Windshield tint

bogiediver

bogiediver

Senior Member
Thinking about replacing the windshield glass in my '31 Roadster, has an image etched into the glass of the wiper sweep that is distracting in bright sun and night driving.

A local glass supplier has the following offerings:
- Clear
- Original Green Tint
- Green Tint with Shade Band
- Custom Grey Tint with Shade Band (+$20.00)

Original Green Tint:confused:

Don't notice that mine has any tint (of course, don't know if it's original glass either) and don't recall ever hearing that there should be a green tint...

Was a green tint original?
 
Clear! Is my choice!
 

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I very much doubt there was an "original green tint". That said, I would go clear also mostly because anything other than clear on the windscreen is illegal here. Any other window can be tinted up to a limit but NEVER the windscreen. There is a reason for those rules and I agree with them even though there are many rules I don't agree with.
 
"Lead glass" of the era, and for considerable time afterwards did have a "green hue." One can look at the edge of any glass sheet of thickness and see the distinct green hue even now.

HOWEVER, one can't ever really be sure of what one buys from a supplier. He might even have "tint samples", but like paint chips, these can vary from lot to lot.

I would go clear as that is what the age wanted, and where glass development of a hundred years before attempted to go.

And clear is clear - if its not, then its something else.

Joe K
 
A lot boils down to if you have a points car and personal preference. I restored a 30 Tudor a few years ago and had to replace all the glass. I got a green tint in all of it because it seems to cut down on some of the glare from other cars. Did they originally come out with tint? I'm sure it wasn't intentional if they were.
 
My '55 Ford Ranchwagon has factory green tint windows on the sides and liftgate, but not the windshield. I don't think Ford tinted the windows in the Model A days, especially the front glass.

557898
 

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Many moons ago there was a Model "A" Station Wagon in my local club that had an amber tinted windshield. It looked fantastic.
 
Joe K, I think it is the iron in the glass that causes it to have a very subtle green tint, but that is probably the clear glass that the supplier is quoting. The lead lowers the melting point of the glass. The iron is naturally in the sand used to make glass.

I would go with clear for the windshield as others are advising. A mild tint can be put on the other windows.

I worked in the solar (photovoltaics) industry for years. We would have to specify iron clear glass for the best performance of our panels because the green tint would block some of the sunlight. If I remember correctly there is something that can be added to the glass to bind up the iron so that it does not show green in the glass.
 
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Hello, don’t think tinted glass was common in cars until the 1950,s and then in air conditioned cars .The tinted band on windshields became common in late 1950,s along with the ridiculous “panoramic “ curves so you could bang your knees when entering or exiting the car .
 
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