double pane windows?

[Deleted User]

All the windows on my 36 Hudson are double paned. Was that how they made safety glass back then? Most of my windows have this brown gook in between the glass or are cracked. How do I remove the glass from the door mechanism?

hudsontech

Jeremiah, there's a 1934-1937 shop manual online at:
http://hetclub.org/burr/lithomepage.htm - which may or may not help. There is also a 1936 parts book with some pretty good illustrations for the front door.
Click on 1930-1939 Manuals.

Hudsonly,
Alex Burr
Memphis, TN

StillOutThere

1936 was the first year laminated safety glass in both windshield and side glass (but not rear) was becoming standard in the industry. Prior to that it was in windshield from either '32 or 33 forward. The problem with the early laminated glass was the plastic sheet ("brown gook") in between the two thin pains of glass would respond over time to sunlight and turn brown eventually drying out and cracking. Tempered glass went into use in the '60s - that's the stuff that breaks into a thousand pieces.
Its actually gotten very unusual to hear of any car left with its original laminated 1930s safety glass that never got replaced. Occasionally you hear of or see a barn find or preservation car that still has the original. Almost always it is so bad it must be replaced for safe visibility.

Jon B

I think the glass comes out through the glass opening in the window (as opposed to the lower opening) but I'm not sure. You will need to remove the upholstery panel from the door to gain access to the lower part of the glass to release it. (This requires removal of all inner handles: push each handle bezel inward (there is a spring behind it) until you see a small pin holding the handle to the shaft within the door. Push the pin out with a thin finishing nail or ice pick, and the handle will then pull outward.)

In your case, the glass may be held by friction into a metal channel along the bottom which unscrews from the scissors mechanism that raises and lowers it. Or, the bottom of the glass is held in a channel that is part of the scissors mechanism. In either case, you can get in between glass and channel with thin metal, like one of those stainless steel eraser shields. Work back and forth along the channel, pushing the device deeper and deeper, to separate the glass / rubber / adhesive from the channel. In the end the glass will lift out of the channel.

Any good auto glass shop can make you a duplicate in laminated glass.

[Deleted User]

Thank you Jon. I've already opened the door panels to lubricate the mechanism and remove the dry-rotted rubber track that was binding the window. I'll get a thin piece of metal and work it along the channel. Inside one back door was a wasp nest the size of my fist and one front door had 3 that size!! I'm glad the occupants had already moved out.

Should I stick with laminated glass for the replacements?

barrysweet52

I lowered the window glass and removed them from the bottom of my doors. There is a simple home made tool to help remove the inside door handles and winders. It makes the job very easy. Search for it on previous threads. The window glass fits in a steel channel as mentioned. I bought some special 1/16" thick rubber strip, wiped it with kero then pushed the glass and rubber into the channel. Hope this helps. Barry

Huddy42

My 1942 Hudson Two Door brougham still has the original glass all round , there is some cracking just around the outer edge of the glass can't see it when the windows are wound right up, too good to replace

Jon B

Regarding the type of glass to use for window replacement, I think you'll find that tempered glass is prohibitively expensive. It has to be cut, then sent out for tempering. Laminated glass is everywhere, and cheap. Today's inner layers will last much longer than the original inner layer (the whole technology of safety glass was new in the 1930's and they hadn't worked out all of the bugs yet) so you won't have to re-replace in your lifetime.

[Deleted User]

My 53 Hornet Coupe still has a original glass and car has a total of 227,000 miles and all windows are still in good condition. Maybe because I have tint green glass. Walt

[Deleted User]

Should read (all) Walt.