Trying to see how they get done. I've heard a few ways to do them. I'd like to know the proper ways on doing them. I have a 52 buick special . Eventually , I'll chop it . But I would like to do the side glass like the hirohata merc.
When you say 'curved glass', are you referring to the side glass? If you are, every curved non-windshield piece of automotive glass I've seen is tempered; virtually impossible to modify. So that limits you to OEM glass that will fit your opening, whether it's side glass or rear glass, unless you want to have the glass custom made.
The original post in this thread is like so many here. The poster knows what he is thinking, but fails to articulate specifically what he has in mind. The few words written are very ambiguous and lead to confusion., even after a request for clarification is answered. What is the definition of "curved glass"? Is it the curved shape of the perimeter of an otherwise flat piece of glass or, are we talking about the sheet of glass itself being concave/convex in shape regardless of it's perimeter shape? "Curved side glass" could easily be the description of that in later model cars where door or quarter window glass, starting at the belt line, is a convex curve as it rises toward the roofline. It could also be construed to mean the profile shape of a piece of flat glass as viewed from the side. Big difference in those two descriptions of "curved glass" Ray
G Sorry that you're having a hard time. I meant exactly what you're saying . I have a 52 buick post car that I'd like to hardtop chop and do slanted or "curved" b pillars from belt line to roof. Like the picture showed above. Or like the hirohata merc if that helps Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Yes , exactly like that . I could never imagine it any other way Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Sometimes it's difficult to convey an idea. Like the old joke about Christopher Columbus telling some people that the earth was round. One guy held up a tomato and said "To think that the world is round like this tomato,incredible!" To which Columbus replied "No,not like a tomato. Round like a pizza pie. You get to the edge and you fall off!"
Sorry to be a PITA about this, but the examples shown in the pics above ARE NOT "curved glass". they are slanted/curved "B" pillars........but they are flat sections, merely tilted forward and inward, with 'scalloped' or 'curved' two dimensional profiles. That is a very different thing than both pillars and glass that are convex or concave. For example, if you take a piece of poster board, draw the shape of the side windows on it, with curves in the two dimensional planes, verticle and horizontal, you STILL have a flat sheet of cardboard, however nicely the shape appears. That is fairly easily done, as is readily apparent from the many, many customs built over 5 or more decades. If you haven't already. get some copies of books on chopping of tops and also search the many threads here on the HAMB that show how this is done. Cutting flat glass to those shapes is what good glass shops do.
Thanks for the clarifying . I don't mean to be non specific . But yes indeed slanted b pillars . I haven't spent a whole lot of time looking into threads on here because it's an idea. I believe I can make it happen and my skills are plenty enough to do the work Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
Hnstry is right, the OP didn't convey his message clearly. As for doing actual curved glass on the sides of cars, I've heard that guys cut their windows from the gently curved windshields of 1980 Chevy pickups.
I see that you edited the original question to make it clearer than it was. I understand your desire to modify the windows, but I question your " skills are plenty enough to do the work" if you had to ask in the first place. You have much to learn "grasshopper", at least you've come to the most logical forum to learn. Do a search, no, do a lot of searches here and on the net to learn what others have done to modify their windows. With out reading your mind it is hard to know exactly what you want to do. That seems to be a major problem here, people are not clear and do not explain exactly what they want to do. Shall we presume your going to chop it?
I've chopped plenty of cars in the last five years . I may be young but I've been under the wing of great fabricators . Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I want to shave it , re spray the roof and suede the bottom first . And cruise until I save up to lower it with uprights and elco springs out back , then chop it Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
It's a pain in the ass. Look at hardtop buicks to get some ideas. Flat glass doesn't bend so you need to think the process through. Your skill level looks to be on par and it helps having similar GM bodies that are hardtops already.
Thanks bud. I'm sorry for the misunderstanding . I don't need to curve glass. Curving the b pillars Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
OK, first, the Hirohata...it had the chrome channels that "look" like they are the framework for the glass, but are actually fixed to the doors, and the windows roll up into them (on the doors). I believe the quarter glass was slid in, not roll up. To do a true hardtop conversion, you first need hardtop or convert. vent window housings. The shapes of the glass in the doors and quarters are then made in masonite to check for looks, clearances, etc. You can use the masonite to bring to the glass shop as a template when finalized. The chrome around them, as Bill Hines told me, he would 'cold bend' out of 3/4" tubing to get the shape, then cut out the one side where the glass goes, very carefully with a cut-off tool. Then chrome plate. With very angled or curved glass, most likely you'll have to make the quarter window slide in as well.
Yea I figured there would be a few ways for getting the similar hard top look . Thanks for the input Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
OK just to end the controversy when I read the OPs question this is what I first though of, curved as in the old custom trick that makes it resemble a hard top. I was in a friends shop last year and he was doing a '46 ford that way. He took stainless channel like for a hard top and worked it into the curve that he wanted. In his the rear was going to be non functional.
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