Panther Kallista Restoration: Windscreen

It's been awhile but it would appear that when your wife is on holiday then so are you, still I have progressed a little; after taking 2 steps back.

It had been my plan to fit the scuttle with the wiper motor, battery and everything screwed down so that I could then fit the bonnet and sit in the car, reach over and shuffle it into the correct position then easily tighten, I had done this before when checking the the scuttle was ok after making it. All went to plan and the scuttle looked great.

All polished and shiny ready for the bonnet which I duly fitted, life was good, the wiper drives fitted nicely and screwed down with a tight seal.

Time to fit the windscreen, or so I thought. This is where is where poor planing makes p"** poor performance.

I prepared the underside of the windscreen mounts by sanding off the high spots in the casting and stuck on sealing tape to prevent the rough surface from contacting the paint.

It fit into position lovely, the side bolts went in easily and I slotted in the centre bolts which Is when I realised that there was just no way I could get underneath to get the nuts onto the bolts. I tried everything I could think of but my fingers could not reach.

I guess this was when I realised that Lynne had the right idea and be on holiday, so car cover on and I went away for a good cry.

When I eventually got it together and started stripping everything apart things got even worse as I managed to knock the corner of the bonnet and damage the paint which will, I have been informed, require a whole re-spray of the bonnet for the match.

To cut a sad story short, it all came apart again and how the hell do you remove dried on silicone sealant.

The windscreen again went into position with the centre bolts in and tightened down.

I started to fit everything back together again when the next problem came to light which was a stripped thread on one of the windscreen drive wheel boxes, this had originally been damaged during the removal and must have been just holding on when I refitted it. So possibly it was a good thing this happened now when I could strip things down as it may have went sometime in the future and have been a lot worse. (Forever the optimist)

These are a Lucas item, No 72891D 2wb with a 32 tooth cog and 64mm spindle to the top of the spline which as luck would have it is exactly the same one as sold by SVC, slightly different in that there is a turned section on the original drive which is filled with a rubber sheath which is not on the SVC box. Can't see this as a problem and I ain't got a choice.

The windscreen is tightened in the centre but I have left the side bolts just nipped as there is still some movement required when I set up the door seals and for the fitting of the hood.

I had only one door fitted so today's job was fitting the other, with the passenger door I had left the hinges on the door and offered the door to the car, this worked but took a friend (Ben) to help because of the weight. Only Lynne to help today so change of plan, which turned out was the easier method.

I first fit the hinges to the car and lightly nipped up to allow some play and then offered the door up to the hinges and fit the door onto the lock, it was then a simple matter of bolting on from the inside.

There is quite a gap between the door quarter light and the windscreen.

I can get a bit more play on the windscreen and a little more forward movement on the door but I recon this was the same from build, probably how both doors rusted in the same place where the quarter light meets the windscreen.

I had bought a length of new seal and have fitted with the top edge left a little long so as to trim when the soft top is on.