Alright, so I spent the morning going to various Sun Valley (junkyard capitol of America) gl*** shops seeing how much it would cost to cut 2 flat pieces of safety gl*** for my windshield. Well, the quotes ranged from $200-300. I wasn't expecting that. Am I just being naieve? Or am I just living in another era? Anyway, how hard is it to go find a flat piece of gl*** in a junkyard and cut it myself? Any tips, advise, cautions or flatout "DON'T DO IT'S!!!!" Thanks, yall. -stick
I've had the gl*** cut on my Boattail for $22 each, by a shop in Burbank, called Future gl*** 818-842-9629. They cut all the gl*** for Hollywood Hot Rods. They are good and fast.
yea i'm with you on the price thing!!! i got gl*** put in my A frame a few weeks ago. and checked every place in town. i got it done for 50 bucks. and i thought that was ok. but everyone else wanted 150 to 200 bucks for it? i think most places think $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ when you say its a old car or something odd!
$125 is the going rate .you can cut flat laminated gl*** just as long as it is not pitted if it is pitted there is a good chance of it runnin, might be hard finding good flat gl*** at a juckyard better off buying new.
I once got a quote of 600 dollars to install side gl*** in the frames of my buddies 55 chevy hardtop. That was with me providing the gl*** as well as removing it from the car. Did some research on it and installed them myself in less than an hour including the wing window seals.There are some real con artists out there.
Typically the HUGE price difference is which type of "safety gl***". I know a gl*** man and asked him why the price differences from shop to shop. His response was Lam safety gl*** made specifically for cars, when hit breaks into tiny pieces, just like we have all seen. Lam safety gl*** like what is in many shops doors and windows breaks into longer "strips" when hit. Now, most guys use the cheaper "strip" ones (and I do too sometimes), but which one do you want your head to hit?
if you dont mind doing it yourself and you have a good sandblaster and compresser you could do it useing the method i have used on curved gl***. first you tape the liveing **** out of the area you dont want messed with if you have metal tape this seems to work good do alot of layers. then get a big peice of foam to set the gl*** evenly on. get some realy corse sand and blast away it takes forever and a day but you run little risk of cracking the gl***.
I took my cracked W/S half from my 47 Buick to Harmon gl*** here, called first for a price. The gl*** cost me $32.50 total with tax. About 3 years ago. I put it in my self never did it before. 2 piece center divide, soaped up the old rubber took my time wiggled it in to place. It settled in the rubber after awhile and i was done, it didn't leak.
Actually, lam safety glas doesn't shatter into any kind of pieces. Lam gl*** has a layer of plastic laminated between 2 sheets of gl*** so it, in theory, stays together even when broken. Tempered safety gl*** is a different story, and most likely the difference is what s.r.i. posted. Had a similar problem with a window for a sandblast cabinet. Local gl*** dealer wanted $200 and all he had was tinted gl***. 15 miles away, the gl*** was cut, in clear, laminated safety gl*** for $55. Got to shop around. The $200 quote was from a place that does mostly cars and business windows. $55 price was from a shop that does all kinds of gl*** - quick and well-priced, imho. Tim D.
Laminated safety plate gl*** is required by law for windshields in all motor vehicles. Ford was the first of the low-priced cars to use laminated safety plate gl*** when the Model A was introduced. The side and back gl***es were still plate gl*** until 1935-36, yeah, the stuff like is in your living room windows, ouch. Tempered gl*** is used in side gl***es and rear windows, but never windshields.
Yeah, laminated gl*** stays in one piece, but the car stuff breaks into smaller pieces (that hopefully stay stuck to the plastic core) than commercial stuff. Unless of course you have the 'new' 'Spall Shield' (Dupont?) with it's layer of polly on the inside so you don't run up against a carpet of razor blades. Maybe this was what s.r.i.'s friend was speaking of?
Sorry to bring this back from the dead but just to update my earlier post, future gl*** wants $100 a piece for each piece of flat laminate gl*** if I supply the patterns. I'd love to find a cheaper place, there has to be one, I'm just not sure even where to start
that's crazy...each piece would be about $30 at the gl*** place i go to , but shipping would kill you
Oops sorry didn't think to mention that, it's a chop top '51 Ford, all flat gl*** with patterns, no install.
You need to make the patterns or pay $50-75 an hour for the gl*** guy to do it. Then shop all the small shops, should be $30-40 each piece. Its an easy install.
There are a number of places offering gl*** for rods who advertise in the magazines and have web addresses. I've never tried any so can't recommend one, but let your keyboard do your walking... Cheers -- Gary
I think it depends on whether they want that kind of business or not. A lot of gl*** shops don't like to do custom stuff like that, so they charge some huge amount for jobs they don't really feel like doing. Shop around and you'll find someone that'll do it at a reasonable rate. I had a back window cut a few weeks ago for $70.00.
Forget the big shops and look for the little one man shop tucked away in a industrial area. If you can wait until he has some "drop" pieces from another job it will be real cheap, if he has to cut it out of a bigger piece it will probably be a little more.
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47846&highlight=gl*** Pics are missing but the general idea is there. Cut your own if you don't want to spend the bucks...thats how I do it...of course I break a lot of stuff.
Wow thanks all and thanks OldBeet for the tech! Fletcher #2, green with a gold ball looks like the cutter to get! I have an old how to build hotrods tex smith book I think and that's how they do it, cut it and break it, and offer burning as an alternative, and they don't sand the edges, either. I got a quote from a wholesale gl*** place of 48" x 96" safety for $145. Not that I could actually transport a piece that big but it gives me an idea at least. I'll keep my eyes peeled for some little shop that might take the work. like a lotta things in socal, it seems like it'd be easy to find a cheap place but it aint, IMHO. Is there any cheaper alternative to the restoration catalogs for window rubber/fuzzies/ anything like that? Just wondering, those things cost more than the gl***!
Does anyone know more about using either a sandblaster or a gl*** bead cabinet would be the most successful way to cut safety gl***,rather than using a gl*** cutter.I have a lot of curves and am replacing the rear door gl*** on a '56 olds.Mistakes are costly.
One thing not mentioned yet. When OLDBEET did the gl*** for My shoebox after cutting it, He ground the entire perimeter. Then polished the tops and sides that are exposed. Oh and You cant cut the gl*** that breaks into tiny pieces its tempered. FEDER
Before I go out and buy one of these,can you enlighten me on just how much I need to score the gl*** to get a real advantage over using the old fashioned cutter with the wheel? And will it wear out quickly? I'd much rather have the gl*** break where I want it too....not where I don't. But I guess that's the whole deal really. I'm ***uming of course that I will do both sides in exactly the same place.I don't care about the sharp edges since they are in a frame. Thanks...pete
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