Popped the rear windshield out...

Popped the rear windshield out wheelin, so what's the best way to put it back in? push into place w/the seal then pull the seal over the lip from the inside? This is on a '90.

that's about it....there isn't much to them

Just do what you did to pop it out in reverse.

Ideally it is a two person job but I have done it several times myself. There is a old indian trick. Put the rubber seal in the frame. Get some roughly .10" sash cord and lay it in the channel where the glass will go. Put the gas in the channel as far as it will go. Slowly pull the cord out and it will flip the rubber out and around the edge of the glass. When you get done, use a small syringe and roughly 16 gauge needle to lay a bead of silicone between the glass and rubber.

If the seal is not damaged, you should not need the silicone. Make sure all mating surfaces are clean. If the rubber is damaged, torn, cracked, etc. then you will probably need some kind of sealer.

The hatch glass is easy to do single-handed, because you can lay the glass on the open hatch. Use sash cord as above, or something around 3/16" thick rope. Install the seal on the glass, lay the glass on the hatch, and put the rope into the groove of the seal so that the two ends cross each other at a corner. Now carefully pull on the rope to feed the inner lip of the seal over the lip of the hatch. Once you have the whole thing in place it makes sense. You can zip in a rear hatch glass in about 30 seconds.

Note that my method is the reverse of Old Man's: put the glass into the seal first, and use the rope to pull the seal onto the hatch. The groove for the pinch weld (or equivalent on a fiberglass hatch) is looser than that for the glass, and is made for this procedure. It is also designed specifically to be done from outside in. The outside flange on the seal is tighter and deeper than the inside, making it very difficult to do the same thing from inside out.

Thanks guys. The rear windshield is a funny design on the older XJ's, I've seen a dozen or so of these get rolled and the rear windshields all just pop out in one piece.

Langer 1-I was taking a hill and my spare got loose and thumped the glass, heard more trail noise and looked back in my rearview and saw no glass so I thought the hatch opened, the defroster cables stopped the glass from hitting the ground.

I'm just waiting for my rear windows to pop out to use as an excuse to the wife to put removeable plexi' in. That way I'm that much closer to wheelin' topless.
EDIT: If you're going to do anything with glass, trust M. Currie. He's explained it so clearly before that I could picture the steps when no one else got beyond "use some string and push the glass back in while pulling on the string."

Mine does this..

I was pulling someone out of a mudhole and the window popped out.. defrost wiring saved it..

X2 with M. Currie. Mine use to pop out once in a while before I got the cracks fixed on the window frame of the hatch. It's easier to do the rope trick from the inside as Matthew said. I tried the other way first and wasn't getting anywhere until I switched and it went at it from the inside. If you're doing it by yourself, keeping the hatch open is a simple trick that keep the glass from falling and breaking. I cut an old broom handle to the correct length to keep the hatch from closing while I pulled the seal into place with the rope. I also used liquid soap to lubricate the seal to keep from tearing the rubber while pulling on the rope. I'm not sure if this is a good idea if you're planning to use silicone to seal the glass in, but it sure makes it easier to get the glass and seal in place. Good Luck

Woody