I have a model A tudor hot rod, not chopped although it probably doesn't matter, however my glass does have a very mild tint in it... When driving at night, I find that I get numerous reflections in the glass from other car headlights etc. It can be a a little concerning at times as I get the feeling a car is coming at me from the side, but I guess I have kinder gotten used to it to some degree, however I am curious to know the experiences of other and how they may have solved it. It seems to be a phenomenon that I have only really experienced in my hot rod and not newer production cars. Anybody have a theory on what causes it and is there anything that I can do to reduce it a little???
Flat glass. 99% of all cars made since the 50's have a curve or slope. I have always had pretty good luck with anti- fog and Rain X. Other than that........ 1/2 the fun of driving them is dealing with obsolete problems. .
when i first started driving my 30 coupe, that freaked me out too. i kept turnning around to see what's going on behind me. damn flat glass. i tilted my windshield till i got used to the car. my friend was with me and didin't know what was wrong with me!
X2...but to answer your question, with all the flat glass you are basically in the middle of a prism where any light that comes in is refracted off the flat surface so it continues to reflect bouncing light in all directions...not too much u can do. The anti fog may break it up a bit by reducing the reflectvity of the glass at least until it dries Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I wonder if putting up some drapes or curtains, maybe in the rear window only might help -and rolling windows down halfway/below eye level (with a good heater on if necessary)
^^^ Haw! That should be the hot rodder's official mantra! The double reflection (parallel flat front and back glass) drove me crazy for awhile in my truck. Headlights from the back, and both head and tail lights from the front. But I think I've fingered it out well enough to live with it. My A coupe build will definitely have a slanted windshield (I think I've worked a way, but time will tell). And along those lines, I'm also going to fab an overhanging pad / visor above the dash ICW recessing the gauges to help reduce or eliminate reflections off the gauges, too. Gary
If it's a problem now just wait till you get older!! The reflections reflect off your car glass then your eye glasses.
Try one of the sun screens that are made of a thin nylon mesh and mounted with a suction cup on the rear window. There was a pull down shade on the rear window in the original cars, which I believe may have been used to stop this problem.
i noticed this problem over 40 years ago when driving my first Model A at night. as others have said , not much you can do except roll down the windows and get used to it
Glad to know that I am not alone with this problem. Any guys with say 32 & 34 vehicles have the same problem or is it just the model A's and I guess T's. I figure other makes will be having the same issues as well then...
When I built my Model A Tudor I bought the glass through the body shop that was painting the car. I was planning to use mildly tinted front glass too. The shop owner advised against it, for the very reasons stated above. Even with clear front glass I still get some reflection. I have found that tilting the glass out a small amount helps to reduce the glare. Well, they have their issues too.
my opinion is that you may have that problem with clear glass in an A , having tinted glass compounds the problem. many years ago my `29 pickup had smoked grey glass in the doors and the windshield....it was very distracting at night. after that i started using clear in the windshield and tinted on the rest. it seams to me to be better...not perfect...but better... at least to me both of my current rides have clear windshields and the rest tinted or i could be all wrong?
As others have said the flat glass is a problem you encounter and will learn to live with. BTW,driving at night is one thing,,add rain to the mix and there are hundreds of reflections to deal with. Ford had a roll up blind available for the rear glass,II had never didden in a car with the blind until recently..It helps a bunch. HRP
my model a is the same way.. i use ranex religiously. and i also have the factory blind in the rear window. it helps soo much! it darkens the inside of the car from headlghts behind you and keeps the reflections down quite a bit. the best thing i found to help is to tilt the windsheild out a little bit. i do that every time i drive at night. and even with my dim old 6v system. i can still see fairly well.
The trick is to try and not take your eyes off the road ahead. As soon as you do a reflection will "jump out" and give you a start. FWIW.......motorhomes are all running flat parallel windows with the exception of the windshield, which makes it really difficult to see to the left or right when driving at night.
I've got the roll up blind in my '30 coupe. It does help a bunch but I still get reflections. About the best I can say is get used to it.
Yep, My 29 pickup had tinted rear and side windows and it had really exhibited the problem....One of the many joys of early cars..
Years ago a guy clued me in that some, if not all later models, of the AD Chevy/GMC line had a slightly "bubbled" back glass to reduce those reflection problems. I then checked every one I found in a junkyard and captured only the back glasses and quarter glasses (if a 5W cab). The back glasses would bring a nice $40-$50 and the quarters $45 pair at any swap meet.
This answer comes from having had Lasik surgery. Try a pair of polarized shooting glasses. They knock down the glare and can be used at night.
my chrysler coupe was originally a rumble seat car that came with a roll down rear window so you could talk to the rear passengers. when i hot rodded the car i kept this feature. at night i just put down the window. it helps a lot and i still have a rear view. still have the side to side reflections.
I am surprise with the number of replies to my thread, at the beginning I figured that was one of few with this problem as I have never heard folks really mention it. I am pleased to read and note other peoples experiences and I think I will be trying out some sort of rear window deflector or similar. probably try a couple of options and see which works best. I notice when I had been driving a longer distance at night and the eyes were getting a little tired, this reflection was a real issue to me. I guess a lot of the restored cars dont do any where near the amount of night driving that a hot rod might do from time to time...
Flat glass, it's like a mirror you can see through. Same problem at work in my Peterbilt as it has flat glass. It's just one of those things you have to deal with in a Model A. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I carry a cardboard cutout for the rear window and slap it in place when out after dark. It helps a lot while looking really cool. You could even add some Moon Eyes & some pins. Probably going to add the drop down blind as a slicker solution. Maybe we could start a support group for those of us with this problem. Wait, I think we just did.
The Jalopy Journal
