I'm about to fit a new windscreen and rubber to my 2cv but first I have a couple of questions.

One: On my original shell those holes in the frame recess at each side of the windscreen were covered by what looks like electrical tape, as was the bottom lip, is this necessary?

Two: The sealing rubber is a new one, do I need to use a silicon or mastic sealant when fitting it, and if so which is best and most readily available?

Thanks chaps.

The tape is to stop any water running inside the screen surround and rusting it form the inside, you can squirt some anti rust wax (insert your choice here) treatment in the holes before you cover them.
Best thing to help fit the new screen and rubber is to brush some of the aforementioned anti rust wax of your choice around the screen surround and rubber before fitting which aids fitting and stops rusting in future.

Ah! good. Well that's the first question answered then, and I have splatted so much waxoyl around the thing that come summer, or global warming (whichever is the soonest ) I expect puddles of wax to be dripping from every orifice. Any ideas about the use of a sealant.?

if you do use sealant, do not use anything silicone based, it oxodises metal faster and creates rust hot spots.

If you wanna use a sealant find some stuff called 'sikaflex' its a pro screen sealing/bonding agent. Usually available on e-bay if you have a look about.

in fact..........

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sika-Flex-Sikafle ... 439bbf4a23

I'd worry about using Sikaflex, I think if you ever had to change the screen again you'd never get it out. I think sloshing a load of waxoly type product about the joint and in all the crevices etc will be your best bet.

But That's not going by experience.

I've never used any sealant. The rubber surround is the seal.

I'd actually prefer not to use anything, simply because it complicates matters, and if it isn't essential then sod it I'll just go without. I had to ask though because I've no idea if the 'pro's use it when restoring their cars or not, or if I might end up with some other mysterious drips to trace.

Old-Nail,
I find that brushing Waxoyl into _all_ of the recesses formed in the seal, including where the glass sits, will help ensure easy fitting as it allows relative movement between the seal, metal surround and glass to take place more easily.
Same goes for the surround, if possible applying the coat of Waxoyl to that in advance of fitting the screen so that some of the solvent will have evaporated.
Attempting to fit a screen 'dry' more often than not results in disappointment and a search for another screen, from what I've heard.
I was very annoyed when a specialist not too far away from me managed to break a new screen which I'd sold to a customer for fitting elsewhere.
I asked for the broken screen to be returned, since there'd been a suggestion that the screen was faulty and noticed that there was no evidence of any lubricant having been near it.

Btw, tape is only needed to cover the apertures used for spot welding access in the pillars, so it's not really necessary along the lower edge.
However, if the tape is fitted so that it covers only the lip, that will help ease the string & seal into place.

Fastest I've ever replaced a 2CV screen was in a layby at the side of the M62, when the screen on my daughter's 2CV was broken less than 15 miles into her journey to Holyhead.
Just over 30 minutes, including sweeping up all the debris from the old tempered screen, which had gone into about a thousand pieces...

ken.

to add my 2p worth to al lof the above

silicone does not necessarilty cause problems for metal only the "acety..." stuff which creates acetic acid as part of the curing process
silka flex is a permanant bond stuff is it not? for glueng on tat-sorrry trim

i use silicone oil which was a specialist product for printng presses my dad got me a bottle years ago plumbers merchants do a silicone spray for the assembly of plastic joints

i dint like the idea of the white spirit in waxoyle as does mineral spirits not tend to rot rubber? Used it on one of my Dyanes and the rubber used t leave black streaks on a cloth when you rubbed it

last one i did i think i used tyre fitting soap which is water and talc based IIRC

fitting dry is at worse courting disaster and at least increases the swearyness of an already tense experience

not lost one yet either fitting or removing.
sean