george 88gta

iTrader: (1)

OK, here is one for you. Hopefully, someone has the answer. I store my 1988 GTA in a heated garage ( 55 Degrees). Car has sat in the garage since last Saturday, I moved it from the garage attached to my house up to its winter home, about 200 feet away. I put on its nice thick car cover and locked the garage. I went up there today and when I closed the garage door ( side door, not the overhead) I heard this crackling sound. First thought was "damn mice!". I lifted up the car cover and the rear glass is completely shattered. Glass all over the leather interior. There is nothing but wooden rafters above the car. There are no marks on the cover and I checked all windows and doors, all closed and locked. I am the only person who has been in the garage since last Saturday. One thing I did notice, was that the pistons had pushed the rear of the tailgate away from the body panel, about a inch. Not sure if this was due to the glass being gone or if that is what started the whole process.

Brennan

thermal shock maybe?

george 88gta

iTrader: (1)

At this point, I will believe anything. The attached garage was about 30 degrees, it was about 15 degrees outside and car was only out for 3-4 minutes. Then it went in to the heated garage. Doesnt seem like that small of a temp change could damage tempered glass, but it is the original glass, so who knows.

FYRCHKN

I read this to my wife (the scientist) and her immediate response was that it was too drastic of a temp change too fast. She said that even though it was only outside a few minutes that the glass would have easily cooled to the surrounding air temp since it was in a garage that was 30*. Then, when you put it in the 55* garage, that was a 40* instant air temp change. She also said that there might have been an unknown flaw or stress crack somewhere in the glass that could have triggered the shattering.

Brennan

holy crap i was right!...ish

george 88gta

iTrader: (1)

Thats the only thing that makes any sense. Makes you wonder how many times have we subjected car glass to 40 degree or more temp change and nothing happens. Around here, many folks take their cars in to the car wash, during the winter, and the water is warm. Oh well, it is insured, lets hope they make good on the repair ( assuming the glass and metal trim are still available.

Sonymaster20

iTrader: (3)

You know I had a friend of Mine who had the same thing happen to him yesterday. Here in Houston it snowed for the first time in 30 years and while he was driving his winshield cracked right down the middle of it. a long Straight crack that we have to believe because of the cold just like you.

DJP87Z28

The Car was Pi--ed off at you for being covered up and not bring driven. These Cars require attention.

HarmonyCamaro

next time when you do that roll down your windows... i don't know why or how it works but it helps... cause when i i pull my car into the shop from a 13 degree temp into a 72 temp the teacher tells us to roll down the windows to equal the temperature so its not warmer in the outside and still cold in the inside

george 88gta

iTrader: (1)

Up here, they like to be toasty warm all winter and not out in the snow.
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You may have something here. I usually leave the windows part way down, just to help get ventilation. However, this time the windows were left all the way up.

Titan85

iTrader: (1)

The temperature change theory doesn't quite fit to me. I work at a tire shop and we pull cars in from 20 degree weather into 70 degree air temperatures all day and have yet to have a problem with windows breaking. Even with the windows rolled up.

I don't think that a window in good condition would have a problem with the temperature change. If there was already something wrong with the window to begin with, that and the temperature change could have combined to cause a problem.

Twin_Turbo

iTrader: (25)

Had this happen, frozen window, turned on the rear defog and the whole glass exploded on me. Probably a scratch or a nick in the glass and the thermal shock did the rest.

Brennan

that is true but how many of those cars have glass that is 20 years old?

george 88gta

iTrader: (1)

Could it have been something to do with the lift pistons? The glass holds the rear deck intact. When the glass shattered, the rear deck pulled away from the rear panel by about two inches. Only thing holding the rear deck on the car was the metal trim, which buckled. I unbolted the pistons and they were still under compression ( about 5 inches). The pistons are GM replacement parts, about 3 years old. The original aero wing was trashed so I replaced it with a lighter fiberglass spoiler. Insurance company is having trouble coming up with the parts to fix this mess. Going to get interesting.

1piece@atime

iTrader: (1)

The pistons probably didn't have anything to do with it. Pushing the decklid back is natural when you don't have the glass holding it all together. It pushes the decklid back as far as the striker will allow. When you unlatch it then it pushes the lid as far as the struts will go. I have seen a glass break when a guy only had 1 strut on and he tried to close it, the twist broke the glass.

5_Speed

iTrader: (2)

I washed my car once and not 1 but 3 of the windows instantly shattered when being hit with warm water after sitting out in the cold. Whoops!

That sucks, good luck with a new piece of glass and I'm pretty sure the shocks attempted to reach out further after the window broke out because of the weight reduction.

Titan85

iTrader: (1)

Not all that many, but quite a few have come in around that age. We actually had a 79 Chevette come in yesterday. No problems with the windows . Gotta love 13 inch rims lol

Since we have similar stories with different results, my guess is that in the cases when the glass breaks, something was wrong to begin with. A weak spot or imperfection in the glass seems like the most likely thing to cause a problem when combined with weather.

87cmroiroc305ho

iTrader: (2)

yeap, my dad has a 74 vega hatchback, and this happened to him, the garage was warm, and the door was open and closed, open and closed, you know, goin in and out and all that, well he said one time he came in and he heard cracking, thought nothing of it, then looked at his car closely, and the back window was shattered but didnt get glass everywhere, it was just cracked everywhere, but not shattered. on a vega, this is a problem cuz its a rare thing to find a vega parts car, so he had to use tinted plexiglass, and that worked cuz he races it only, so its weight reduction. but in a camaro/firebird case, you need a whole new hatch, probably what happened is that when it was cracking, wind or the cover pushed it in and got glass everywhere, and if there was snow on it that could push it in, it is nearly impossible to break one by natural force, i thew rocks at one, hit it with a bat, a golfclub, walked on it, nothing, finally a rock that was about a foot round and wighed only god knows broke it, that and another one broke cuz my friend pushed it up tooo much
sorry for the long reply

1piece@atime

iTrader: (1)

I pour hot water on my icy windows to get the frost off ... ummmmm ... maybe I should stop doing that!

johnyIROC

This happened to me after driving over a bump in the road... The hatch glass in these cars is always loaded up with multiple stress and pressure forces. The struts are constantly trying to stretch it, the tightness of the bolts trying to compress it, gravity is trying to bend it, unibody twist is trying to torsion it... when you have all of this stress going on in the glass, if you throw in a small shock from thermal expansion and contraction or a bump in the road... it's gone.

george 88gta

iTrader: (1)

Latest update and some info for you guys who own older cars. "Full Glass" coverage is not the greatest on older cars, you really have to push the insurance company for a good settlement. First pass was that they were going to send one of those Mr.Quickie glass repair guys to my house to replace the window. After a week, no communication from them, I called. "Cant get you a replacement glass" was the answer, but we can get you a used glass. Just what I wanted, another 20 year old piece of glass. Called the insurance company ( and they were polite and professional) and the answer was we dont want to total your car for a window. I agreed that this was not going to happen. They offered to send me a check for a FAIR settlement and I could replace the galss myself. On the surface that sounds good, but I would bet that they would use low cost labor and used glass so I would get stuck. Explained that the car is not a show car, but is not the typical Northeast rust bucket and we needed to reach a better agreement. They decided to send out an adjuster. Turns out he is a car guy ( has a 1973 MOPAR) and after looking at the car he agreed that a used glass was not the way to go. He took pictures and we discussed part numbers and he left. Called back today and asked if I was willing to accept a reproduction glass. I said if it meets the OEM specs, has the defogger and tint, I would work with them. Plan now is to have a local body shop pick up the car, replace the glass and return the car. The body shop is well known to me and is the shop used by the local Cadillac dealer ( also a friend) so I am comfortable with this solution. Bottom line, if they are taking your money, stand your ground. Some additional FYI, if you really need an OEM glass, there are 3 of them in California. They wanted $900 plus $300 - $400 to ship. Just go to your local GM dealer and have them search the online obselete parts website they have.

george 88gta

iTrader: (1)

Well, the saga continues!!!!! Car has been at the body shop for over a month. First problem was that the replacement glass never shipped. They finally got that straightened out and have the glass at the shop. They called yesterday and told me that they planned on sending the car back to me, unrepaired. Problem now is the black metal trim around the glass. The old trim is too badly damaged to be repaired and they cant find replacement trim. Turns out that we have an 1989 Formula parts car that has the correct trim. Anyone know how to remove this trim without damaging the trim or the glass? Other option is to let them take the window and trim and install it on my car, but then I have to find a way to get reimbursed by the insurance company and I will have a 20 year old piece of glass on my car.

1piece@atime

iTrader: (1)

The body shop that has your car should be able to tell you if the glass moulding is a friction fit or bonded on. My choice from the options mentioned would be to use the used glass that you have. Selling it to the shop shouldn't be a problem. Although having the shop buy another used glass would leave you with a complete hatch if you ever need it. The thought of a brand new glass is cool, but seems like it might not be worth the trouble.

george 88gta

iTrader: (1)

Borrowed a shop manual and the correct procedure is to heat the trim with a torch for a FEW seconds, then gently pull the trim from the glass. They then describe how to refinish the trim since the paint was damaged by the heat. Wonder if a hair dryer would work and not damage the finish?

1piece@atime

iTrader: (1)

A heat gun might do the trick but I doubt a hair dryer would be hot enough. With a torch you could concentrate the heat on the moulding for a few seconds and not heat the glass too much. Uneven heat... OUCH ...I suspect that might have been what started all of this. lol

And remember there are plates with holes attached to the moulding at the hinge locations. You will have to do this with the glass off the car.

rough

should have call'ed the glass dr's or something, they could have come right out to your house and repaired it, instead of it sitting forever in some shop

They offer 1 to 2 year warranty on their glass.

george 88gta

iTrader: (1)

Well, that is where we started. The insurance company referred me to one of those local Dr Feelgood , come to your house shops. They took all the info and said they would call the next day to schedule an appointment. They called and were ready to stop by and install my new windshield. I explained, once again, that it was the rear glass, not the windshield. They took the info again and I waited a week for them to call. Finally I called them and they said they could not get the glass. That was it for me. I spoke with the insurance company and they sent out an adjuster. He too pics and set me up with the local body shop. So now we have a new glass, but no trim. I offered the trim from my Formula and they are discussing this with the insurance company. Getting close to calling the insurance company and asking them to send me a check ( based on the estimate) and I will swap over the used glass and trim from the Formula. Sometimes it just aint fun playing with older cars.

Titan85

iTrader: (1)

When I removed mine, I was able to just pull it off. The glue holding it on is old and not very sticky most of the time. I definitely would not use a torch to heat it up. Flames and glass just don't go well. I would recommend a heat gun instead of a torch.

george 88gta

iTrader: (1)

Well, she is finally home and back in the heated garage. Rear glass looks good, best looking piece of glass on the car! They straightened and painted the original trim, really good job. Cant wait for spring so I cna get her back on the road.