180 gallon, replacing front panel! HELP

Okay guys, I finally got my glass cages starfire front panel for my 180 gallon rebuild... the tank held water perfectly, but I decided to replace the old tinted scratched up front panel... with a nice starfire panel.



So.. I attempted two times already to get this front panel installed correctly.. with RTV clear 108. The first attempt i just layed the front panel on (tank sitting on its back)... and I immediately noticed the panels weight squeezed what seemed to be all the silicone out from the seems... I took it apart and cleaned all surfaces and then went in for a second shot!!



This time.... I decided to shim 1/16 of an inch... did the injection style.. all seemed to go well... until an hour later... when I noticed where the front panel lays on the bottem panel... there were massive air bubbles all throughout the seam... I took the whole tank apart again.. and cleaned all the surface back down to the clean glass.....



I am so frustrated now... very very very frustrated.. but I do not want to give up.. I am gonna free my mind of it tonight... and reclean all the surfaces of silicone while I wait for the rtv 108 from grainger to come tuesday...





CAN SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME... I have rebuilt many 55 gallon tanks.. but I feel this old 180 gallon oceanic is defeating me...



Can somebody please guide me.. on how to effectively get this panel to seal correctly.. how exactly should I do it.. and if you guys would use the shim method or not... pleaseeeeee helppppppp SOS!! lol



thanks guys