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Essential Glass and Seal Upgrades for Your Chevy Truck

OBS Glass Installation

As trucks age, parts start wearing out, fading, or falling apart. Normal wear-and-tear items, like brakes, shocks, paint, and engines, as well as seals and glass can be subject to failing. When it comes to the glass on your truck, having clear, damage-free and leak-free windows makes it easier and safer to drive. We have all had a windshield or two changed out in the past due to cracks and chips from rocks or road debris, but have you looked at the condition of the windows on your truck lately? They can get scratched and stained, which can make it hard to see through. Seals can dry rot and fail, and cause windows to leak suddenly.

For this project, we found a 1989 Chevy C1500 with rough windows when it was purchased. Knowing the truck was bought to be a driver, making the glass easy to see through of was one of the first things to get handled. The front and back windows leaked, the side windows had deep scratches, the windshield sunscreen was faded, and all the seals were dry and cracked. Bobby Long with Elite Auto Glass owns this truck and reached out to see if we were interested in documenting the process of bringing the glass back to life. Knowing this is a standard upgrade for these OBS trucks, we lined up a day to get it done.

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To get the parts we needed, we contacted PGW Auto Glass for the new windshield and Mygrant Glass Company for the side windows and new solid rear window. Precision Replacements Parts handled the seals, moldings, and weather stripping (see sidebar for part numbers).

With the stack of new parts in hand, it was time to ditch the old ones. Once done, seeing out of the truck was way easier than before, and there no more leaks every time it rained or the truck was washed. While swapping front and back glass is usually best left to the pros, the door parts are a DIY install job if you’re good with basic hand tools and have some patience. Follow along as we break down some of the steps involved in this OBS upgrade.

PARTS LIST

PGW Auto Glass windshield:
Part #DW1217

Mygrant Glass Company side windows:
Part #DD8386GTY and DD8305GTY

Mygrant Glass Company solid rear windows:
Part #DB8416

Precision Replacements Parts seals, moldings, and weather stripping:

  • Hood/fender bumper, Part #BMP 025
  • Door bumper, Part #BMP 033
  • Hood to cowl seal, Part #CS 1110 88
  • Wiper cowl seals, Part #CS 111188
  • Upper door weatherstrip, Part #DWB 1111 88
  • Glass run channel, right and left, Part #GRR 1110 88
  • Beltline molding kit, Part #WFP 1112 88
  • Front beltline molding
  • Pair of outer right hand metal clips

BACK WINDOW

Starting with the back window, a fiber line removal tool was used to cut the urethane holding the window to the back of the cab.
As you can see, old glass is usually weaker and sometimes doesn’t always come out in one piece. But because it was being replaced with new glass, this was perfectly fine.
The old urethane was scraped off the cab to allow the new window to sit flush and get a good, watertight seal.
Primer was applied to the part of the new glass that will touch the cab. This ensured the glue would adhere to the glass properly.
A solid strip of urethane was applied to the edge of the window opening.
The new solid back window will replace the old sliding window for a cleaner look. It was set squarely into the window opening and pressed into place for a tight seal.

WINDSHIELD

Next up was the windshield. The wipers and wiper cowl were removed first before the two bottom set screws were removed.
The old, rotted upper door weather strip was removed on both sides.

Using an equalizer express tool, the windshield was cut out.
This is where having a second set of hands comes in handy to set the windshield out. In this case, Bobby brought in his wife, Bre, as free labor for the day.
Just like the back window, the old urethane was scrapped off to allow a flat seal for the new window.
Using a wire wheel, the window opening was cleaned up even more.
Corrosion primer was applied where the windshield sits before the urethane was applied.
Once the new urethane was applied, the new windshield was set into place and pressed in firmly.
The new weather stripping simply installed the same as the factory piece did.
As you can see, the new upper door weather stripping (bottom) from Precision Replacement Parts is in much better condition than the 35-year-old OEM part. This seal will ensure a leak free vehicle.
Before the wiper cowl was reinstalled, the Precision Replacement Parts wiper cowl seals were installed to replace the rotten factory ones.
The wiper cowl and wipers were then reinstalled.
The Precision Replacement Parts cowl to hood seal replaced the factory seal for a watertight installation.

DOOR GLASS

The window crank and door handle trim were removed.
Using a pry tool, we pulled the door panel away from the door then lifted it up to remove it.
The glass run channel was pulled out of the door channel.
Next, we unclipped the belt molding from the door.
The inner door panel was removed to access the window track.
After the window was unbolted from the track, it could be lifted up and out of the door.
Next, we installed the new Precision Replacement Parts glass run channel into the window opening and pressed it into the factory location.
Replacing the belt molding with the new Precision Replacement Parts belt molding (bottom) ensured water stays out of the door. The factory moldings were worn out so changing them was a must for this job.
Once the new door glass was slid in and bolted to the track, we simply snapped the new belt molding into the factory track.

Since we replaced worn out door parts, we also swapped the door bumpers with  new Precision Replacement Parts  bumpers. You can tell how dry rotted and squished the factory one was. The new ones will help keep the door aligned.
With all new glass and seals, this truck is now leak-free and way easier to see out of.

 

Photos by David Shankin

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