Technical Who or where do I get a custom windshield

Here's a place for windshield. https://www.autocityclassic.com/195...-1953-buick/oldsmobile-sedan-windshield-w214/

 

That's what everybody was wanting the olds glass for, but with covid cutbacks, pilkington, Lof, glass search, classic glass, all shut down old car production

 

Looking at how that car is chopped, would a stock glass fit anywhere? It looks to me like it has all been changed rather than simply shortened.

 

post #25 the youtube link , glassguy chicago is who did my glass for my coupe . super good guy to deal with and knows his shit . i contacted him via facebook messenger and got the ball rolling . i had questions ,he had answers . he does a bunch of traveling and i never had to go to chicago to drop off my patterns or to pickup the finished glass. check him out.

 

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This is the major stumbling block. A lot of chops are just done without a thought for being able to use a cut down original windshield. When you change the opening size and curvature too much, the only alternative is a one-off full custom item. This is the point when guys realize what they have done and the problem they have created.....

Not sure about this. Waterjets can cut monolithic glass (single sheet). With laminated I would worry that the waterjet would cause delamination around the cut area.............. I could be wrong though.

Oh, how certainly true!!! As a glazier by trade, I can fully back this up............She is a fickle mistress.....

 

I cut the windshield for my 55 Olds back in 1984, because I could find no one to do it. It has a LOT more curvature than yours. It can be done, IF the chop was done correctly (with regard to using the stock glass, cut down). You don't want to have a custom glass made, if at all possible. Costs run from 3000 to 10, 000$ from what I've heard from guys who have had it done, or priced it out.
As for any plastic? The cars I've seen that did it, looked pretty bad. Glass is the only way to go. Plastic scratches from bog and rock impacts, wiper blades, and fogs up eventually. On curved pieces, it resists bending, and some use screws and such to keep it curved, causing ripples in the surface. Heating is possible ( and I did it on my 57 Olds rear windshield side pieces), but you have to be pretty careful, or you make a mess!.

 

Front view!

 

How much chop? What did you do about seat height?

 

Not to be ignorant, but do you have a minimum allowable windshield height in Missouri?

 

The reason that lexan windshields are illegal in Missouri is that nothing will break through. Including you in a crash.

You can do that one in flat glass and V-Butt it or fornd an original divider and a gasket. Harding Glass will probably do that for you. Google them.

 

I heard somewhere of someone using plexiglass for a windshield, heated to form and cut to fit within the rubber gasket, but with the material of vinyl wrap in clear. The clear vinyl wrap was install on both sides. I guess the basic theory is that the plexiglass will hold the shape of the windshield while the clear vinyl wrap will prevent scratches.

 

Don't over think it. Just a windshield. Go to a glass guy. And if they charge you those stupid prices, well, it's because you live in the wrong part of the country. Glass work is $40 an hour in my shop. So many things here are over thunk

 

https://kuttilanautolasi.fi/en/custom-windshields/

 

That sounds great, but I think you are undercharging

 

who says you have to have a windshield? just wear googles

 

Unless you're really talented and really lucky, forget the do it yourself routine on this part of the build.
TAKE the car to a pro glass guy that specializes in cutting glass for chops (talk to some locals that have chopped cars or local body men that chop cars for glazier references). You're not very likely to be successful having a windshield cut/shipped via sending out a paper template. The side/flat glass can be cut by pretty much any auto glass guy if you supply accurate chip board templates.

IMHO, a Plexi or Lexan windshield in a chopped car looks cheap and crappy whatwith all the 'aircraft' style screws/rivets holding them in place. They're illegal, will eventually scratch and haze up and can't effectively use wipers if you're caught in the rain.

You may find that the windshield opening (corners) will need metal work to fit the stock windshield, which isn't a biggie since you're not in finish paint.

Neat car!

 

There are a few glass shops advertised in Hemmings, check there.

 

Yeah, if it is not done in that order there is a good chance glass will never fit it. Lots of chopped projects die because they can't make glass work.

 

that opening is so small nothing going through it in a collision except a piece of mail....

 

A long time ago, I read a tip to cutting down a windshield. Overlay the WS with fiberglass (don't forget mold release !) Cut down this molding to determine exactly how to cut the WS. Make as many as it takes to get the contour right.

 

fiberglass idea is nifty....how about metal rod ....shape to the outside circumference of chopped opening allowing for gasket thickness..., add vertical pieces to create the compound curve...bingo...template....less mess..just some spot welding...lay on junkyard finds to see if you can get a later model match.....

 

Or a person reshaped by momentum into the shape of apiece of mail. I still question if it is a legal height, but don't know MO. You need 7" vertical in PA,I believe.

 

I don't know about all of you, but I would not even go close to fitting through a 7" hole without some substantial force applied . The following image comes to mind.......................

 

Correct, Some of you would try to fit through, some would not and the middle part would would look like this picture. Seat belts would be a good idea

 

blue dots used to be illegal...as long as the car is built safe and you can see where you are going...no harm...no foul..

 

Seat belts are only so the emergency service guys don't have to go looking for the body.............
That's a joke guys. They are mandatory out here in Australia, and rightly so.

 

I cut the windshield (curved)on my 55 Dodge pickup. Using a couple junk windshields I first tried the score and tap method, then a 4" wet saw. Neither worked for me. I saw a video of a guy using a Roto-Zip tool with a diamond tipped bit and tried that. The practice cuts worked good, although it is really slow. My windshield looked good until the test fit when I noticed a small crack. The crack is no longer small. I can see why no one guarantees the cuts.

 

Lot of prep work required even after the cut is done. All of the surface that was cut has to be chamfered and polished to relieve stress risers, or it'll break for sure.

 

Yep, the guy built a metal buck of the windshield shape he needed. Made a heating cabinet out of just a gas grill. Then when it was ready he pulled the metal buck out with the window formed to it and clamped the window down every few inches until it cooled to retain that shape. any clamping marks are under the rubber gasket.

took him only 2 tries but I know he had experianced making a bubble top before with the help of a commercial heating booth so he had some prior knowledge or basics of how to do it.

I am still waiting for him to vinyl wrap it and install it for good to see how that part works for him. He did temporarly installed it and it looked great in the car. I was hoping he would finish it but like me he likes building more than one at a time and has jumped to a few others but the car is still in the next booth in the shop so he might get back on it soon.