glass experience

atch

atch

Senior Member
The left rear side glass in my 1930 2-dr sedan is cracked. I realize that I can buy new glass (Bert's for example) and I can go to my local glass shop and have glass cut.

My question is:

In your experience which of these gives you the best results?

What are the positives and negatives of each?
 
The glass you get from Bert's is tempered, except the windshield which must be laminated by law, where as the glass you have cut at the local glass shop is all laminated, unless you special order it. Your choice.

When I had to get new glass for my '30 Town Sedan, I went with Bert's
 
Best results would be very subjective and based on differing experiences. I would use whatever you were comfortable with. I have had good luck using the local glass shops on 3 cars to date.
 
I recently replaced the laminated driver's door glass on my closed cab pickup with tempered "safety" glass. The laminated door glass had begun to de-laminate but I have no idea how old it was. The main difference between the two glass types is that the tempered glass is a bit more expensive.
 
I like ordering by mail. my glass places dont want to be bothered and a couple of times, cut the pieces slightly too large.
there are 2 places on ebay- CT and Oregon I believe. very reasonable and ship.
 
I have had very good luck in going to glass shops. Just give them your old glass and say that you want it identical to that.

It's usually quicker and cheaper than ordering in.
 
The major difference you will find with rear Quarter Glass vs. Door Glass is more about the who made/cut the wood that holds the Channel. Steve's glass can be cut to the exact Ford Engineer's specs but if the wood in your vehicle is dimensionally incorrect, the Glass can theoretically be too wide, -or not wide enough. This means either the Window Glass is stiff when rolling up, or too loose when rolling it up so it tries to **** and bind.
 
I had a hard time where I live finding a glass shop that was willing to do the work. When I did find one they cut it slightly too small. So my vote is order it from a vendor
 
BButturff said:
I recently replaced the laminated driver's door glass on my closed cab pickup with tempered "safety" glass. The laminated door glass had begun to de-laminate but I have no idea how old it was. The main difference between the two glass types is that the tempered glass is a bit more expensive.
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Laminated glass tends to run slightly thicker than plate glass in "available" (i.e. found at your local glass shop) supply. I went through this in side windows for a 1929 CC pickup.

In my case it was verifying that the slightly thicker glass could move easily in the tracks of modern availability which is slightly different than original.

More recently I priced out the "local glass cut to fit" option for a windshield and was getting local quotes of $200 plus. You can buy new glass cut to the pattern shown in the Service Bulletins on Ebay cheaper by about 20 percent. (Auto City Glass)

Joe K
 
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Most 'Moderns' use tempered glass in the side windows. easier to shatter and get out of car in an accident. You can not get out of a car with laminated glass. That is why laminated glass is mandated for windshields, so you don't go thru it.

I would look at safety above all other reasons.
 
if you want it to look just like the original but in safety glass you can.
for side and back windows - take it to the glass shop, they can cut it in plate glass, then they send it to have it tempered.
for windshield - the glass shop will cut it from laminated.
 
Well, it's about time in this thread to insert a Model A glass horror story. In 1966 there were four of us guys in high school who each owned Model A's. One guy's older brother and father had "restored" (in 1966 terms) a 1930 Standard Fordor they found locally in the early 1960's. To replace the broken and missing windows, the youngest son in the family took the existing glass to a glass store in town for duplicates to be made. One day a few years later, the four of us met at a city park across from my house on a nice summer day. When we were done talking about girls and guys we didn't like, it was time to go home. The 1930 Fordor's battery died during this time, which was not all that uncommon among us four guys. While the owner sat in the driver's seat, ready to pop the clutch, the other three guys began to push the car. It started in a few feet. One of the guys jumped onto a runnjngboard and went to wrap his arm around the center door pillar to keep his balance and stay on the runningboard. The rear door's window was halfway down when his arm brushed against the portion of the window that was still up. Then it happened! Sure enough - the window broke like a pane of plate glass in a house door because it WAS a piece of plate glass. Whether the glass store had misunderstood the application for the windows or whether the Fordor owner's youngest son took the cheap way and bought all plate glass, the entire car had been done in plate glass, except for the original (and clouding) windshield. The guy on the runningboard got deep lacerations across his forearm to the point that we had to rush him to the hospital to stop the bleeding and stitch him up. Blood was all over the broken window, the side of the car and runningboard.
The mother of Fordor's owner was REALLY upset when she found out about the plate glass and ordered the same youngest son to take the Fordor to an automobile glass store the next day and have ALL the glass replaced with safety glass. It cost $500 as I recall - and that was 60 years ago. I suspect that my friend took the money he was given by his parents to have glass put in the car originally, bought plate glass and pocketed the rest of the money. I further suspect that is why the mother was extremely upset. Not only was a kid's arm cut and scarred for life, but the son had deceived her by substituting plate glass for the more expensive safety glass. Knowing the kid, this doesn't surprise me at all. This is just the kind of thing one would expect him to do.
The point of this horror story is not to convince you to buy only safety glass for your Model A. You already know that. I just wanted to impress upon anyone reading this thread that if his/her/its Model A has plate glass ANYWHERE in the car, replace it ASAP. HE may know where the plate glass is in his car, but like the friend who jumped on the runningboard and put his arm through the plate glass window, not everyone else knows.
Marshall
 
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I have wondered about the type of glass used when my coupe was restored in 1965. How can one tell if it is plain plate glass or tempered glass?
 
ursus said:
I have wondered about the type of glass used when my coupe was restored in 1965. How can one tell if it is plain plate glass or tempered glass?
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Tempered glass should have a marking in the corner identifying it as such. In the old days that marking was acid etched, nowadays I believe laser is used. Either way, if it isn't marked assume it's plate glass.
 
I was in charge of getting tempered glass for the solar company I worked for. Tempered glass is brought up to a certain temperature and then cooled more rapidly than annealed glass (plate glass). That puts the surfaces on both sides in compression and the core in tension to balance the forces. As the tempered glass is stressed the compression forces in the surface relax a bit but never go into tension, which is what breaks annealed glass. This makes the tempered glass strong and hard to break. However if you drop the tempered glass on its edge you stress the core, which is in tension, and the glass will shatter into a bunch of cubes of glass. The fact that the glass shatters into harmless cubes is what makes it useful for places like side window on cars and patio doors. And solar panels.
 
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https://www.sandersreproglass.com
I used these guys when I did my hot rod and stock glass would not work, They have a large library of patterns and most likley you can order what you need from that.
For my custom work, I sent the patterns and in 5 days I had a tracking # for the lamanated windshield and the side and back tempered glass
They were great to work with, but so is Berts and Snyders :)
 
I really can't see restorers back in the 50's and 60's going through the effort and expense of getting glass tempered for their old hobby cars.I've only ever found either plate or laminated.I had a nicely done 31 Tudor,last on the road in 1958,laminated all the way around except for the undisturbed original plate in the rear window.I was doing a Tudor for myself close to 20 years ago,and the glass guy I have used all my life told me that he was ******* with a new tempering outfit and it was now affordable.He called me when it was ready,and he was quite upset.The price for the four windows was $300.more than the four side windows AND the windshield in laminate.
 
If you have a good local shop, use them. You won't have the expense of shipping.
I'm working on a car that was being redone by another shop, they ordered glass from a well-known supplier. I had to take the door glass to my glass guy to shave a fat 1/8" because the mail order pieces were cut too wide.
 
The glass you ordered from a well known supplier was laminate.Tempered cannot be shaved.Once it is tempered the size is engraved in stone.With shipping being what it is now I would stick with local glass guys.You do have to go out and look around,not too many want to do old car work.I have zero problems using laminate in the side windows.
 
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