ok, i want one of danny's sacks so i will throw in my experiance.....( hope that diddn't sound too gay) i have no pics, so bare with me.. greaser girl & i chopped the top on her 53 buick, when it was time to do the windshield, everyone wanted more than i could afford to spend. so brent from mad max creations came to the rescue, we started with the stock window, some tranny fluid,& a $2.50 glass cutter from the hardware store....... sounds like the start of a horror story huh? but it went well, first we marked what we needed to cut, it is good to make a template out of mobile home panneling, it's easy to work with, & more sturdy than cardboard....mark your line with a sharpe, spread a little atf for lubrication, make the top cut. do straight lines, don't try to do corners, as this will give you multiple presure points when you try to break it...VERY IMPORTANT..flip glass over, support well, & cut other side exactly in the same spot, this takes some figuring, as looking through the glass will distort the image of the actual cut on the first side, when both sides are scribed with the cheap cutter, you can stop holding your breath & relax for a second....BUT, not too long! ok, next get some lighter fluid, pour a little on the crack you made when you cut the glass, light on fire! (woo hoo! fire, fire, fire!) oops, sorry, got carried away with myself. let it burn for about 10 seconds, then blow it out, & attempt to seperate the glass part you scribed & cracked, the flame will soften the laminate in the middle of the glass, you can pull it apart, then trim with a razor blade. this should seperate the 2 pieces of glass.....now, use a belt sander, (i used a 80 grit belt) to sand the corners round, & smooth out the jagged edges, this is important so you have no future cracks, BUT....sand slowly... DON't buld heat this will surely crack if you go too fast, that's how we did it, the whole job took us about 4 hrs. from start to finnish, but it worked, & diddn't cost a lot, but it is a risky, high steaks game, i guess we were lucky........chip
Let me see if I understand this correctly... Score on one side and then the other. Then what? Do you snap it and then set it on fire, or does the fire snap it as well as melt the plastic? Or do you snap it after setting it on fire? Do you need to grind the complete rounded top corners, or can you get it close with a couple of straight cuts? I want to know how to do this...
Good info...! I'd reccommend a couple of practice windshields before starting on a rare curved "the only one I have" windshield!!! Mark
ok, you do have to score on both sides, as they are 2 different pieces of glass. & you do have to tap on the glass to "crack" it first before you set it on fire. also, i just sanded the corners round, i diddn't want to take any more chances than i had to. be sure to go slow on the sanding as it will build heat, & that will break the glass!, all you are doing with the fire is warming up the plastic between the glass to stretch it enough to get a razor blade in there to cut the plastic, you can do it without damaging the tint, but you have to be quick with the fire, & you really don't want to do anything quick during this whole prosses......we cut the buick 5 1/2" so the tint was not a problem.....it was outta there! we did try on an old windshield first, broke it bad, then said, "ok, let's do the expensive one" it all worked out, diddn't break, & looked good......chip
Although this sounds like it should work, and no doubt it did for you, I just have reservations taking glass cutting tips from a guy named "Chip".
Its just like gambling, but not as much fun! Cut my first 35 no problem, THEN BROKE 7 IN A ROW!!!.........OLDBEET
It helps if you run a little water on the glass while sanding, I use a 4-1/2" grinder with sandpaper on it. Key word is SLOWLY. Later, Mark
The Jalopy Journal
