As we work on “ChevyBaker” there are happily less things that are NEEDED and the glass is the most visible. (no pun intended, well maybe a bit)  The windows are 72+ years old and they are showing every bit of it.  The glass issues included:

BB strike and scratches from defunct wipers. 

B WindshieldLeft
B WindshieldRight

 

Every piece is delaminating around the edges. (except for the drivers vent which may be only a couple decades old??
B Delam1

B Delam2

Drivers window was cracked.

B CrackedDrivers

 

We have already detailed the removal, cleaning, and repair of the centerbar.  This was both nerve racking and in the end easy to do.  

 

We cleaned back the 5 score and 2 years of oxidation from the vent handles:
B VentHandle
 (also shown in delamination pic above)

 

And decided to clean the vent frames down to bare metal.  The plan is to paint them black once the glass is in.

In tandem with the cleaning/repairs we purchased an 8 piece window kit, center bar kit, and rubber gaskets for the windshield and vent windows.  Selecting the glass options was given a fair amount of thought.  Do we go with clear, gray (tinted), or green?  Our first thought was green because it would be different (read as AWESOME!)  Upon reflection (again, no pun intended) we decided that green glass in a purple car would look like the Goblin from Spiderman so that was out. Ultimately we settled on clear for the two piece windshield (California law) and tinted for the door windows because - well it’s obvious right?.

Having completed all of the preparation we could - we realized that replacing the glass was something we do not have the skill to do.  Also, there issues with the drivers door.  The window is very difficult to roll up and only slightly better to roll down. This was not a problem as we never rolled the window up because is was cracked… We believe, based what we saw while replacing the mirror, that its either the channel or regulator.  HOPEFULLY this is something a glass shop can correct or at least advice on how to fix.  There were other issues related to the other door windows as well.

We choose an automotive glass shop that was repeatedly suggested by people we talked to.  This shop is “OLD SCHOOL”.  Old to the point that the owner actually said, “I have worked on a few of these.” and upon dropping off the car - it looked like that was a true statement.

Long story longer, we were amazed at the results.  During the installation the shop called and asked to use non-stock parts which were basically the channels and felts.  We gave approval to do what they deemed necessary and felt (again no pun intended, last one) good about the call.  Everything is great about their work.  The drivers door works perfectly once the channels were replaced (a bit of custom work I believe) and we are very happy.  The channels were all replaced along with other trim/felt pieces.  The tint may be a little light but there are limits and we think it best to keep clear of the law.

For comparison the following pictures attempt to replicate the before images from the above.

Windshield

P WindshieldLeft

P WindshieldRight

 

Delaminations

P Delam1

P Delam2

 

Vent handles

P VendHandle

 

Drivers Door

P CrackedDrivers

In closing, new glass makes the entire car look much better.  We are still considering adding tint that would get us to the legal limit just to be cool! (double entendre intended)