C3 Windshield Replacement
- Thread starter My77Vette
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SVO
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- 69 L68 Vert, 72 LS-5 Cpe, 72 LT-1 Air 'Vert
Any competent glass company should be able to replace a windshield in you car. For a recommendation of who to use, look/ask around for corvette clubs in your area and ask for a recommendation for who to use. For help locating a club, go to the National Council of Corvette Clubs website and look for contact information for the SouthEast Region. Also, look for NCRS (National Corvette Restorers Society) members in your area and ask who they might use. The NCRS website might be helpful to find chapter contacts for the Florida Region.
- Thread starter
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Here's a heads up. On my '71, the insurance co (thru safelite) wouldn't just come replace the windshield, they needed me to bring it to one of their shops to have it done. They said on older cars like that they expected rust in the windshield frame and preferred to repair it themselves
. I had already replaced a corner and repaired the frame better than most good shops would've done it, but no matter. But after I had a safelite guy come look he agreed it was fine.Also, as the chrome around these windshield frames are very hard to remove sometimes and pricey to bend, I'm not so sure I'd trust safelite to do it.
Next was sourcing the glass. My 71 shows in all the glass books a foam strip (dam) that was unavailable through safelite but cost 400 bucks if they could get one, and couldn't install the glass without it! The local glass shop also had it listed and for the same money. So it turns out the foam dam is only a stick on foam strip that goes around the inside perimeter to hide the metal frame edges inside the car from view. I found that on ebay for about $20 and it worked perfect. Many people replace the glass leaving this strip off, but it makes for a nicer looking job if it's there.
Lastly, the first glass safelite got was wrong, for later cars, they had no other number for it. Prob not an issue in your case. I ended up ordering the correct glass direct from Pilkington. Classic Glass and Accessories for Classic Cars | Pilkington Classics
It's a pretty involved procedure to replace it correctly and I would recommend getting a really competent restoration shop to do it.
There's a guy on the DC forum, "autowiz" that works at a fine shop in Pompano Beach, they would be my go-to.
The Punisher
New member
The safelite by me won't even touch my '75. They said it was too old. Alot of other local glass guys wouldn't do it either.
ZZ1-70 LT4-96
Active member
windshield
Sure hope your windshield framing does not need attention because of rust. I took my 1970 to a shop in 1986 to have a new windshield. I watched the removal and saw all the rust in the windshield frame. Drove it home without the windshield and replaced the two lower corners, upper two corner pieces, and the complete frame bar across the top of the windshield frame. In 1986 the parts were available from my Chevy dealer. I did all the work, and the new windshield was installed about a year later. Had always wondered why water would drip from the inside rear view mirror. Also found that the lower corner metal that the fiberglass rear upper fender support is attached to has hole in that provides passage way for water to enter the car. The new
the new metal pieces I bought from Chevy parts even had the same hole that I welded closed when I installed them. These holes serve no purpose.
Sure hope your windshield framing does not need attention because of rust. I took my 1970 to a shop in 1986 to have a new windshield. I watched the removal and saw all the rust in the windshield frame. Drove it home without the windshield and replaced the two lower corners, upper two corner pieces, and the complete frame bar across the top of the windshield frame. In 1986 the parts were available from my Chevy dealer. I did all the work, and the new windshield was installed about a year later. Had always wondered why water would drip from the inside rear view mirror. Also found that the lower corner metal that the fiberglass rear upper fender support is attached to has hole in that provides passage way for water to enter the car. The new
the new metal pieces I bought from Chevy parts even had the same hole that I welded closed when I installed them. These holes serve no purpose.
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SVO
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@ZZ1
The hole you speak of in the lower part of the windshield actually had a reason for being there. The "birdcage", which in part, makes up the windshield frame was assembled on a jig and spot welded together. The hole you speak of is/was a locating hole for the jig. After the birdcage was assembled, the hole was plugged with a soft putty material. With age, the putty material dried out, crumbled and fell out. Somewhere between 1972 and 1979, Chevrolet changed their assembly method and said hole was eliminated.
Water dripping from the rear view mirror means that you don't have a good weatherstrip seal between the front edge of the top and the windshield trim. Water will pass under the front edge of the top and collect in the windshield trim pad, often rusting out the top header piece of the frame.
Where Chevrolet really dropped the ball on the windshield frame was in not properly painting and finishing the frame before installing the windshield. But they never really intended on people to still be running around in a vehicle they built 40-50 years later.
The hole you speak of in the lower part of the windshield actually had a reason for being there. The "birdcage", which in part, makes up the windshield frame was assembled on a jig and spot welded together. The hole you speak of is/was a locating hole for the jig. After the birdcage was assembled, the hole was plugged with a soft putty material. With age, the putty material dried out, crumbled and fell out. Somewhere between 1972 and 1979, Chevrolet changed their assembly method and said hole was eliminated.
Water dripping from the rear view mirror means that you don't have a good weatherstrip seal between the front edge of the top and the windshield trim. Water will pass under the front edge of the top and collect in the windshield trim pad, often rusting out the top header piece of the frame.
Where Chevrolet really dropped the ball on the windshield frame was in not properly painting and finishing the frame before installing the windshield. But they never really intended on people to still be running around in a vehicle they built 40-50 years later.
Antz81
Well-known member
Maybe they intended to, but the hole was there on my 81.
ZZ1-70 LT4-96
Active member
new parts
If Chevrolet did change the way they made the lower parts without the hole I must of received old parts manufactured before they changed making them without the hole. I bought my new parts from my local Chevy parts counter in 1986.
If Chevrolet did change the way they made the lower parts without the hole I must of received old parts manufactured before they changed making them without the hole. I bought my new parts from my local Chevy parts counter in 1986.
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