Plate Glass or Not?

1) Has anyone answered Marty's original question??..."... My question is, how can I tell if the side glass is plate glass, or if it's been upgraded with tempered glass?. Is the answer buried somewhere in the repsonses from Fordbarners?
2) You can identify laminated glass from the edge being glass/plastic lamina/glass and also holding a coin against the glass and looking obliquely gives extra reflection from all the surfaces .. but how can you identify tempered without smashing it please?
3) Y blockhead writes "Laminated glass should not be used in your side glass" ...Why not, please?
 
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That information was given to me from a club member that got his tempered glass from those folks.
 
Use a pair of linear polarized sunglasses to examine the glass from several angles in sunlight. If it is tempered you will see a repetitive geometric stress pattern. You may need to rotate the glasses to get the proper polarization direction.

TOP without, BOTTOM with polarized glasses or camera filter.
190px-CarWindowPolarization.jpg


Plate glass may show some rainbow stress pattern, but it will not be geometric and will not cover the entire sheet.

You can tell if your sunglasses are linearly polarized by looking at a blue sky 90 degrees from the sun and rotating them. The blue will go from light to dark. Some $$$ sunglasses have circular polarization and these will not work. Cheap sunglasses are not polarized at all.
 
Thanks John Buckley for your question a few posts ago, and thanks Mike K for your reply. I have noticed this geometric pattern before when wearing polarized sunglasses and so took those glasses and tried them out and all my cars just now. On the model lay I see no geometric patterns on the side or back glass. However I also see none on The side or back glass of my 2004 Ford Escape, nor my 2017 F150. All the side and back glass on my 2017 Mustang do in fact have pronounced geometric patterns. All of the glass on the modern cars is either AS2 or AS3 tempered glass. So I was getting close to simply breaking one of the panes on the Model A and assuming the rest were whatever it was, when I checked out the top edge of one of the rear windows. Attached are two photos of some of the chips I found on the upper edge. I believe these chips mean that that window is plate glass, not laminated or tempered based on all the reading of the helpful links posted above. Thanks everyone for your help, I guess I have plate glass and need to change it out. :-/ But at least I know.
 

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I was told by my glass guy that laminated glass is "flexible" and should NOT be used in side glass unless it was supported on all sides. Any movable side glass that doesn't have the chrome strip (a la 50's cars) will potentially crack. His suggestion was to use only tempered glass in the side windows. Which I did.
 
I have laminated glass in all the windows in my tudor and have had no problems but then its only been in the car for 20 yrs and I will have to wait and see.
 
It is amusing...

I like telling my top tech at the shop some of this stuff, he just shakes his head and walks away..
Then says Barn Brains lol

Now i have more ammo for monday oil, stp and glass

Wilkipiedia is ur friend
 
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This conversation is turning into one of those "My oil is best" threads... :p:p

This true, except that a whole bunch of us (me included) now know the "scoop" on the merits and downsides of laminated glass.

I do remember a day back in the 70s when the advice (Rick Freeman) was to go to your local glass shop and get a piece made (obviously laminated as thats what they mostly do.)

Today, as I have said, a second look is warranted.

And kudos to those who lay out the options - on both sides.

Joe K
 
Ed, did you get yours made somewhere in Pinckney?

One more question. Does everyone replace the rear window (backlight) with a safety-type glass too?

Marty
 
MartyAndrew said:
Ed, did you get yours made somewhere in Pinckney?

One more question. Does everyone replace the rear window (backlight) with a safety-type glass too? Marty
Click to expand...
Don't know about the other guys, but I replaced all the glass with laminated as my Tudor had plate in every window (and I do love life)
 
About 1980 the wind caught the screen door my cousin's 6 year old daughter was walking through. The plate glass shattered and a large piece cut her in the back of the neck. Luckily it wasn't serious enough to require stiches, but that's the reason plate glass isn't even used in screen doors any more.
 
2manycars said:
I can't tell you if your glass is plate glass or tempered glass, but if you think it might be safety plate (3 layers: glass, plastic, glass) just hold a pen or pencil against the glass and look at the glass at an angle. If it is plate glass you will see one reflection. If it is safety plate you will see two reflections.
Click to expand...

johnbuckley said:
1) Has anyone answered Marty's original question??..."... My question is, how can I tell if the side glass is plate glass, or if it's been upgraded with tempered glass?. Is the answer buried somewhere in the repsonses from Fordbarners?
2) You can identify laminated glass from the edge being glass/plastic lamina/glass and also holding a coin against the glass and looking obliquely gives extra reflection from all the surfaces .. but how can you identify tempered without smashing it please?
3) Y blockhead writes "Laminated glass should not be used in your side glass" ...Why not, please?
Click to expand...

Several years ago I was told I could hold a business card at an angle to the glass. If it showed a double image reflection, it was laminated and if single it was plate. Since I could see the laminate on a door window I knew it was laminated and it did show a double image. Curious about the windshield, I did the same and it showed a double image. Just to "know" for sure, I pulled the windshield and removed the top section. It turned out to be plate so obviously I had it replaced. At any rate I wouldn't trust the double image test.
 
Yea, I didn't have a flame handy (I bet in the past everyone had a zippo in their pocket) but I used an iPhone flashlight which I DID have in my pocket. When I held it up to any window on my Model A or any window on any modern car in my driveway I got 3 reflections, from bright to dark. Only exception was the tinted portion of the top of my Mustang windshield. There, I only got one reflection. You could see #2 and #3 reflections come back as I moved the light away from the tinted portion toward the clear portion.

I'm also skeptical of the flame method.

I'm going with chipped edges, no laminate layer visible from the edge, must be plate.
 
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