Yes, he would need the windshield...

A few months ago, I attempted to get a HUD unit from an SSE. Man o man is it a wiring nightmare. Half of the HUD wiring gets buried into the main wiring harness BEHIND the dash, the wiring goes this way, that way slip way, down way, everywhere. I gave up on it. I even tried to use the whole instrument cluster, but it still didn't work in my car.

I think it'll work without the special film in the glass but it'll be a bit blurry. Haven't tested this myself (not yet at least, I do have a HUD sitting in a box) but best bet is to just put it in and see how well it works. If you can read it fine, then your all set.