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Beyond frustrated, rear glass keeps breaking

4K views 44 replies 16 participants last post by  chas350 
#1 ·
I cant believe this happened again. This is the second rear glass for my 59 American that broke the same way. The original glass sat on a shelf in my garage for years with no problems but after laying the glass in and out of the opening in the body several times as I figured out how to remount the glass. It was laying on wooden saw horses that were also padded for about 30 minutes and it just exploded.
That was last summer. In the fall I located another window and have been working with it the last few weeks being vary careful. I finished the work on the body to remount the glass and just left it sitting in the car. It was supported on the bottom in two places on rubber and just laying against the body not mounted or stressed in any way.
I was feeding my grandson this morning and heard what sounded like something falling in the garage. Opened the door and there is glass everywhere.
What the h*** is going on?
I can't keep doing this. Glass for this car is not easy or cheap to come by. This glass cost me $300 and it was local.
Any suggestions on what may be happening would be greatly appreciated and any leads to another piece of glass would too.

Ed
 

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#2 ·
Ed, I am sorry, that is BIZZARE! I have had tempered glass like that stored for years on top of roof joists and every other damn thing and never had such a thing happen. We cut out and store glass outside at work everyday, there are probably 10-15 windows out there in a rack right this minute, NEVER had a problem.

I have no idea, none what so ever other than some rapid temp change that could cause this.

If you were closer, I have a window for you!

Brian
 
#3 ·
I'm no glass man but sometimes getting a little chip on an edge Plus direct sunlight is enough to shatter one when test fitting glass I always wrap masking tape around the edge about three times.I used to think glass was easy till I started breaking a couple then I learned real quick thats one thing that a pro should do, if they break it they replace it at no extra cost...I'd let them handle it.
 
#4 ·
deadbodyman said:
I'm no glass man but sometimes getting a little chip on an edge Plus direct sunlight is enough to shatter one when test fitting glass I always wrap masking tape around the edge about three times.I used to think glass was easy till I started breaking a couple then I learned real quick thats one thing that a pro should do, if they break it they replace it at no extra cost...I'd let them handle it.
I know of NO glass shop or glass man who will replace a window if they break it, never have. Glass is to unpredictable, they can't guarantee it and I don't blame them.

If you have a guy who will, you are very lucky and should feel guilty if he buys you a new window. :)

Brian
 
#6 ·
also for new glass. The suppliers in these parts will sell you "insurance" for an additional $2-$10, IMHO money well spent.
But when it comes to used glass, just be durn careful with it.

I saw a door glass in a car sitting in the parking lot explode. come to find out a few days earlier, the owner had been running a weedeater near it, and a stone hit the glass. (small chip ensued).

Glass can do funny things at times.
 
#9 ·
That is an oddity no doubt. One thing that could be happening is if you have a furnace in the shop and it being as cold as it is the furnace may be blowing hot air on the glass causing a drastic temperature change.

This used to happen at car dealerships where if the car was started and ran unattended with the defroster turned full blast in the winter the windshield would crack.
 
#10 ·
YES! Blame the Gremlins! I've never heard of glass shattering like that. My best guess is you damaged it when handling. You can cause microscopic cracks to occur within the glass which are invisible to the eye. When expanding and contracting from the temp. fluctuation they can spread quickly. Once they reach the inner tension layer, you can get the results you're having.
 
#11 ·
It has to be from handling the glass even though I was so careful with this second one. It was colder this morning than it has been for a while but it still isn't much below 50 degrees in my garage. This glass came out of a car that sat for decades in a desert salvage yard and saw many seasons of extreme temperature changes. Maybe they don't like me messin' with 'em. I did have the glass in and out quite a few times because I've been fabricating a new opening so I can mount the glass in urethane and I fabricated my own trim so it will look smooth.
I'm going to be gun shy now with the windshield because I have to do the same thing with it.
Brian, are you parting out one of the old Ramblers you have?
I wish you lived closer too. I don't think I'd try shipping one of the windows with my luck.
I tried to think of another piece of glass from a different vehicle that I could make work but that glass has a lot of curve in both planes.
Sometimes I wish I would have picked a different car to hot rod. This American is very difficult.
 
#18 ·
A wife that's not getting enough attention? Now if we were talking about my ex, you would be correct.
$40.00 to ship a rear glass with insurance sounds cheap. Did you pack it?
If so, how did you do it?

After yesterday it appearers the windshield is going to be more difficult to make custom trim for because it doesn't have near as much gap between the glass and body as the rear has. I need a good source for universal trim and edge rubber before I figure out how I'm going to do this. Right now I'm almost afraid to mess with it but I don't have much choice because there is no rubber available for this glass that fits well enough.

Hey Brian, is that glass in pretty good shape?
I'm definitely going to need another one. I suppose I could make a convertible out of it :cool:

Ed
 
#19 ·
I just went to the post office and got a box.I taped all around the glasses edge three or four times with masking tape add bubble wrap (lots of it) brought it back ,they weighed it, insured it ,I thihk I insured it for 300.00 all together it cost around 40.00 but it was a rear window out of an old plymouth,probably a little smaller.....a good glass man will have rolls of differnt types of rubber moulding make some calls out of the yellow pages they can come over and give you some valuable tips...they did for me when I eliminated the thick rubber seals and glued in oversized glass with a small T type rubber moulding.They glued to the outer edge of the glass then the glass is glued into the hole,(way better looking) Mine was flat glass though MUCH easier to work with and get custom cuts...I made templetes out of plexiglass and had them made bigger and half as thick....Isnt that a drag car??? you must be driving that beast on the road....Brian,those aint no ugly cars...they look pretty darn cool to me... :thumbup:
 
#20 ·
Keeping with the chipped edge theory for a second - is there a place on/in your car's window frame that might be scratching or chipping the edge during your trial fits? Then when you set it aside the room temp or just the change in loading from how you support it is doing the rest?

Seems the only common element is either your car or your workshop?
 
#21 ·
It may see track time occasionally but it's primarily a street car.
I wanted something different. How many of these have you seen with tube chassis, mustang II front, 9" rear, air suspension, twin turbos, 6 speed manual, PS,PB,AC,PW? At least when I go to shows or cruise nights there won't be one just like it.
I spent a lot of time on the body of this car to smooth it out and I want the glass to blend into the body. Talking to glass guys is probably a good Idea.
I made my own trim for the rear window and it was a pain.
The body of the car didn't follow the profile of the glass close enough to use anything but the wide rubber it came with so, I cut out the window opening and fabricated what I had to so the glass can be set in urethane and the body follows the profile of the glass better.
I have the trim fit to the body pretty well and don't want to finish it until I do the body work around the opening. I left the trim wide so I can cut it to the finished width to closely follow the profile of the window opening then, I can machine the aluminum pieces to fill the gaps where the four pieces come together. I plan on painting the top of this car black so I'll paint the trim matte black and it should blend well, I hope.
I've been working on this car almost seven years now and there have been a lot of set backs but this glass thing is one I wouldn't have predicted.
Here's a couple of pics of the trim I'm working on.
I wish I knew how to post larger pictures.
 

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#25 ·
A twin turbo rambler... whoa!

Third time's a charm on the glass. I can't think of any reason that even ONE of them exploded, no less TWO...

Maybe run some tape along the edges and use some 3M protector paper (light adhesive) while fitting and R&R 'ing the next window? Maybe there's a sharp weld or something along the window opening?
 
#26 ·
To answer sparkydog,
I though I was extra carefull with this piece of glass but still had the same results. I was very carefull to not have anything sharp and to have the glass cuisoned where it lay on the body. You stated the other common elements the car and the workshop but you forgot about the other one, ME. It's probably something I'm doing.

DBM,
No, I don't work in the automotive field. It's stricly a hobby and a very frustrating one sometimes. Because I am an amature builder i do make my share of mistakes and perhaps my choice of vehicle to hot rod may be one of them :mad:
C-10,
Thanks for your comments and input.

Thank you everyone.

Ed.
 
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