Restoration of top cover glass for IBM 1132 printer

GLASS BROKE ON TOP COVER

The cover of the 1132 printer has a glass window to allow the operator to watch what is being printed while lowering the noise due to the cover being closed. Sometime in the past this printer had its glass cover broken - bits of glass were inside the machine although most had been cleaned up before I received the machine for renovation. 

The glass had rubber channels around all four edges. These fit under metal channels that hold the rubber and glass up against the underside of the printer cover. 

All the parts to hold the sheet of glass in place were present - minus the nuts - so all I needed to do was buy a replacement glass or acrylic sheet to the correct size.

BUYING REPLACEMENT ACRYLIC

Ace Hardware in my area has a service to cut acrylic sheets to size, which is perfect for a replacement. They can also cut glass if I decide to go with a glass sheet instead. I carefully measured the size I needed and then went to the hardware store to get the new window cut. 

The rubber channels from IBM are so degraded that they don't work well. I believe I will need to buy some weatherstrips and press them into service. 

Too, one of the edges is rusted out (see below). I fit the acrylic I had cut onto the printer, but have left the peel off plastic cover to minimize scratches until the printer arrives back at its home in New Jersey.

DEALING WITH SEVERE RUSTING ON RECESS IN THE COVER

The glass plate is slanted with the front lower and the back higher so the operator looking through the top gets a good view of the printed page yet the cover clears the tall forms tractor on the back of the carriage. This forms a recess at the front where rainwater collected and sat for long periods of time, judging by the rusting away of the sheet metal rising vertically from the glass to the top of the cover at that recess. The paint is peeling away, creating a mottled appearance of rust and thick peeling paint. 

I plan to remove the paint from the vertical sheet, sand the surface a bit, use rust converter to seal the surface, and then spray paint as close to a color match as I could. The same spray paint will be used to touch up the rotary mode switch on the IBM 1130 which had some rust spots and peeling paint.