The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Glass Setting Tape: Are they KIDDING!!?

OMG! Is it even a *near* possibility to set the window glass in the window track using this glass setting tape?

I can't even get the window in the track using the tape on *one* side of the glass, let alone wrap it around on two sides!

Has anyone actually done this!? LOL! I'm completely freaked out ... and on my way to Home Depot to buy some kind of glue to use instead.

Good grief!

Alan

no doubt you've got the wrong thickness, there are a number of different, from 1/32" up, maybe you have an auto glass shop around with thinner stock .... or use black silicone

Bill

Thanks, Bill.

I ordered the tape from Classic Parts. It says 1951 - 1954 ... but there is no way; this stuff won't even work using it on one side of the glass only.

Black silicone sounds like the answer. I'm on my way to Home Depot in 10 minutes.

Alan

I had the same miserable experience trying to put my vent windows together. Finally just used black silicone.

I did wind up with a very impressive collection of tape in every thickness known to mankind.

Alan, as Bill(Squeeze) suggests,if total originality is not a issue,and if you must use silicone,use a glazing silicone, NOT the domestic stuff.
Alternatively, Autozone sell glazing urethane.
The stuff they use to bond windshields into modern tin.(I think theirs is a 3M product)
It sets more like rubber and can be trimmed back when dry.

So you pot your window glass in to the rail with silly cones and the neighbor kid puts a rock thru the window. What do you do about removing it then???? I would think once it's potted in place it would be dang near imposable to get the glass out if you needed to.
There must be someone selling a thin setting tape. I just got a roll for the vent windows and one for the door glass from Classic and they’re the same thickness just different lengths. Hard to tell without unrolling it but I’m getting about .045" with a dial caliper.

Could it be thicker glass than the original? In my ’54 I’ve got an average thickness of .222” for my vent glass on one side and .267” on the other and they both are the original Safety [LOF] Plate AS-2. Both door glass seem a little more consistent and run between .227” and 232”.

DG

Alan,

A trick I was shown was to use vegitable oil as the lubricant, it will not attack the rubber and won't hurt the paint. Wipe the extra off when finished. HOwever, I to like the 3-m Adheavsive idea. If I have problems with mine I may go that route too.

Thanks, all. Well, I don't know if I done good or not ... after a half hour of talking and looking at everything at Home Depot, I came home with Premium Waterproof Silicone II. It adheres to glass and to metal.

I put enough in the channel so that a boat-load squished out when I pushed the glass in. I cleaned off the excess and now I'm letting it set overnight.

The setting tape from Classic Parts is now in the garbage where it will do the most good.
:o)))

Alan

Well Denny, after kicking juniors a$$, you remove the broken glass by cutting down the sides of the channel and pry the rest out with a suitable flat blade screwdriver.
(Obviously safety glasses and gloves are mandatory)
That's the reason I prefer urethane to silicon.
Provided you don't use urethane primer the residue should peel out.
It still provides enough grip without the primer.
Silicon on the other hand,leaves residue and is a real PITA to remove. JMO.

Of course you're correct John about removing the glass. But it just seemed to me that a better solution would be to find the correct setting tape and maybe make a fixture to press the glass in to the frame. I was envisioning fabricating something like this when I get to the task on my '54: http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/123683003/large
And then making a fixture using the same principal for the side windows also.
Since you see a lot of glass I thought maybe you could answer this; do you see a lot of variation in the thickness of the older flat safety glass?
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny, don't know about jock but I bought a new windshield pieces from a guy who gave up on his porject. The glass was from LMC and darn if it wasn't .001 thicker than the original. Imagine that!! Must have been a mistake on the Hong Kong side!!

Personally I do not think they even have a quality line!.... or a "go" or "no-go" guage. It all ships! Like the "verigated" looking cab windlace I got....but that story don't belong here.

silicone remover - and there's others as well - isopropyl alcohol will clean up the 'oily' residue

Bill

Denny,as I'm sure you're aware laminated safety glass is available in a variety of thicknesses.
Over here the autoglass industry tend to stick to two main thicknesses.
When replacing flat glass in older vehicles we tend to use 5.4mm thick for side/bodyglass although I do prefer to use tempered glass for drop glasses,and 6.4mm laminate for windshields(a legal requirement over here.)

As you say setting tape is available in a large range of widths and thickness to compensate for any discrepancies.
I tend to treat each job individually as different manufacturers glass channels varied considerably over the years which then has a bearing on the materials used.

I used urethane to secure the lower sashes on my own door glasses and a 'U' section rubber seal for the frames,and while this is not obviously factory accurate, I'm more than happy with the results.

Restoration Specialties & Supply, Inc. sells (or, at least used to sell) glass setting tape in at least four thicknesses and in two styles/compositions (original style tape and a rubber composition tape).

Here's who i use, C.O.H. Baines
The downside obviously is the 3000mile 'puddle' in between you!

Are you serious ?
If the glass was only .001 bigger, it is likely well within the original factory tolerances.

Well Bill, that's one I don't have on the shelf. After reading the ad and all the stuff it's suppose to clean up, I'll just have to get a bottle and give it a try, Tks.

I did see that Tim. Can anyone explain the differences??? I thought the original style tape was a rubber composition tape.
Like a canvas material empregnated with rubber.

I'm sure the tolerances were quite broad. The glass in my vent windows varies .215 to .228 on one glass and .266 to 273 on the other side. The door glass is much more consistant at .230 to .232 on one side and .236 to .238 on the other.

Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

on the TF trucks I've found variation in the metal frames for the side windows - either there was a change over the series years or there was some variation between plants in different areas, maybe even between Canada and the US .... I wouldn't be concerned with some variation, just have to do what's called for to run with what you have

Denny - good thing about that stuff is it's readily available at many chains - I always like to try out anything that appears to be citrus based, seems to work well

Bill

That is the type of tape that I use. Chevs of the 40s has what looks like that style tape. The tape I got from Restoration Specialities several years ago looked like that - canvas/cloth backing with cork and what night have been rubber (I thought it was also impregnated with soapstone dust).

Soapstone dust, that does ring a bell a way back in the old memory. Seems like I've heard that before bout a half century back. I guess the only way to find out just what they are supplying is to order a little of each. Gonna do just that in the .032" since every thing that we seem to get from the vendors is always to thick.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

" . . . soapstoned side of the filler . . . ' - referred to in the 1954 Chevrolet Truck Shop Manual.

No one with knowledge about their filler/tape choices will be in at Restoration Specialties & Supply, Inc. until Wed this next week (they are at shows - I'll call them on Wednesday, if I can remember to do so).

My first time experience on glass setting.....

I just installed all the glass in my 51 panel truck using the glass setting tape sold at Jim Carter's truck parts. After thoroughly cleaning the channels for the vent
and side glass, I heated the tape very slightly to improve pliability. I used no lubricants. I know it looks like "no way" when you first look at it, but the stuff does
squish out properly with p a t i e n c e .......

With careful, steady, vertical pressure on each piece.... they all got set properly.

Mike

When I used the tape - I put it around the outside of the glass and pushed this into the channel. Then added oil to the tape to make it expand. I then trimmed the tape. The tape is like cork.

I did not have any problems

I did the same, except used lighter fluid to get the window to slide into the channel. Same technigue as regripping golf clubs with double sided tape.

Lighter fluid. I need to remember that when I do the windows in the 48.

Thanks

I'd use oil for installation, which does not evaporate and will cause the tape to expand somewhat permanently. Gasoline/lighter fluid/turpentine/kerosene/etc would be quite nice to assist in removal - both as suggested in original Shop Manuals (oil for installation and gas (volatile liquid) for removal).

Well ... after all this, I wound up having a guy come and put my windshield and rear window in for me. I was gonna cost $300 - $400 for the two but we got to talking ... he needed work done on his web site (that's what I do these days) and I not only got the installs done free of charge but we've become friends.

Now my truck is at his place of business (he has a full service 3-bay garage) and he's helping me get the truck back to "road ready" condition. After 3.5 years with the painter, restoring the body and painting, there were quite a few electrical issues and the right front brake was locked up.

Anyway, all my glass is in and I should be driving my truck again by the end of this week.

Nice Christmas prsent you got there. Congrats.

Can't wait to see the picks, Alan!

Wow. You wouldn't believe all the stupid things the painter did (on the other hand, maybe you would?).

This guy gets an A+ for his talents with painting, but he gets expelled for everything else! He CUT and **RIPPED** out a number of wires under the hood and just left them hanging! My brake switch wires (torn out; plugs destroyed) ... my electric fan wire (cut and hanging) ... wire for the temp sender (ripped out and hanging) ... I could go on and on!

It took me and a couple of friends hours to trace wires and figure out why I had no brake lights or turn signals, why my fan wasn't coming on or why my temp gauge wasn't working, why I had no headlights, etc., etc.

You know ... I wouldn't mind at all if he had told me, "I messed some things up; you'll have to fix this, that, and the other thing." But he just gave me the truck and left me to discover a ton of nightmares; leaving me on my own to trace wires and trouble shoot everything. Sigh ...

Anyway, I've got all the electrical nightmares fixed and the truck is running like a champ. I'm waiting for new park light sockets to come in the mail this week (he destroyed two sockets) and then I'll be able to drive my truck again.

I also need to wash it and get a good coat of wax on it. Then, as soon as there's a sunny day, I'll either take some pics or shoot a video and put it up for all to see!

Alan