Front Windscreen Advice

[ShivasRegal 0]

Hi I'm interested in a corrado. The owner has been quite upfront about everything and has said when he bought the car he was unhappy with the front windscreen. Obviously it had been changed and the fitters had left a mess of sealant. This is something he knew when buying the car and set out to remedy once in his ownership.

 

He subsequently cleaned it all up and put another bead of sealant with the windscreen in situ.

 

However it seems that he has introduced a leak, which was obviously there before hence the mess of sealant in the first place.

 

I'm not familiar with the front windscreen of a corrado so am looking for some advice.

 

Should I walk away from the car? Can it be fixed? how has this been ballsed up in the first place.?

 

Winter is coming and i wouldn't want ingress of expanding water around the screen.

 

Many Thanks

[robrado974 1]

My first thoughts are the pillars are shot . This occurs from poorly fitted screens . If you purchased the car and found that this was the problem , you would need a trip to the body shop , have them cut out and replaced . I'm not saying that this is definitely the problem , but it seems likely .

[ShivasRegal 0]

When you say pillars you mean the actual A pillar that the glass sits in? And by shot you imply rusted?

[seanl82 23]

Exactly that. It's very common as screen fitters often scratch the paint around the lip. As soon as water is introduced it obviously corrodes, but is missed until it's too late as it's hidden. If it was likely replaced a few year ago, the metal will need cutting out and the whole process could prove costly.

[VW_OwneR_85 1]

the fact that its leaking is kinda off putting because even if you balls up sealing the windscreen down upon installation for it to leak is almost impossible IMO , when installing the screen you run a bead of adhesive {its water proof} around the entire perimeter of the screen out of place with the screen laid flat on a bench etc and then place that screen with suction cups into the channels so there is physically no where for water to enter as the entire perimeter is taken care of unless there is rust holes in the channels ?, but obviously with the screen already fitted you don't know for sure whats under there, everything is fixable though just means you need to knock him down in price to compensate for it and then pay a visit to your local bodyshop,

[robrado974 1]

Sorry by shot i meant rusted to death , as Sean says this is what happens . You will proberbly need a new screen too . If it was leaking and theres not much of the pillars left , the fitter would have have put loads of sealant in place to hold the screen and stop it leaking . It therefore makes it very difficult to remove and they break . I found this out when mine went into be painted . I had no leaks , but the pillars were rusted away . I got my new ones from VW but i dont think they are available anymore , as said they will have to be made up .

[VAG-hag 0]

Id say there is a risk with the car. Best case it needs the screen re fitting, this would probably break the screen currently in place.

 

worse case you have to re fit or replace the glass AND treat, cut, seal your A pillars. If the car is cheap then maybe worth a shot but screens with corrados bring horror stories. Apparently its not hard whenyou know how but for some reason there have been plenty of cock ups ive read about. Could be a big job and pricy. So again its down to risk calculation.

[ShivasRegal 0]

thanks guys...much appreciated

[ShivasRegal 0]

Just out of interest if you were gonna take a punt on this what would you pay...122K. Full documented..storm model. mechanically sound. my pal has been welding campervans all his life so it probably can be sorted. just the hassle of it

Edited November 5, 2014 by ShivasRegal

[Gti_Jamo 10]

Look at my thread ( link below ) for what can happen to the windscreen frame in regards to rust mate.

[davidwort 0]

Just out of interest if you were gonna take a punt on this what would you pay...122K. Full documented..storm model. mechanically sound. my pal has been welding campervans all his life so it probably can be sorted. just the hassle of it

 

very, very hard to say, prices vary hugely in any case on similar cars, if the rest is excellent then as a bargaining chip you could say it's going to need between 500 and a grand worth of screen and bodywork and get a deal, but you need to very thoroughly look at the rest of the car and bear in mind what you want, how long you want to keep it and how much more you want to spend on it over the time you want to keep it, nice leather, good engine, receipts?, rest of it straight and rot free? just don't fall for the storm badge, there may still be other VR6s around that would be a better buy.

[Glassman 10]

First and foremost, the Corrado windscreen isn't a great design; a lot of experienced fitters struggle to get them right. That said the average windscreen fitter is not up to an acceptable standard and there are a new wave of 'techs' who lack experience and are totally void of common sense.

 

The issue is that the screen (sat on a bead of PUR adhesive) doesn't have much room between it, and the pinchweld. Getting the PUR bead height/pitch is the key to getting these right. Problems start when the average Joe Fitter turns up and panics, and hacks into the PUR with a knife. Furthermore, when the fresh adhesive is applied, they put too much on, and to get the screen to sit at the required height, it has to be pushed down which squashes the adhesive flat. A high bead wall then compresses down to a wide mess. The next time the screen is changed, the next fitter then has to do even more hacking - aggressive hacking - and so the problem worsens.

 

Another issue is the cutting back of the cured PUR which many used (and still do) long blades.

 

An experienced fitter can successfully remove and refit the windscreen. Unfortunately, there's no way of telling for sure what condition the pinchweld/aperture is in with the windscreen in place. You can carry out a water test to see how well it holds up against leakages, and to a degree, removing the A-pillar trims and pulling out the headliner bead can also give you an idea of how well/bad things are.

 

If you like the car, negotiate a price which will allow you to budget some cost towards any repairs which might be needed; a remove and refit of the windscreen at least. Dependent on who you use, you might be in for a new screen too as not all fitters can remove these screens intact. To be fair, these windscreens can be a real pig to get out, but not impossible.