Our very own "barn find"...

[Evan Bottcher]

Thanks folks.

Clifford - do you suggest taking the trim out of the rubber before removing the screen, or as Pep said leave the trim in and just push the screen out?

[pep105]

Do what Pep said 

[cjheath]

Definitely don't try to remove it with the windscreen in place! You need to be able to flex the rubber while leaving the trim straight. Any bending in the trim, even if you can straighten it again, shows up forever as discolouration due to the anodising cracking. Ask me how I know

[Evan Bottcher]

Sheldon and I popped out the screens last night.  The rear popped out intact, the front cracked - but it was pretty scratched up anyway so no great loss.  Left the trim on, which I'll carefully pull apart later.  The rubber seals also seem to be in good condition so I'll clean them up and store away.  The metalwork around front and rear screens are solid - one or two small spots of rust at the base of the rear screen.  Compared to the Suds which always seem rotten around the screens, this is great!

[Barry Edmunds]

Evan
I'd suggest that you leave the rubber seal and trim on the old screens until you get replacements, if only to preserve the rubber in the interim. Might also be worth coating the rubbers with some form of a rubber preservative to keep them from hardening up.
Barry

[Evan Bottcher]

Thanks Barry - you mean to keep the rubber in shape, and avoid it pinching or cracking?  Will definitely treat the rubber.

[cjheath]

I've had rubbers stored for 26 years in a box, curled up in a triple loop, with absolutely no harm being done. That would have been impossible with the trim left in, and I can't imagine how the trim would preserve the rubber anyway. They would have got bent, and the rubber would have been exposed to the elements too.

Plus, you can't properly clean the rubber with the trim in. Don't use a wire-brush (much too coarse). Remove any old sealing compound before going over it with fine steel wool (I use 0000). It takes about 2 hours to do one rubber properly, very hard on your fingers, but the rubber looks brand-new afterwards.

I didn't treat it with anything, and it doesn't seem to have hardened at all - just surface oxidation which the steel wool removes.

Evan - welcome to drop by and see my car sometime. You know my email.

[Evan Bottcher]

Pics of the screens out, 3-4 small rust holes in the metalwork at the base of the rear screen - doesn't look serious at all.

[Evan Bottcher]

This is the first time the car has rolled out of the garage for a couple of years – going on a flatbed tomorrow morning to the body repairer.

[Evan Bottcher]

I like parcels.  Radiator shroud, and radiator expansion bottle.

[Evan Bottcher]

The GTV goes on a flat-bed to the body shop.  First time it's left here since 2006.  It'll come back all shiny and brand new looking!

[alfagtv58]

So do you have a time frame?

[Evan Bottcher]

Some time around the middle of the year it should be back with fresh metal and paint.  I normally wouldn't be too optimistic, but this seems to be a pretty firm timeline based on moving premises around then.  I'm not too fussed honestly, it's been sitting for four years already so 6 months or 12 months or 18 months wouldn't hurt me as long as it's moving

[Evan Bottcher]

Car in it's new home at Sam's.  The roof is stripped, it's had a very minor repair towards the front.  Already showing some former sins, Sam cut a nasty patch off the RH sill, metal had just been layered on top of the rusty section and then bogged up.  The bonnet has been damaged (something jumped on it?) at some point, I've already sourced a good replacement.  Door frames are pretty ugly, so I'm looking for a couple of doors.

We made a big list of repair sections to buy, going to favour getting fresh metal rather than labour-intensive repair.

[Evan Bottcher]

A couple of questions for the experts...

1)  Should my 1968 Series One 1750 GTV have the badge depression in the boot, or should it be flat?
2)  Should there be rubber seals on the exterior door handles?  These are not shown in the parts manual.

thanks!
Evan.