Re: Mike's 53 Caribbean

Posted by kevinpackard On 2021/10/6 17:29:05

Ugh, sorry to hear about the windshield. I just went through the nightmare, and still managed to crack my replacement. I'm just letting it slide for now.

Windshields for 53-54 hardtops and convertibles are nearly impossible to find. Auto City Classic did make reproductions in the past, but they stopped making them and have no more available. I made dozens of calls to try and find NOS glass, and only found 4....one of which broke in transit to me, and the second of which is in my car, damaged.

What I did find out with this whole debacle is that sedan windshields can be used for hardtop/convertible cars if they are cut down. The windshield I have now is actually from a sedan. I didn't know that (and neither did Tucson Packard), and assumed it was from a hardtop. Long story short, someone in the past had taken a sedan windshield, cut off an inch or so off the top, and put it in a hardtop. It was removed from a hardtop and stored as what was believed to be original. When I went to install it, the glass was every so slightly too big from my opening, and very rough on the top edge (poor cut), which led to my cracks. A glass shop cleaned up the edge to the right dimensions and the install went fine after that....with the cracks already done.

Bottom line is, if you can't get your hands on a hardtop/convertible windshield, you can use a sedan windshield and cut the top edge down to the right dimensions. Potential for fracture is high, but sedan windshields are a lot easier to come across. If you can find a good glass shop or hot rod shop, they should be able to do it. But they won't want to take any responsibility for breaking the glass.

-Kevin