one piece windshield in 47-53 body?

[one wing angel]

Hi Guy,s....Can anyone offer some insight into what is involved with fitting a one piece windshield into the earlier A.D. bodies. Haven,t really seen too much info. on this modification. Is it as simple as just taking out the center post?....Thanks John

[floridasteve]

Here is my .02 cents worth of information. The glass guy I bought from sold the one piece and we got to talking about it. He told me that you need to be careful with the top center area. Where the angle meet in the center can be pretty pointed. This serves as a stress point to the glass especially when driving. He stated that it is best to hit the area with a body hammer to flatten the point and releiving stress on the area. He told me that there was 3 instances he knew of where the windshield cracked as a result. Those one pieces are not cheap. Hope this helps if you go that route.

[mr48chev]

I've seen a couple of 47/53 trucks with one piece glass from aftermarket suppliers and in both cases there was a lot of distortion when you looked through the glass in the middle.

I'd look at a few with those windshields at shows and ask the owners what they thought of them before spending the money.

[one wing angel]

Thanks for the advice guy,s. I didn,t realize that some of the aftermarket glass may be wavey (distorted) but now that you mentioned it, I have encountered that in a couple of my late model windshield exchanges.
I will heed your advice about talking to some owners that have done the swap. Can,t wait for the weather to warm up and show season to begin....
Back to the Fifties in Minneapolis has been an annual pilgrimage for over 20 years, can,t wait to be there again.............. thanks,John

[BigJock]

I haven't seen one in an AD truck,but saw one in a 39 F*rd at a show.

I'm not too sure about the look though. JMO

If you really want to get rid of the centre post,a properly done 'V' butt in my opinion is better looking,plus you don't need to worry about the distortion and/or metalwork issue.
It would probably work out cheaper too.

[mr48chev]

I'd have to agree with BigJock a properly done V butted windshield would look a lot better. It takes a glass man who knows what he is doing though.

[IndyBowtie]

Yes, here is my 1 piece windshield for an AD truck story. I agreed to pay extra for the 1 piece glass my PO had for the '48 I bought. When I finally got around to installing it, it was shorter, narrower, and had the wrong angle for my truck!!!
I called him on the phone about it, and he stated that he would look into it, but of course I never heard back from him. He said it cost $450.
Now I don't even know what it fits!!! I guess it is destined for the trash!
So I went back to the original split glass, like it and haven't looked back.
Don't know if this will help you or not! Be careful if you buy one! Maybe not second hand like me!

[solidaxel]

Here is a question I had about the two piece "V" butted windshied,

How do you secure it in the center without the bolts and center Stainless?

When I was installing my 2 piece WITH the divider any little bit of pressure before I had the stainless bolted in it wanted to "pop" out of the rubber gasket.

I did not think a bit of glue would hold in the Vbutted windshield so we went back to the stock and I feel like it will stay put!

[BigJock]

solidaxel,without actually seeing your truck it's hard to say why your glass wanted to come out with such little pressure.
I could quite happily drive my truck with my stock set-up and NO stainless centre bar,and the glass would stay put.
It sounds like your glass is just a tad too wide or not seating in the rubber at the pillars correctly.
I assume you trimmed the inner lip of the seal where it passes over the centre bar top and bottom?
If however the glass is in,the centre bar fits,and it doesn't leak,you shouldn't have any problems.

Normally on a V-Butt the glass is custom cut, it's not just standard glass with a bevel ground on the inner edges.
The join in the centre is normally sealed with clear silicone sealant,and you do not want the two glasses to actually touch.
The glass has to be physically bigger to compensate for the lack of centre bar.

[one wing angel]

To IndyBowtie..
Thanks for the heads up on the ill fitting windshield.
I have only been able to find one person in my area that has done this conversion and he definately did not recommend the modification. He stated that there was a lot of glass grinding / polishing to even get the glass to fit right and then the result was still less than satisfying. From what I,ve seen and read this is one modification that I think I will forget about........
John

[mr48chev]

True, If you don't have a glass guy who is well experienced in V butted glass it's probably best to pass on it.

[Layedoutsonoma91]

do 54's come with solid glass windshield? Im looking at buying one and it has a solid one. Maybe you can go that route

[MrDude_1]

Originally Posted by solidaxel

I did not think a bit of glue would hold in the Vbutted windshield so we went back to the stock and I feel like it will stay put!

modern windshield adhesives hold the glass to the metal better then if you were welding a metal sheet there. they are amazingly strong. So dont worry about it coming out.

really though, like BigJock said, its a custom job, so it needs to be made to fit just right... i know Its beyond my abilities.. cutting glass well is a real skill.