1957 - Reinstalling The Hardtop Rear Window

[Hwoodlive]

Having just reinstalled the rear window on my 1957’s hardtop for the second time, I wanted to outline my procedure, and perhaps clear up many of the frustratingly vague and contradictory how-to suggestions. About 4 years ago I gave my car a quickie backyard paint job (the existing paint was in awful shape), which meant removing and reinstalling the back window. That reinstall was difficult, as I couldn’t get the window properly seated; it felt as if the gasket was slightly too large and I was unable to massage the window assembly fully into the opening. Fast-forward to summer 2025. My amateur paint job was toast, so again, out came the window to prep for new paint. For me, the hitch in reinstalling the window was when to incorporate the stainless trim. My 1957 Ford & Thunderbird shop manual offered no help, as it only explains the procedure for the full-size Fords. Some on this forum suggested installing the window-and-gasket assembly, then pushing in the stainless to seal the deal. No dice. No amount of soapy water and pushing and pulling got me anywhere. So I removed the window assembly again, inserted the stainless, THEN installed the whole thing. It worked. I used a rubber mallet (gently!) in a couple areas to help fully seat the stainless. Some notes: 1) the nylon cord (for coaxing the gasket edges inside the top) is essential, but it doesn’t have to be one contiguous piece. I didn’t have a section of cord long enough, so I used three different sections, which actually made it easier because I could work the gasket in three different areas at once. 2) For this install, my gasket was a Dennis Carpenter product. It was very pliable, much more so than what my memory recalls from the previous effort (I have receipts for that prior gasket, but sadly, no brand name is shown). Plus, the Carpenter repop’s seam is pretty subtle, so while I didn’t precisely center it, I think it’s fairly unnoticeable. 3) I had no help during this procedure. It was all just me. The top was off the car, sitting on a pair of sawhorses so that I could easily reach around and underneath. 4) All my work is done outside, and the temperature during this job was pretty warm, around 90 F degrees, which probably helped the pliability of the gasket. — I hope this experience helps others in determining which order of events works best for them. I'll have to refer back to this post next time I do my own window... again. 🙂

This page contains affiliate links for which I may be compensated. As an eBay Partner, and Amazon Associate I may be compensated if you make a purchase at no cost to you.