MGB Register Forum

That all sounds encouraging Ian. I was really surprised to hear that the MG specialist garage hadn't used any sealant at all when they fitted the new screen and rubber seals in August 2018. Sitting in the parked car in a sudden light shower a few weeks ago established it was leaking all-round. They've added sealant since, and it seems to be dry now.

Vic - I would never consider you to be ignorant in any sense, but especially not in matters MG!!! 🤪

Ian F

Ian, thanks for your confidence in me.

No problem Vic.

I do realise you were just trying to elevate the quality of the debate on the forum!!

Ian F

To my mind, the best course is to get it replaced under your insurance. The excess is about the same price as the glass (£75.00 from B&G for a plain glass and you have to collect it - same with Moss and a similar price) and a lot less if it has a tint. That way if it happens to break during fitting, they have to get another and if it leaks they have to take it out again and fix it.
A member of our natter meeting had the screen replaced on his LE Roadster after a similar incident, and he rang the recommended windscreen people under the terms of his insurance. They told him they couldn't do it but after going back to his insurers, who insisted the could do it, they found a member of staff who knew how to fit screens to old cars! He had to come up to Stoke on Trent from Birmingham to do it. Ok the roadster is considerably more complex to replace than on the GT, and it did take all day but it shows they can fit screens to classic cars and they are not time constrained.
So I would go initially to your insurer, then to the windscreen people they recommend and be ready for a bit of 'discussion'!
Fitting the outer chrome trim cover is not that easy and it is easy to damage it, but then that is their problem not yours! If you go down this road don't be tempted to take the old screen out yourself as you are likely to damage the rubber, the locking strip and the cover. They should in any case replace the rubber and the locking strip as these are not reuseable items (unless you are doing the job yourself).
There is a caveat in all this which assumes when they take out the damaged screen there is no significant corrosion to the screen aperture which needs repairing first. It must be intact and likely to seal with screen sealer. Additionally you might have to wait a few days to get it done, but that is probably not too much of a problem this time of year.

Welcome back Peter!

Your contributions have been missed (by me at least).

Hope you enjoyed your sabbatical!

Ian F

Thanks everyone for your views.

The majority think the insurance company is the way to go.

I have decided to get a quote from my local MG garage and then ask my insurers to agree to my choice of glass fitter.

As Allan T says, I will have to pay a bigger excess but I think on balance this is the better route to take.

Many thanks for helping me to reach a decision. I hope my car will be back on the road sooner than if I opted to do it myself!

Dave

Just checked my own Footman James Policy, and the difference between excesses is smaller than I'd remembered - £75 when using FJ's preferred windscreen repairer, or £100 using any other.

You've jumped the way I hadn't expected, Dave!

None of us is exactly doing the conventional or wise thing, running and maintaining upwards of forty year old British sports cars. So it's nuts to expect us to go the conventional or wise route in any connected process. I'd thought you were probably leaning towards getting more fun and enjoyment from all the inconvenience and downfalls and frustrations of diy.

Whatever it means, this time around you've certainly chosen the route I would have.

Good luck!

Ian Fozzard wrote:
> Welcome back Peter!
>
> Your contributions have been missed (by me at least).
>
> Hope you enjoyed your sabbatical!
>
> Ian F
Thanks for your appreciation Ian. It has hardly been a sabbatical as I run a Classic Car meeting in Stone, Staffs called the Stone Classic Car Group. This incorporates a natter for the MG Car Club Midland Centre (The Stone Natter), the Mini Cooper Register (Mid Staffs Region) and Boundless by CSMA Classic Car Group (North Staffs). It is not a club in the way many MG meetings of the MG Owners Club are so there are no formalities other than an interest in classic and interesting cars. There are about 250 email address on the circulation and 185 people on our Facebook page. With those numbers we can put on some fairly large events several times a year, and this summer has been very busy - April 35 cars for a Drive it Day tour, Early June - 20+ cars taking part in the Stone Carnival Parade, August - 40 cars for our Summer tour of 165 miles, September - 70+ cars on display in Stone High Street, plus numerous small displays many to help local charities raise funds, last week a quiz and pie night with 13 teams of 4, and now I organising the Christmas dinner for December 2nd for around 70 people with an after dinner speaker.
Sadly the Forum has taken a bit of a back stage but I have looked frequently to see what has been going on and made a few (hopefully useful) contribution where I could.
Pete

where can you pay £300 for a B screen?
G