I'm looking to save some money hear. Iv restored all of this truck on a very very low budget. I'm looking for some information and ideas on how to go about this without buying a one piece glass kit for 350-600 dollars. The main thing would be does any one have a templet for the glass or the dimensions? please keep in mind im 19 unemployed and not looking to spend a lot of money.

 

If you look on the Midfiftys website you can find the installation instuctions for their kit. Not the best, but better than nothing. There are many vendors out there who sell the one-piece glass, Bob's Classic Auto Glass is just one...he sells a lot of products on ebay. If you would like a template then send me an email and I can send you one.

 

check out these guys. Classic Truck Glass

 

I'm curious.Since my side windows are safety glass,can you buy that stuff and cut your own?My original glass was laminated,the replacement safety glass isn't, though.Wouldn't you also need to modify, or add to the internal regulator to accommodate larger glass?I'd think it would be more cost effective in the long run, to bite the bullet, and buy a kit.

Steve

 

There really isn't a lot to the kit, you get window felts and u- shaped piece of channel and a bracket to hold it and the glass and a few nuts and bolts. The glass can be cut at any auto glass shop and could provide you with the felts, the rest you should be able to fab up yourself. Can't say for sure if the original crank will work with the bigger glass as I put electric in my doors, www.ezwire.com has the cheapest electric kit I could find and haven't heard any negative response regarding thier products. If you want I can provide you with the dimensions of the small parts you'll have to make. For me the biggest expense for the kit was the shipping because of the weight and size of the box it came in.

 

Safety glass by definition is laminated. The plastic film is much thinner and clearer than it used to be, so it may be difficult to see in the new glass. All windshields must be safety glass, IFAIK most states and DOT allow safety or tempered glass in side and rear windows. Safety glass can be cut by a glass shop or ambitious DIYer, tempered glass must be manufactured to size.

 

Here are the dimensions of the solid side glass for the 56 F100, the U-channel is 19" long x 9/16" deep x 1/2" wide. The radius is different front and back 2 7/8" R at back and 2 1/2" at front. Felts are 1/2 x 9/16 x96"long. Instructions can be found on Midfiftys site. The small bracket is made from 14 gauge and is 3/4" wide.

 

I've got the one piece side windows in my 58F100. I bought the manually operated kit from Sacramento Vintage Ford. Its expensive as you say. The current catalog shows the 56F100 kit P/N8457 @ $450. I was happy with the slightly different kit I bought for my 58, but I understand your money situation. Maybe you could just buy the 56 solid side window glass P/N 8457-8 @$120. Do it yourself for the remainder of the work. For sure it would be easier with the whole kit. But I think you could make it happen.You'd have to reuse your existing channel etc and it wouldn't give you as good as support as the kit has a longer channel for the longer new piece of glass, but it would be worth a shot. And your existing hand crank and all should be sufficient. Even with the total side glass kit one continues to use the same hand crank gear assembly in a non electric like this etc. Also someone mentioned Bob Classic Glass and they've been good to me too, but I looked and didnt' see the side glass only option at his site. Maybe I missed it? I'm wondering though if by using the existing OEM glass channel it will properly raise the glass and lower. I'm not sure. Their maybe a problem with how all functions. Not positive. Haven't done it, so I dont' know. Its a gamble. Especially I suspect would be how you would or would not center the new glass in your old channel. The channel has a slot and the hand crank/gear etc has to raise the glass and lower it all in a certain way. If you can get a printed or on line catalog from Sacto Ford or whoever and see the parts contained in the kit you could better evaluate whether you can get by without them or not.
Goodluck

 

I didn't realize that.I was under the impression that both tempered and laminated glass are classified as "safety glass", laminated used in windshields,while doors/back glass are just tempered?

 

Hey Stoodly

I just had one other quick thought. If you do decide to go ahead with this, you might want to consider doing one door at a time. I mean buy both pieces of glass and other supplies etc. But when you do the install, just do the passenger side first. Leave the driver side intact. That's how I would tackle it. And see if it cranks open and closed successfully. If not you can still go back to your OEM driver side and exam why its not working. Like anything mechanical--even as simple as this window--it all has to work together. I've seen things like this that just wouldn't go up or down well etc and they have to push on the glass etc to get all to work. That shouldn't be the case, but if all doesn't work together properly its a possible result.

 

I haven't done the one piece glass, but when I put in my electric regulators the glass had to come out to remove the OEM support channel. I found it a lot easier to take the doors off and lay them face down on a table to work on the glass. You'll be surprised at how heavy the glass is to maneuver into place and support while you place it in the regulator with the door vertical. f the glass slides easily when the door is laying horizontal but binds when upright you know it must be cocking as it goes up and down.

 

I was wondering if you were to stay non-electric and used the OEM support channel if you could center it on the glass and lengthen the arm on the crank??

 

I'd expect that since the glass in the 56 is basically rectangular that the stock regulator would work as is. The problem I see is with getting the support channel off the glass without damaging it and reinstalling it securely on the new glass. It was attached with some sort of black tarpaper like material that stuck to both the glass and the metal channel. I guess there is some sort of similar adhesive product out there now that could be used to reattach it? My power regulators use a rubber gasket and clamp arrangement to hold the glass.

 

Stoodley-

I have some templates for the 56 one-piece door glass I made on a previous build. If you want, I can trace them on some paper and send them to you and you can take to a glass shop and have the glass cut. I don't see any reason the orginal regulators wouldn't work as long as they are in decent shape in the channel area that holds the glass. Either have the glass shop install them on your new glass or buy the tape from the glass shop and install them yourself. You could also use a silicon adhesive in place of the tape but that might result in a tough job if they were ever broken and needed replaced. As far as the felt channel you can buy that in long lengths and cut to fit. It just needs to be long enough to allow the window to roll down completely, probably about 1.5" past the bottom of the glass in the "down" position. You will most likely need to modify the attachments at the channel ends for the new location. I would be more specific but I'm an old guy and did this maybe 5 years ago and yesterday is a blur.

 

Sure, but it probably wouldn't be cost effective. Cutting glass is tricky, it has a pretty steep learning curve. By the time you bought a sheet of safety plate, tried to cut your own and broke a bunch of it before getting it right, if you ever did, you could give a professional glass guy your templates and walk away in about a half hour with a full set of the stuff, ready to install. IMHO. ;-)


Re the definiton of "safety glass", I think it would depend on who's definition you're reading. Any kind of specially prepared or manufactured glass that is designed to reduce or prevent bodily injury in the event of breakage could be considered safety glass. In other words, laminated, tempered, laminated with wire mesh in between, etc. Anything but standard plate. I've heard the term safety plate referring to laminated glass and safety glass referring to tempered.

Section 307-130 Safety glass defined.

safety glass -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia


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