Bonded Screens

By Geoff Kremer

When I built The Beast (Berpop) and needed to reglaze it I was stunned by the price quoted for a screen rubber so I thought (a rare occurrence!) there must be a better way. After a few enquiries Sikoflex was mentioned. The key word here is SIKOFLEX. If you are about to fit a new windscreen to your pride and joy or generally reglaze it you might find the following tips useful. This stuff is absolutely wonderful, you can glue glass, steel, (I’ve seen car wings glued on with it) plastic and rubber and I promise, so long as you make sure everything is absolutely clean it will stay stuck.

Bonded Glass.

Both of the rods I built had bonded glass and it’s much easier to do than you think.

The Famous Berpop

Thamsey

First of all the Pros and Cons.

Pros:

Once fitted you will not be troubled with leaks and splintering.
If you are running a “chopped roof” this will give you quite a bit more screen to look out of,
1/2” makes such a difference when you are trying to see traffic lights, especially the reds.
Looks, I think rods look much better without the inch of rubber around the wind screen.
Windscreen rubbers produce a lot of wind noise so
aerodynamics are improved more than you would think.
It’s very cost effective.....in other words “it don’t cost much!”
Adds strength to the body shell. Most modern cars rely heavily on the front and rear
screens to add rigidity to the body shell.

Cons:

Once the glass is fitted, it”s bu**ger to remove; like, you can’t without breaking it!
Takes a bit longer to fit.
It’s a bit messy, also you’ll end up with black fingers for a week. (so what’s new?)

Here’s How.

Make sure the “body” surface is absolutely clean, The area the glass is to be bonded too must have no rust or loose paint. Clean the glass with “thinners” and off you go!

SIKOFLEX should be available from most car factors such as Brown Brothers and is available in black or white. It should be treated as you would with a silicon sealant. The best way I found of dealing with this is to have loads of white spirit because it deals with the Sikoflex but doesn't attack the paint work.

Now for the “nitty gritty”.

You need to make a template for the glass needed, use either a bit of Perspex or hardboard and shape it to fit the screen aperture as shown in diag 1. This is the template you will use to get the glass cut so you must get it right. Make sure you ask your glass supplier to cut and finish the glass the way you want it and make sure he puts a bevel on the outer edge. To make things easier when fitting, make two small supports as shown.

Mask up around the screen, wiping a little Vaseline on the masking tape will help. Put a bead of Sikoflex around the screen aperture, lay the glass onto the supports and press into place, you will need to push quite hard to get all the bubbles out but do it a little at a time working around the edges of the glass do not distort the glass to much or it will crack you should end up with a bead of Sikoflex that has oozed out around the screen inside and out. You have a couple hours to line everything up before the sealant starts to go off. While the sealant is still wet remove the surplus with a bit of wood then get some lint free rag and using the white spirit dress the rest of the sealant so that you have the minimum amount around the edges of the glass. Remove the masking tape, don’t worry about smearing. Leave for 24 hours to set then finally polish the glass and paint work. This stuff is also great for sealing panels, lights, floors etc.

Tech Section