Replacement Windscreen :(

[Weathers]

Hi all

My windscreen has got a bloody great big crack across it as of this afternoon. My insurance company does do windscreen cover (A-plan Insurance has about £70ish excess) BUT is it possible to get the screen replaced or is it a new screen "kit" with wing mirrors etc from Westfield required at about 3-4 hundred quid?

And just to sound really stupid, I have a heater that demists the screen but is that classed as a heated screen or is there an extra "element" a bit like the rear one in most cars? What would I be looking for to find out if it is?

I'm keen to keep the original windscreen "frame" if possible because it's got all the fittings for the door and roof poppers neatly fitted.

Sorry if I am asking something that has been asked before or is really stupid but I got a real case of p*sssedoffedness and am not thinking particularly clearly.

Cheers

Chris

[graham b]

I got mine from westfield a couple of years ago it was £220 delivered.
It was not an electric heated one.
I think pistol Pete knows where to get them reglazed. Into the frame.
Or maybe someone on here has a spare.

[ChrisS]

I've done a DIY windscreen repair on ours before. Take the screen frame off the car, carefully strip off the frame from the glass (you'll see the fixing screws once you get it off the car, make a template, take it to your friendly local glass place, get them to cut you a new one in toughened glass. That's the cheap-ass way. Next and much easier is a replacement screen direct from Westfield but it's understandably more expensive and as you have the heated version, even more so.

the screens come with the roof fixing studs attached, but which type do you have? Current ones only have one stud each side and the roof is attached using a plastic moulding that sits over the top of the frame. Early cars had studs all along the top of the frame. I guess if one was keen, you could buy a new heated screen and retro-fit the glass into an old style frame to retain the roof fixings?

Depending on how the car was put together, you may well find a significant bead of silicone along the bottom between the screen frame and the scuttle. Usually hidden behind the screen fillet.

Pictures might help?

'''Tis infuriating though isn't it. I broke the my first one when fitting the roof when I first built the car. Pulled it a tad too tight, the frame bent at the fixing screws (old style method of fixings) and the glass cracked. Second one was a stone, third one came when we fitted a new roof, had to convert to new style screen and pillars in the end. Still, 3 in 25 years ain't bad.

[greenwoo]

Chris, if its a true heated screen then from various angles you should be able to see the tiny/thin elements running across it, my guess is that it prob isn't?
As for replacing as has been said above, i'd imagine that you could easily make a template and get toughened glass cut to size, that's what owners of other kit makes do/can do....so imagine that should hold good for a westie too.

Shall we call you 'Lucky' from now now?

[Martin S]

Its not heated

[steve m]

Not that Martin would know mmm, heated screen or not ?

Only joking Martin !!

I believe you can get laminated screens cut at any good glass place,
just take the glass out, as intact as you can as a template

steve

[Fury1630]

When I had the Rickman the windscreen was not a standard part. The only way to get a new one was to take the old one to a glass shop & have them use it as a template.

My heated & CURVED screen for the Fury was £110 - jus' sayin' .

[Weathers]

Rang A-Plan as I have windscreen cover on my car insurance. £75 excess for a new windscreen sourced straight from Westfield. Result. Had a few chips anyway so was on the list of very few imperfections on the car.

I just hope who ever does the fitting knows what they're doing!