Hey all, Got my parts to put door glass in my truck. In case anyone is interested the parts from LMC seem pretty good on 1st glance, will update when I get things assembled. Anyway my question is What holds in the vent glass? There is the metal frame and then another layer of material inside the metal frame but I can't really tell what it is. The new glass fits nice and snug but seems like it needs to be held in with adhesive of some sort. Or is the material lining the inside of the frame "setting tape"??? I got some of this "setting tape" for installing the side glass bottom channel. Anyone done this?

 

Yep, that's glass setting tape in there. I'm not exactly sure how it works, but once you push the glass in with the tape, it doesn't come back out. I had a glass company cut a new side glass for a big truck and they put the track on the wrong way, they had to break the glass and dig it out of the tape.

 

I watched an old glass guy put a vent wing in a truck years ago. He had a rubber like strip and pinched it over the edge of the wing glass as he pushed it in and then whacked a soft mallet on the edge driving the glass in until it seated. He then used a razor blade and cut off the rubber strip inside and out. It took him about 4 minutes if that.

 

The seating tape I got is peel and stick on 1 side. So does the adhesive side go on the glass or into the frame? Seams like you'd want adhesive on both sides??? Where are the old glass guys when you need them!

 

Mid-Fifty offers a roll of the glass tape...I used it on the 1/4 vent frames....But...No sticky on either side of tape. Folded tape over glass , then set glass into frame using a small block of wood to push glass into frame( and for saftey, just in case glass broke).
Worked for me..I guessed it was the tight fit that seals it...trimmed of excess.

 

I'm thinking that since the new glass is pretty darn snug in the old setting tape groove I would just run a bead of silicone in the groove and seat the glass. If I pick at the old setting tape a bit with a screwdriver it seems real solid and removing it all from the frame would be a pain. Any thoughts?

Hey Mertz, is the tape you used like a strip of rubber? I could see where just the compression would hold it together. Just seems like after so many years you would lose that compression and the glass would fall out???

 

I would put the sticky side to the glass, also they use to sell it in different thicknesses.

 

bememe, Yep!...I guess you could leave the old tape in, but it will probably come out in chunks and pieces when removing the glass...
As Jeff mentioned, getting the glass out in one-piece is only part of the battle...
Yep, the glass-tape comes in a roll and looks just like rubber...but it must have some Top-secret-Area 51 stuff in it, I can't tell you how it actually works, it just does.
I guess if you could get the glass out in one piece, and you decided to use what was left of the original rubber as a sort of glass centering material, and then use a butyl-rubber adhesive like the modern auto's use to hold they're winshields in place....
But why?...once the glass is out ,the frame channel is easy enough to clean out with a small screwdriver, wrap the tape over the glass...a mixture of dishwashing detergent and water over the tape to frame area , a good shove, and your good to go for another life-time....or 50 years, which-ever comes first!..LoL!

 

Gotcha, I'll have to check with Mid Fifty.

 

Well I ordered the stuff from MF. That made me feel better about pokin at what was in my frames. The old stuff that was in their popped right out in about 3 pieces so I'm glad I didn't try gluing the new glass into it. I also took a closer look at the setting tape I got for the side glass. It is smooth on 1 side and the other has a backing that peels off to reveal a knurled surface (much like a ratchet handle) but it's not sticky. My initial thoughts are the knurled side goes on the glass and the smooth slides down into the frame with just the compression of the whole thing holding it together. One of my vent frames had the original glass still in it. While I couldn't just pull it out of the frame once I got a small screwdriver behind it it came out in one piece pretty easily. I would suspect it did come apart without breaking the glass due to it's age. Anyway thanks for the input and I'll let the fridge guys know what I think of all these pieces as they go together.