Here's the patient. Its affliction is an incorrect upper windshield and hinges. I have the correct hinges and upper frame (no glass), but no experience in this area. Apparently the local glass shop has no more experience than I do. I was asked to make a template for them to follow in cutting the glass. I'm guessing that I need to install the brass channel and make the template to fit it. When installing the glass, should the channel be out and shoved into the frame along with the glass, or should it be in the frame and the glass shoved into it? Anything else I should know before beginning the operation?

I recently replaced the old plate glass in my 24 Touring.

I'm not sure it's the same as your older car, but if it is...here's what I did:

I removed the old glass intact (and removed the channel from the glass) and took it to the glass shop where they made an exact copy out of laminated safety glass.

I then installed the channel on it before I installed it in the windshield frame. Then channel and glass together went into the frame.

My lower glass/channel combo resisted going into the frame a bit, so I applied a bit of graphite powder to it (the stuff you use in locks). Why graphite powder?...because I had it laying around and it's not a messy liquid.

Also....

Like you, I was missing one section of the glass (the lower half).

I asked for, and received, the dimensions for my missing piece, here on the forums.

On a 24, the upper and lower halves are the same height, but different widths. So, the glass shop used my existing old upper half to recreate the proper corners and copied the height of the upper piece.

They then created a new lower piece by using the new width that I got here on the forum.

I've had good luck with placing the brass channel and the glass into the frame together as one unit. I tried the channel already in the frame too but, the glass tended to pinch and distort the channel in spots. Its also good to make sure the frame doesn't have any curves or bends. My frame had a slight bend that I didn't notice and it caused my glass to develop a crack overnight.

IMHO the shop should be able to take the brass channel and windshield frame and cut glass to fit. Make sure also, that the glass thickness is correct---some is too thick to us in a T.

Steve, here are the specs for 1915 runabout windshield glass. The sketches of interest are G-1A for the lower and G-2A for the upper.

Steve: I made sure the frame space was clean and without any irregularities and fit the brass channel into the frame as a test. I then put the glass into the frame without the channel to be sure it fit properly. Then put the channel on the glass and fit them into the frame. My car is a '25 rdsr pu.

Steve, without checking mine to be sure, The frames are the same and you would only need to change the hinges.

Steve -- It looks to me as if you have the hinges oriented wrong. When properly oriented, the top half of the windshield is forward of the lower half. If you put the parts of the hinges together incorrectly, the top and bottom frames will be aligned vertically. There are some parts (glass clamps) which fit onto the ends of the frames and hold the glass in place. I'm not seeing those in your pics. Those parts will show you the height of each piece of glass. The top glass overlaps the lower one by about 1/4".

Here's the "glass clamp." https://www.modeltford.com/item/7824.aspx

p.s. -- Also note from the drawing above that there is a 45-degree chamfer on the corners of both pieces of glass to accommodate the glass clamps.

No, the frames are not quite the same. The lower frame's outside length is 39". The length of the upper one is 38¾". The upper frame I have for a replacement is 39". I don't know why the upper frame on the car is a quarter inch short.

Mike, the clamps are there (most of them), and I have more.


I believe the reason the halves don't overlap is that these are the wrong hinges.


Based on discussions a couple of years ago I think this is the correct type of hinge. The upper and lower halves of the two hinges are four distinct and different parts, with four different part numbers, and the only way they fit together correctly puts the upper glass forward and overlapping the lower glass ¼".

Setting a square on the windshield clearly shows the difference in length between the upper and lower halves. Earlier I called it a quarter inch, but it's actually more like 3/8".

Steve -- There is a way to assemble the correct hinges incorrectly. I know that because when I got my '15 Touring years ago, they were assembled the wrong way and the frame halves aligned vertically. I didn't need any different parts, just moved them around. That pic which you are calling the "correct" hinge is assembled correctly. I'm pretty sure that if you remove all the hinge pieces and play with them a bit, you can end up with a pair of "correct" hinges on your car.

NOpe, by the pics, he has the later hinges.