Here's another one-hour project. Today's piece of it had to be under 30 minutes, since I'd promised to help my kid with something when he got home from school.
A couple of years ago, I broke my windshield by putting too much pressure on the rear-view mirror stalk while adusting a camera I have mounted there. I ruined the replacement during the last track day -- which is something you have to accept when you put your car in those kinds of situations. This week I took the windshield out and decided that before I'd replace it, I'd at least get something out of it -- making lemonade when life throws a lemon at your windshield.
So I welded a pair of tabs between the cage and the A pillars of the car. (That was the first 30 minutes.) There are already connecting points at the B pillars, but you can feel the gap between the cage and the car change if you put a finger in the right place. These old cars are very light, but they're also very flexible compared to modern cars.
I've been using the same windshield guy for a long time. And I've never had a bad experience with him. But I opted to re-use the windshiled trim piece for a second time, and it finally reached a point where it wouldn't stay seated in the windshield seal. The problem is that these aluminum pieces are extremely sensitive to any bend at all. And because it's an old Porsche part, it's also $150 -- just for the metal trim pieces. (That's more than I paid for the windshield.)
So the old trim didn't work, and the windshield guy agreed to come back when I had a new set of trim pieces. That was fine, except the trim pieces arrived badly bent and had to go back. Then when the replacement set arrived, it was going to be five days before the guy could make it back out.
I put in the rear glass on the car. And I've been the assistant for the install of the front windshield. But these old cars are not very consistently shaped. And the trim is a huge headache. If it's flexed a few millimeters too much, it simply won't stay seated and you've got to write another $150 check.
But I'm impatient.
So today I took out the new trim and decided I'd try it. The job is usually a two-man deal, with one applying pressure from the outside while the other brings the lip of the inner seal into position. But once I got the trim to seat in the seal, I decided to just go for it and risk sinking another $150 into the job if I messed it up.
There were a few moments of drama, getting it correctly positioned. But it worked fine.
In fact, I was able to get the corners to hold the seal correctly, which I've never seen happen on my particular car.
And the project with the kid? Based on a post on this board, we made a new version of a 'water blob,' which is a piece of clear sheet plastic sealed up with heat and filled with water.
Here's my son helping with the iron that's used to melt the edges of the plastic together.
They love it. We put one on the back deck, initially. And then tried this new, thicker one in the front yard.