting to shy away as their intimate knowledge of the setup fades over time… they were actually asking me how the seals work and if there was a metal frame, etc, which did not inspire confidence. 😳 We are still under a glass shortage globally because of Covid, so I’m hoping production resumes at some point.

Nice! It’s hard to believe they still work. 😂

Best of luck Gareth! In the mean time, you could wear some quick drying athletic pants when driving the car. 😂

@@NC944er - I'm not too sure my clients would appreciate that, as much as I'd try to explain why 😄

Hey, I don’t recall a white/clear plastic piece, but your understanding of the seal assembly sounds correct. Once the windshield frame seal is properly installed, there will be a notch running along the sides and top, covering the full length of the gasket. The outer rubber trim has a corresponding piece below that presses into that notch. It’s a pretty tight fit, but coating the notch with a little water and rolling the top seal in place with a large deep socket is what my tech recommended.

@@NC944er is this notch just a gap between the car and the windshield or something on the frame of the windshield?

@@djmjr77 The notch is in the rubber gasket that surrounds the edges of the windshield, basically bridging the gap between the glass and the body panels.

The windshield glass comes with its base seal preinstalled, which runs around the underside of the glass. There is then another loose seal that runs around the outer edge of the glass on the top and sides, it fills the gap between the glass and the body panels and also acts to retain the rubber weather stripping/trim that goes over top of everything to complete the installation.

@@NC944er okay so my windshield has been removed for a complete repaint, and i bought a perfect used windshield with the frame for the rubber still on but not the pre attached seal. In order to place this windshield i will only need a very thick layer of windshield sealant then?

Because as you show your new windshield the gutter to put the outer rubber strip on appears to be installed on the windscreen already?

@@thijsdejongh6192 If you check out the diagram in the parts catalog it shows all the pieces involved, but yeah for a used windshield, you’d probably need to load up the channel with sealant to account for any gaps/imperfections.

@@NC944er okay, but that shows some sort of rubber around the top and sides of the window, where does that rubber go? You show two new rubbers in your video, one goes in around the side and top edges to cover the gap between the windshield and the metal of the car but where does the other rubber go?

Yes! Perfect if timed with a crack that can’t be filled. Since my seal failed due to age and not a damage event, they wouldn’t cover it, but at least it’s done.

Exactly! 😂

Yeah, and it certainly doesn’t help that the DME computer sits down there. 😂 I originally thought it was just the battery tray, but after sealing that thing up tight and water was still coming in, I realized the windshield was an issue as well.

Sure, here you go… The earlier cars had a slightly different setup, so it’s a good idea to confirm your model year application. Outer windshield frame: 944-559-543-03 Top cover strip: 944-559-535-07

@@NC944er I have an 84 I ended up buying the seals you sent me a week ago, but I found out they don’t fit

@@zanesalamah846 Oh man! Hopefully you can swap them out for what you need. Good luck! 👍🏼

Funny you should mention that, I actually injected quite a bit of black window caulking on the far corner to do just that, and it did provide an improvement, it’s just so far gone all along the bottom edge that there was still some water seeping in from somewhere. 🤔

Stay away from anything silicone anywhere near your car. Silicone permanently contaminates anything it comes in contact with. You cannot get silicone off a surface, once applied, at the molecular level. There are entire aerospace facilities that ban silicone products from being brought in due to this. Any rear hatch that has been "repaired" with silicone products is gone for good. There have been extensive discussions in the various forums over the years about this, with input from material engineers versed in the subject.

@@christopherkelly2504 After installing crown molding in five rooms around my house, my fingers are now probably 90% silicone… at the molecular level.

If only I could melt my old one down, remove the impurities, and sell the remaining ore. 😂

Those are the standard factory speaker grills for the 1988 model year. Porsche updated them that year from the earlier flush mounted grills.

@@NC944er They look good, I wonder if the fit early cars.

Yeah, the seals are so old now, that it’s far from the 1-2 hour job that it used to be, there’s a ton of difficult cleanup, potential to reveal rust and other issues once the glass is out, and since they charge a flat rate, it’s not worth the hassle for them. On mine, the Porsche dealership spent quite a few hours over what they actually billed me for, I’m guessing as a learning experience for the tech since they don’t get 944s coming in very often.

I’ve used SafeLite through the Geico policy on my everyday cars to fill rock chips and it’s included free of charge. I’ve had good success minimizing small chips that way, but this is a whole different animal. 😂

@@NC944er bb gun??? Hahaha I kid! I kid! 😅

Yeah, I’m really hoping that the Fuyao production will at least pick back up once the glass shortage slows down or we’ll have quite a few unhappy 944 owners.

The price is quite ridiculous…

@@NC944er 1k at Chicago Porsche for the glass. But no one wants to do it. I’ll probably end up doing it myself. It’s cracked straight down the antenna so it doesn’t bother me much

@@devildog_iii3492 Yeah, everyone seems really scared to take on the liability and end up botching the job. 😂 Myself included… I considered DIYing it for about 30 seconds until I envisioned myself slipping and cracking the new glass. I’m hoping my local dealership will pull through and then I’ll have a warranty on the part and the service if it leaks. That is quite the convenient crack location on your windshield…

@@NC944er yea that would be a costly mistake haha. Did u get a quote from the dealer? Sorry haven’t watched ur video all the way yet

@@devildog_iii3492 They wanted to outsource to this local glass company, but their guy who does the Porsches just had back surgery, so the dealership is saying they’ll do it there for $300, and I’m assuming another $200 for the seal kit, I’m just waiting for them to get some new adhesive from Germany. I’m already in it for $1,300 in parts, so when it’s all said and done the windshield replacement will have cost 1/3 of the price I originally paid for the car. 🤣