Flush mounting glass

[BigBlockOlds]

Read through a couple of threads here on the board about flush mounting glass and the different approaches.

I'm considering doing the front and rear windows on my '87 Cutlass mostly because I'd like to get rid of the trim around the window.

I've heard that instead of buying a custom made piece of glass for each that you can instead weld up the gap between the window and window frame to achieve the same look. Has anyone done this and have pictures?
How much room do you need to leave between the glass and body so that you can still have the glass installed properly? How do you go about setting this gap? In my case my window's are glued into place and the trim is there just to hide the gap. Would I need to have my windows glued back in temporarily while I weld things up? Or could I get away with just laying them in there?

Thanks,

[BA.]

on my car they did it a lot like you said. there was a lot of trial fitting on each glass and the shop worked with their local Glass Shop that they always use.

on the sides of the glass, you can just weld in a rod or some flat steel bar to help close the gap, then dress with duraglass.
on the top and bottem, it depends on how you position the glass (up or down, or centered).
My front glass was mounted lower and they then had to lower the roof-line. If I would have been paying more attention to things, I would have used the original roof-line and added metal to the cowl panel.

I don't remember the gaps but the Glass Shop gave recommendations for expansion clearances.
I'll try to get a picture for you of the gap. There's a couple of crappy garage shots in the link in my sig.

EDIT: The Glass Shop also had the body shop put in a slightly wider ledge for the glass to sit on, so that the butyl would have full support.

[BA.]

I'd call it 3/16" using original-style replacement glass which is laid down upon Butyl just like newer cars.
I put a quarter in the gap for reference,.......that's all I had.

[prostreet69camaro]

I just installed the kit from Glass Innovations. They use foam to raise the glass up. It was like 3/8" x 3/8" with has sticky side. I laid it on the outside lip of the body glass frame. This left a area of about 3/8" to 1/2" to lay the urethane in. The thickness of the rubber is how far you raise the glass and it needs to be flush with the body. The back glass was a little lower than what I wanted but the rubber hid the difference. Just fill the gap beside the rubber with urethane and it has to be a little higher than the rubber so it touches the glass and then push down to get a good seal. With the over size glass it left about a 1/8" to 3/16" gap for the seal to push in the slot and the urethane held it in place.

The hardest part about the rubber seal is making it wrap around the end curves of the glass. You can cut 45 degree cuts but the way the glass is shaped it is hard to make the cuts correctly. It can be done though.

Now since I have used the kit I would do it with regular glass and build the body out with 1/8" to 3/16" rod and do body work. I would do it like the new truck back glass with no seal. It would look like dropped in / floating glass. Just use the rubber to set the height then add metal where you need it. Leave a 1/8" gap all around the lip of the glass. On your car you will have to be creative on the lower trim part but on a camaro I would length it to the glass.

Here is some pictures of the finished glass.

Front glass w/ molding curved around and seemed in the lower bottom

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/07/DSC03228-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/07/DSC03229-1.jpg

Back glass w/ 45 degree cuts at the bottom

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/07/DSC03223-1.jpg

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2010/07/DSC03224-1.jpg

Glass that looks like it has no molding around its edge. The black camaro. This is what I would do next time. Go to this link at lateral-g.net

http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/showthread.php4?t=27658&page=2