Reproduction Parts for 1916-1964 Chevrolet Passenger Cars & 1918-1987 Chevrolet & GMC Trucks


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Joined: Sep 2021
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Shade Tree Mechanic
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Shade Tree Mechanic
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I am replacing all the glass in my ’45 Chevy Pickup. I do have 1 uncracked side window, but it has the usual discoloring around the edges. I don’t necessarily want my truck to look like it just rolled off the line, but I do want the windows to look consistent.

Since I’ve never worked with auto glass, I’ve been nervous about approaching this aspect of my restoration. In considering my options, I’m definitely in a position to depend on others to put this package together.

Bob’s Classic Auto Glass rose to the top of my on-line searching. Gave them a call, Jay answer right away. He answered all my questions knowledgeably for a 1/2 hour. If there was a little bit of a question, Bob was right there in the background to answer as I listened in.

There are several curve balls to this project that Jay covered that I had no inkling of. Some of them made me happy that Bob’s is a 1-stop-shop. I was able to order quality rubber seals from them as well as glass. But Jay did tell me about the “glass setting tape” aspect of the job, where I’ll have to find a local auto glass shop that does old cars for that.

By the end of it, I had confidence enough to pay about $800, 50% of it non-glass components. The credit card will not be charged until the package is ready to ship, which will be about a month. Bob’s did have a couple bad reviews, but they were both related to initially emailing rather than calling them. That was super easy to get around!

I’ll add to this thread as I get along. In the mean time, we’d all like to get your input.

Jake

Last edited by IdahoLemon; 05/27/23 01:26 PM.
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Shade Tree Mechanic
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Shade Tree Mechanic
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P.S. In terms of OEM for Judging, Jay said there are companies that lighly sand blast the period correct markings on unmaked glass. So, to leave that option open, I ordered CLEAR glass.

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Shade Tree Mechanic
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The glass kit has arrived from Bob's Classic Auto Glass.

The shipping box was incredible! They used spray foam to solidify the contents into a solid block of well packaged components. Then the box was secured with serious staples. Absolutely no damage. The 5 pieces of glass look great, exactly what I ordered. Each individually wrapped, clean with no scratches. The quality rubber seals are from Steele Rubber Products, so they are an excellent source.

This is their “logo” or "Bug" (see photo). This Bug is not included, there are no markings on the glass. The top line of their Bug designates it is “Safety” glass, in this case laminated. This is commonly used in windshields and a lesser grade of glass used for side and back windows. However, Bob’s provided all 5 pieces of my kit in this higher grade glass, probably for expediency sake. Line 2 is American National Standards Institute, the specific “Safety” standard and the year of manufacture. Line 3 is thickness in MM and decimal of inch, Safety Glazing Certification Council.

Most Bugs have an "AS" (American Standard) rating, IMO the most informative data in the Bug. It tells what positions the glass can be used. In these modern times, AS-1 means windshield grade, AS-2 means good for all non-windshield applications and A-3 means tinted in side and back locations. In the case of my glass from Bob's, the AS rating was described within the safety standard and does not have an "AS" designation.

However, back in the '40s, the AS rating system was even simpler. See in the photos, a side Bug and a windshield Bug of '45 and '46. The side window just says "AS", the Windshield says "AS-WS", the WS meaning windshield. In layman's terms, windshield glass is manufatured such that it shatters into small pieces and has structural strength. The side glass will crack rather than shatter. They are both laminated.

Hopefully there are guys with better knowledge who will chime in.

For DIY application of the manufacture “Bug” on each piece of glass, the best option I’ve found is a company called Mark-N-Gard; https://www.markngard.com/product-category/custom-stencils/. The etching is not done by media blasting as mentioned in previous posting. It's done with an acid based glass etching cream dauber, available with the stencil kit.

From an auto glass shop that has done a great job for me in the past, they gave me an estimate of $500-700 to do the entire installation. I think the job is tricky enough, I’m going to go that route.

More updates to follow.

Attached Images
0420231157.jpg IMG_3882.jpeg Right Windshield .jpg
Last edited by IdahoLemon; 05/27/23 01:24 PM.
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Shade Tree Mechanic
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Now for the installation at the glass shop.

I’m glad I did it, but mainly as a result of the discounted price the owner gave me. The head Tech had 16 hours into it. Rather than charging me the standard shop rate of $120/hr, he charged me $700. His estimate was $500 - $700. The workmanship is lousy.

There were a bunch of hick-ups in the process:

* The Head Tech was put on my job. On the 2nd day, he discovered the rubber seal kit I had provided was missing 2 critical pieces. I then had to order them expedited shipping. I had never paid much attention to those prices until this episode. It ain’t cheep! Come to find out, I HAD INCLUDED THEM them right in the assortment laid out on his work bench!!
* I had taken the door window regulators out to clean them up & check them out. I had gone to some trouble to locate and package the 8 OEM mounting screws with their star lock washers for easy use. He only installed 5 of the 8 screws, only used 1 lock washer and lost the other 3 screws. They will be a chore to replace.
* The driver’s side regulator lowers the window down, but only to the point where it sticks up above the bottom of the window opening more than an inch. Ouch. When I pointed this out, he acted like he was unaware. Has not yet been figured out why.
* There’s an inch long scrape to bare metal out of the new exterior paint of that same window opening and a smaller one above the windshield.
* The divider between the 2 windshield pieces of glass is not properly seated. I've now fixed it, the frame was not properly assembled.
* There was trouble with rust in the tapped threads of one of the windshield frame assembly screws holes. Rather than chase them, he reefed on the screw hard enough to break the head off. I doubt an Easy-Out is going to work on that tiny 1/8” screw. Probably a Heli-Coil job in the end.
* He did the same thing on a neighboring screw, but before braking the head off, he left it an 1/8th proud. I've now simply chased those threads, no problem.
* The top edge of the windshield is barely seated in the frame. I've tried to pipe clamp the frame together, but it didn't want to go. Quit before I broke the glass.
* When I got home, I was missing a 1.5” X 12” X 1/8” rubber gasket to be used later. He can’t find it.

All of these things need to be fixed by myself. It will take several hours. On the other hand, the parts of the job that intimidated me are pretty much completed. Also, more than a week's worth of head aches was traded out with $700 cash.

My experience; Had I done the job myself, it would have taken 2-3 times longer & just as many mistakes. However, my mistakes would have been related to the actual glass installation (maybe breakage), not careless mechanical mistakes. Glass installers are not necessarily good mechanics. Plus they are not necessarily focused on doing a good job. This BTW, is a very reputable auto glass shop.

If I had it to do over again: I’d familiarize myself with all the individual parts of the rubber seal kit; clean, chase and anti-seize paste on all threads; glue lock washers to all screws and tape over all painted surfaces subject to accidents.

After doing all of the above, I’d probably attempt it myself. If I ran into something I couldn’t figure out (even after YouTube), I’d take it into the glass shop and ask for advise or ask them to complete that specific aspect of the job. I find shop owners have respect for and want to help guys who show up with informed questions and decent workmanship.

Finally, the rubber seal kit provided by Bob's Classic Auto Glass had some less than ideal parts. For instance, the glass sweeps at the bottom of the door window openings need to be changed out for the correct ones.

More to come as I get all the kinks worked out and have some photos I can be proud of.

Last edited by IdahoLemon; 05/27/23 07:15 PM.

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