Ditto window channels, felts, stops, door bumpers, good regulators. Don't slam the doors....(pet peeve) 4TTRUK
check to make shure you or someone else did not use too long of a screw some where in the door or there is a peice of sheetmetal or something, worn out runchannels will do it as well. IF ANYTHING comes in contact with the window in the tracks or inside the door bad things will happen. as once said idiocy is repeating something expecting different results. Something is not right down in the doors. look for scews on armrests, widow acuator mechanisms bent or missing rollers, all these thing will brak gl***, I know from experience.
The side gl*** in newer Dodge Commanders are saftey gl*** if you think they still don't use it. Surprised me to but it's still in use today. Fuzzys and new runners are a must as well as alignment. If there is any kind of stress on it it will crack especially if the runners aren't in sync.
This is gonna seem like a shameless plug for my business, and I suppose it is, but I've come to learn in my old age....the squeaky wheel gets the grease!! So, ok guys, look, I'm a self proclaimed EXPERT in gl***, specifically vintage auto gl***, and I have a thread in the HAMB o'dex and sell my gl*** to hambers all over the world. I have the factory patterns for virtually every american car or pickup built before about 1965, and I mainly sell tempered glas for the side gl*** for the exact reason you keep breaking your laminated side gl***es. My craftsmanship is the best in the world, and I have hundreds and hundreds of very satisfied customers from here to the other side of the globe. Check out my thread.... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=614524 There's some explanation of laminated versus tempered in there that you all may find useful. If you have any specific questions, please send me a PM and I'll be very happy to help you out! I also cut curved gl*** for chop tops & have a thread with some video of me doing it, if you're interested in that too. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=678053 My advise to Indychus: get tempered gl*** from me, you'll never break another one unless you take a hammer to it I LOVE THE HAMB!! YOU GENTS ARE THE MAIN ARTERY IN THE BLOOD SUPPLY OF MY BUSINESS, AND I'm FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR ALL OF YOU. Thanks!
screw the gl*** just get some plastic and duct tape, after you get some head on down to walmart and their will be somebody in the parking lot that will be a expert in this conversion. ask the guy living in the trailer way out away from the store he will know who does it. LOL!
Every time I did laminated side gl***, I always used new felt channels. I also, never screwed the channels in, I glued them in. I just used primerless windshield urethane in the bottom of the groove where the channel sits in (where usually screwed into). Put the channel in and roll up window to hold in place. Let the urethane cure overnight. Also, make sure your metal channels (or guides) inside the doors have new felts too and are adjusted right - window operates smooth with no binding. I never had anybody come back to me for a window that cracked that I installed ...ever.
Here is a point of concern I did not see anyone mention here..... Are the metal strips that the gl*** is set INTO -at their bottom- side[the mounting to your regulator]...about SAME equal length as the gl*** is or within an inch on each end of being the same length as your gl***? If they are a bunch shorter length -this can cause the weight if the regulator to cause more pressure on the gl*** when the door is shut ANY harder than normal..... It is easy to see if that is your problem as any cracks will originate exactly at the ends of that metal strip mentioned above... Usually when a door has had the vents removed abd a one peice gl*** installed this can be a problem you would encounter ,as the gl*** is longer in length and that strip is in some instances not lengthened enough.........
Laminated is for windscreens and vent gl***es. Safety gl*** on the rest is the ticket. Check the vertical and belt line fussies as well as ensuring that the vertical gl*** channelw are straight and adjusted correctly and not off line. Also make sure there are no screws or fasteners rattling against the gl***. Use graphite dust to lubricate the gl*** edges and vertical channels. No more problems.
I used tempered gl*** for the doors in my 47 Chev. All it takes to break laminated gl*** is leaving the window down and shutting the door. If you put everything new in the door, it might be fine, but (to me anyway) not worth the risk.
guess I'm not too old to learn something new...eveyone i know uses laminated. Hey Chris hows the cost of tempered compare to laminated? (I know ...if you replace 4 pieces of side gl*** there probably is no comparison...but I'm curious)
Replace the channels. And I agree, don't slam the doors. I was at Dead Man's Curve car show last week, and two different times people slammed truck doors shut. If it's new stuff, and aligned properly, you don't need to slam the door.
just to stir the mix here. 47 years in the auto gl*** business. I say there is no way in hell you can break a door gl*** that is properly installed by slamming a door. on the other hand, there is never a time that I will install laminated gl*** in a door that had the vent windows deleted. go figure huh!
I'm getting new front side windows cut for my 54 Caddy tomorrow, having just deleted the vent windows ... Am I just asking for trouble ? I'm using new 1/2" x 1/2" channel & fuzzies ... This will increase the width of the windows by 6.25" so I'm moving the power window regulators ahead 3.5" to clear the motors and better balance the weight of the windows ... I'm just reading about using tempered gl*** for the 1st time tonight ... I hope they work out OK ... but if there is a problem ... at least i can use the new laminated safety gl*** as a template if I have to have ones made out of tempered gl*** ... I'll have to hope for the best, as the origional windows have lasted almost 60 years ...
I think another idea could be to make the height of the gl*** a bit taller so it hasn't got a chance to to rattle in the door , when the window is wound all the way down make sure it's got 1/4 of an inch of the top of the gl*** sticking out so it's being held by 4 sides not just 3 ,just a thought good luck and I'd still use tempered gl*** it's strong and flexible , I hit this gl*** with a hammer at work to get rid of s**** pieces and to hit it in the middle you can't break it with out huge force it has to be hit on an edge good luck
yes the fuzzy side of velcro worked well for me on my nash metro. I bought it off ebay very cheep then cleaned and painted the guides and glued the velcro in with black 3-m super weatherstrip adhesive. now if I could figure out a way to make dew wipes id be set.
I charge the same for either tempered or laminated. The annealed gl*** costs way less than the laminated gl*** does, and I can cut it in about 1/4 of the time it takes to cut laminated. Also, because of how I cut the annealed gl***, there's way less work involved in shaping and polishing the edges up. However, I do have the extra cost of having the gl*** tempered when I get done doin' my thing to it. I'm simple minded and I figure it all comes out in the wash, so I charge the same for everything, and sell mostly tempered gl***, except for the windshields of course.
Well guys, I have all new felts and fuzzies installed, and new gl***. It's been a couple of weeks now with no issues, and it damn sure makes the entire car feel better with the windows sealed up properly. I guess time will tell if my issue is solved, but i'm betting it is... This gl*** has already lasted longer than the previous gl***. The gl*** shop offered to cut new gl*** for free, but since I'm pretty sure it was my fault they broke for not replacing the soft parts, I paid for it anyways. Thanks for all of the advice!
Just laminated... no need for tempered. From what I've read, the original gl*** was laminated, and if it worked well enough for GM to produce millions of cars with it, it's fine for my application. I'm pretty sure that replacing the soft parts fixed my issue.
The Jalopy Journal
