Can you guys answer this for me. I see the threads where the tops are chopped, but where and how do you buy custom replacement gl***? What is the process to do this? I ***ume it is NOT safety gl*** for like windshield? Can someone post a thread showing this process? Thanks! Note: No dryer sheets were harmed in this thread.
depends what kind of car it is and from what i have read the smart way to do it is to cut the gl*** first and then chop the car to fit the gl***
Not a problem to cut laminated windsheilds.I have done it succesfully the first time .Do a search on the subject and you should find lots of info about it.I explained it on a simular thread a while back.If you cant find my post ,pm me and i will explain how its done ...
http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=47846&highlight=windsheild there are a few good gl*** cutting threads on here, here's one from the tech archives.
If the car has flat gl*** all around, you just go to any competent auto gl*** shop and they cut new ones from sheets of laminated gl***. The windshield should be DOT approved stuff. This would apply to anything built before 1948 and to Fords and Mercs up to 1951. For side gl*** it'd be almost all cars made before around 1966 or so. If the car has a curved windshield (like my '53 Chevy), then you have to buy a good windshield and pay someone to cut it down to fit or cut it down yourself. This is expensive and can go badly. (I personally broke one windshield installing it, but number 2 went right in and looks great.) Smart choppers will either lay the original rear window down or put in something smaller (like I did with my '53), which means replacing it is a matter of getting a new version of whatever is in there. (In my case, a '48 Chevy rear window.) If the rear window is curved gl*** AND the chopper cuts down the opening, then you're in a bit of a pickle. The choices are: 1. Have a custom piece of curved gl*** made (VERY expensive) 2. Use plexigl*** or lexan (which have their own set of problems but that's what the Moonglow had and it was one of the most famous kustoms ever built!) 3. Cut down some windshield that has a similar curve to fit the new shape (I've seen a rear window for a chopped Buick that was made out of a 1980s Chevy pickup windshield), or 4. Find a new reproduction piece of gl*** that is laminated rather than tempered so that it can be cut just like a curved windshield. All of this only applies to cars from the late 1940s up to the mid 1960s. Before the 1940s they all have flat gl*** everywhere which means any gl*** shop in the country can cut new gl*** to fit the openings, and after the 1960s they have curved side gl*** that can't be cut because it's tempered. (I have seen cars from the 1970s with chopped tops and I have no idea what they do for side gl*** because I don't care.)
Henderson Gl*** in Michigan did my front and rear from a pattern I made of masonite. Laminated Safety Gl***. $175 for both. front and rear.
this may not work I have not tried it but i was tols by a old hot rodder in my area that said to tape the off what you want left of the original gl*** and then sandblast the stuff you want removed, I do not know how for sure this was but it may be worth a search or questioning
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