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.
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.
