After widening the cowl and windshield area on the truck I realized that the ’85 Nissin Z car windshield that was slated to be installed in the truck was too narrow by about four inches.  This realization resulted in returning to the junkyard (my favorite shopping place) with a note pad, tape liar and camera. 

 I knew that I needed a windshield at least as wide as the current opening in the ’51 and I wanted one with enough curve that it would look and fit properly.  Other considerations included wanting a piece of glass that came off of a later model somewhat common vehicle.  The thinking was that somewhere along the line the windshield will get broken and need to be replaced. 

I have a couple of ’62 Studebaker windshields that would fit pretty well but getting a replacement Studebaker windshield isn’t going to happen.  The fact that the Studebaker people would tar and feather me if I cut one of the windshields up also came to mind.

The first thing that I discovered at the junkyard is that most windshields that are wide enough have very little curve in the center of the glass so that after trimming off the excess glass on the edges I would end up with essentially a flat windshield, not what I was looking for.  The next thing I noticed was that almost all of the late model windshields are glued in and so are very difficult to get out without damage to the glass and other things like my fingers

After my first foray to the used parts emporium I bought a windshield goop cutter since it became obvious that my pocketknife and putty scraper weren’t up to the task of cutting out a windshield.

A week later, armed with my newly purchased tool I was back at the junkyard where I discovered that some trucks and vans used rubber gaskets up into the ‘90s.  I have a stock replacement gasket for the ’51 but after widening the windshield opening I’m pretty sure that it won’t fit.  So I peeled a gasket out of an ’80 something GM truck.  The windshield was already cracked so no effort was made to preserve the glass and now I have enough windshield gasket material to do just about anything I want to in the windshield shape and size department.

Eventually I found a windshield that was wide enough, had some center curve and wasn’t broken.  It was in a ’90 Dodge Ram van and was also held in with a rubber gasket!  This piece of glass is almost six feet wide and two and a half feet high.  Huge, even.  I got it out and home without breaking it.  It is big enough that it might be possible to cut two windshields out of it.  Like I said, huge.  And heavy.  The heavy part comes from the fact that glass is made of silicone which is the same thing that rocks are made of.  Rocks are heavy, too.

After getting the windshield glass I realized that at some point I would need glass for the rest of the truck.  I have a set of stock corner windows for the rear and figure on cutting them down to fit.  The rest of the glass is missing, broken or will no longer fit the modified window openings.

Strangely enough, I know a guy who owns a junkyard.  In this junkyard are a number of school buses.  If you are looking for flat glass let me suggest a school bus, there are several acres of flat glass in each one. 

True, the side glass is tempered and can’t be cut but the front and rear glass is laminated safety glass.  I got the windshield (both sides) out of an International school bus of unknown vintage.  Each piece is about three feet square.  I have enough glass to do both side windows and the rear window of the ’51, assuming that I don’t break too many pieces while cutting them.

Of course while there I got to looking at other parts.  I’m kinda smitten by the international headlights and rings.  Smitten enough to take them home.

I’m not sure if they will make the cut and be installed on the ’51 or not but we will see.  I also have a set of ’55 Buick rings that are in the running for the front of the truck.  Maybe I will put a Buick headlight ring on one side and an International headlight ring on the other side to see if anyone notices.

Now to learn how to cut laminated glass,

Norm

Tags: 1951 GMC

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