Here is a picture of my window fit. Terrible, huh?
This glass was cut by a local shop using the old glass as the pattern. Most likely the old glass was not original, and each time the dimensions were decreased a bit.
I didn't know it wouldn't fit well until I had it fully installed in the cab. Before installation we tried to fit a five-star-extra piece of stainless trim in the rubber around the glass and it was a hopeless endeavor. (in Bill '49 Willard's garage - thank you Bill for your patience and trim polishing help ) ,
So the trim is just hanging in my garage until I get the notion and extra funds to discard the otherwise nice clean glass and get a proper fitting piece. (about $150 around here) My truck didn't have the stainless trim before my restoration by the way.

With this much gap, the window will leak during a hard rain while driving, but will otherwise be sealed OK. It doesn't leak when washing or during a light rain. The wiper blade can be set to look horizontal for appearance sake, though it does contact the rubber.

So I'll say to anyone that is at the stage of replacing the front glass....make sure it isn't cut too small. If possible, check the gap before removal from the cab, and check the new glass against the old piece.
Wish I had done that.

Tom

 

Those back windows are a pain to install!! I broke one trying to install it as they barely fit in the hole. I had one from LMC (tempered) and also one from NPD (laminated) and while they were very slightly different in size/shape, both were extremely tight. I even used two different brands of gasket (LMC and Carpenter) with little difference. I finally got a NPD laminated window installed with a lot of soap and careful prying and pushing. I don't look forward to doing that again.
On the other hand, the windshield from LMC went in easily with no apparent issues.

 

Mine is worse that that on both lower corners.

 

My body man broke my rear window by removing it prior to sandblasting the truck. I got the glass cut by Diamond Auto, a local auto glass franchise. They came to his shop to put it in. I also ordered the winshield from them (53-54 windshield is curved not flat).

 

We (yes, I had a helper) had a real hard time getting the rear window and seal to fit into the opening in the cab so the window seal would be close enough to pull the seal over the edge with the rope. We eventually shoved in the top and pushed the bottom as close as it would go and started pulling the seal over. We could get the top and about half of each side before the seal was too far away to pull any longer. That's when the real fun began trying to push the rest of the lower window and seal into the opening to get in close enough to finish pulling the seal over the edge. We had liquid soap everywhere trying to get it to slide in and not just pop back out before I could get the rest of the seal in. Eventually on the second window, we got it but what a PITA.

 

Glad I was not alone on that rear window install. Wow. Hope it never comes out.

 

I was on my way to Truckstock 2014 when my wife accidentally locked the passenger side door from the inside. My key was useless. After many attempts in a Subway parking lot, I finally just pushed my original 65 year old rear window very carefully into the cab. The seal was completely dried out and hardened. The window torqued when I got it about halfway out, and it shattered in the middle. THEN I had to put that broken window and seal back into its spot so we could continue the trip. Needless to say, that was a very hard task. It's been my experience that the rear window is harder to install than the front.

 

Amen to that!!

 

Doc, why didn't you keep it out to improve your airflow through the cab.

I really thought about putting the sliding glass rear windows in my truck when I had it painted 16 years ago for cooler driving conditions but decided against it.

Do any of you have the sliding glass windows that open in your rear window? Do they make them for 48-50 and 51-52 trucks?

 

I know LMC sells one for the same year period Chevy trucks, but I'm not sure about the Fords. I should have left it open. It was really hard putting that broken window back into that truck without shattering it further. Plus I lost my "Truckstock 2012" sticker.

 

Seems to be taking longer than I hoped. As always life gets in the way. As well as rebuilding the flathead

Here is a first cut pattern. This week I will get it printed and fine tune the profile to the pattern that Bill sent me. Next step after that is to make a 1/4" plywood template and fit it to the opening in the truck to double check the fit before having glass cut.



F1 windshield pattern

 

Sounds like you are taking the best approach, Mike.
Measure twice, cut once.

.

 

Before i took on my windshield metal repair I went to see the glass man most guys brag about in my area. He told me me to trace the opening before cutting and then again after repair not the glass. He said bring him the rubber i would using and templet of opening then he would cut the glass.