The adhesive used for these rubber strips is very messy. It is very stringy and flows from the tube even after you stop squeezing so the easiest and cleanliest method to apply it is with a brush.
Right as I finished this door a friend of the family called. Her son had locked his keys in his car in Nashville while at the hospital. She was at home because she has had cancer and has been in for treatments, so I drove up to country to his house, got his spare key and then continued on to Nashville to take it to him. Since I knew this would mostly wrap up any further progress on the car today and I already had my dirty work clothes on and I knew I would be very near the Pull-A-Part I loaded my toolbox, coveralls and a few supplies in the car before I left.
There were two things I wanted to pick up at Pull-A-Part. Because Park Avenue Buicks were so plentiful in the 90's there is always an abundant supply of them at the junkyard. These were good cars in their day and it was common to see them with well over 200,000 if cared for properly. I had been thinking about putting some of the optional dual-note horns that I had previously installed on my motorcycle on The Clam. They have a great sound, like a mini-train horn. Perfect for the inconsiderate and often dangerous drivers that have migrated to this area in the last 10 years. The last time I was here I remember walking past a Park Avenue Ultra and noticed it had the four horns.
Before I went for the horns I started in on the back window in this '77 Caprice that I had also noticed the last time I was here. There are some four doors available, though I see far fewer than I used to, the two door coupes have become quite rare. Yet still harder to find are the 77-79 model years that were used in Nascar, hence the Aerocoupe back window. These cars are very popular with local dirt and small track race car drivers. This is a good and bad thing. It means a handsome supply of the cars have been destroyed by the racers and typically, they just bust the back window out while preparing them. The small benefit is that because the racers do not care about many of the extra parts on the car, if you can catch them before they prep a car they will let you take off a lot of the parts and sometimes just give them to you. It saves them work most of the time. I already have one extra back window that I was given by a racer. This one had the rear defroster option.
After cleaning all the garbage out of the trunk and interior, it was very difficult to remove the window. I had a box cutter that unfolds like a knife. With these types of windows you have to cut through the thick rubber by making continuous cuts along the same path over and over until you are able to cut all the way through and separate the glass from the car. Before I was finished the box cutter itself actually broke. The internal piece that holds the blade in the handle broke. I had already spent a long time inside and out working on getting this window out. I decided to go for broke, quite literally. I literally prayed that this window would hold together and it seems my prayer was answered. Because I had no other suitable tools to remove a window I had to break almost every single rule about removing a window. I began prying it out with screwdrivers, little by litter. I even used a hammer to chisel the screwdrivers through in places where I had not finished cutting. When I was finally able to get my hands under the bottom edge the window actually flexed and I thought for sure it was going to break. Eventually I was standing on the trunk prying up on the window and got it lifted almost straight up, but the top was stuck with the very strong glue causing it to act like a hinge. I tried prying and yanking. I was afraid if I wasn't careful and it gave way I would fall off the car, which was already higher in the air than normal by being jacked up off the ground, and break the glass or my neck. I finally asked a few helpful guys passing by if they would help me grab one side and pull. They happened to have another box cutter and held the glass up while I trimmed the last pieces off. It was a windy day and it was actually somewhat difficult to carry the glass to the car without the wind catching the glass and making me drop it. I wanted to scavenge more parts from this car before she gets crushed, but as you'll see, I didn't have time. Notice the footprints on the roof and trunk.
As it turns out, an Aerocoupe back window will fit in the trunk of an Aerocoupe.
When I went to go back in the on duty police lady said they were closing, but I didn't have the horns yet. She had just seen me walk out with the window and was curious about it due to it's odd shape, so she had asked me some questions about it. Fortunately, she recognized me and I told her I just needed to grab a horn. She said I had better hurry because she would be coming to run me out in just a few minutes. I got all the way to the horns and realized they were metric. I couldn't get any of my sockets to fit so I literally ran back to the car and by this time they had turned the automatic doors off at the entrance to the junkyard so I manually opened them and ran back to the horns and I'm pretty sure I set a record for removing four car horns.
The window was pretty difficult to get out and my back is really killing me tonight.
