Back in May, I had the rear windscreen removed on my 450SLC. The idea was to replace the old windscreen that was delaminated with a good used unit I had purchased from the MB Spares clearance sale. I had the rust under the screen fixed in 2006, so I assumed it would be a straight swap. Sadly, during the C107 rear windscreen installation, no sealant was used. over the years since, water had seeped between the seal and the body creating rust.
Obviously I wasn’t going to put the new window in with the rust around the aperture, so I had the car fixed. This wasn’t a cheap exercise, but much better to do it now before the rust was too bad. The car being finished coincided with the COVID19 lockdown in Sydney, so it has been sitting for the last couple of months.
This week, I was finally able to have the C107 rear windscreen installation completed. The first step was putting the chrome surround into the window seal.
The windscreen installer used a lubricant to work the chrome into the seal. He then used tape to prevent the chrome popping out when the screen went into the car. At the same time he put some thin rope into a cavity in the seal. Then it was on to the harder part – the actual C107 rear windscreen installation.
I was surprised how much force was needed to get the screen in. It was lined up against the aperture and then a combination of pressure while the thin rope was removed with fairly hard whacks the ball of the hand got the screen to slowly work its way into place. I was a bit nervous during this part of the install as I heard the reputation that these screens have for being fragile. I was very glad I wasn’t doing it!
This time, the installer used sealant so there is far less chance of the rust coming back. On historic rego, the 450SLC does not get wet as often as it did on full rego either.
The new screen was finally in and looked great. From there, it was a simple matter of reconnecting the electrical connection for the heated rear glass. For some reason, a previous owner had cut a rough hole in the aperture for the electrical cable. This is rather odd when there is a factory hole only a few CM away. During the rust repair I had the rough hole removed.
I have not yet tested the electrical function, so I am not sure it still works. It certainly didn’t on my old screen, so any function here would be a bonus. Since the SLC had not been driven properly since may, but the time the screen was installed it was running on 6 cylinders. A new tank of petrol, and a 20km drive sorted that out.
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