|
|
Posted by Chriscase on Tuesday, May 26, 2009 at 00:38:20 :
In Reply to: Windshield glass / Single piece windows / etc. posted by RSBuc (in Toronto) on Monday, May 25, 2009 at 15:30:21 :
I made my own glass, using junk yard front windshields from motor homes and bread trucks. It's the only places that two-ply glass has been used for the last 30 years. The discoloration matchs the rest of the old glass in my '53.
Except for my rear windshield, it got wire-mesh glass- I liked the industrial look. Then, as I installed it, I got to thinking what a poor seal the rubber u-channel is. And the probably relation of a leaky rear window with all those cabs that have rusted out along the back edge. So I urethaned that window in.
And notice the way the windshield frame rusts out at the lower outside corners first? So I drilled 3/32" inch holes at the low points, through both layers, behind the rubber weatherstrip area. Now water that gets in from the splice joint on the sides can drain out, and so can water that gets in around the edges of the glass. You don't want to urethane the windshield completely, you will never get it apart, ruining a $800 frame.
Front and rear, I used rubber bits to center the glass in it's slots, and ran a bead of sealant around the edges. My biggest regret on my restoration was that I didn't buy a power caulking gun for that operation. My tired old hands made a glooppy permanent mess. I would have been neater to squirt it on the street, then scrape up and apply it with a popsicle stick that the dog had chewed on. I can't type, can't play musical instruments, and can't caulk a straight line.