Olds Dad

Any thoughts as to long term storage of front / rear 'wraparound' windscreens? Don't want them to break or warp

Store face down?

Stand up?

Hang?

What have you done?

Thanks

Professur

on edge in a wooden crate. Seen too many horror stories concerning rare glass.

jaunty75

I don't think glass can warp the way wood can. Just need to protect it from breakage.

stan 65 cutlass

glass is a semi liquid, over a long time (a hundred years) it can sag, just look through old glass windows

rjohnson442

Glass is considered a liquid at room temp. It takes a LONG time for it to warp though, Look at some old church windows the glass will be thicker at the bottom of the payne then the top from gravity over the years. Protect it with a crate standing the glass on edge. and if it sits for 10 years then yeah maybe flip it over every few years but you should be fine.

rjohnson442

Ahh beat me to it Stan!

jaunty75

I know this. But (a) this is not "warping", and (b) we're talking about a far smaller time period that 100 years.

jaunty75

This is a completely unnecessary precaution as "every few years" is a far smaller time period than that over which the glass would flow.

If this were really a problem, we would see flow and "sag" of the glass in the windows in our old cars. Obviously we can't flip our car's windshield or side glass over every few years, yet we don't see sag or flow in the windshield or side glass on our '57 Super 88 or even our '22 Model T. At least, if there is any flow at all, it is unnoticeable and of no consequence.

If you're concerned about the glass flowing, flip it over every 500 years, and you'll be fine.

Tedd Thompson

I have stored windshields for years in the large cardboard boxes they are shipped in, stored on edge like they would be on the car., no problems as long as the box stays dry.......Tedd

MDchanic

Junkyards and shops store auto glass upright, on its long edge, in wooden racks, so that there is one piece of glass per slot, with a piece of the wooden rack between each piece of glass. I would build a custom rack in an out-of-the-way place (overhead in the garage is usually safe) and put them there. Then, if the glass is rare, I would sheathe the rack in 1/4" or 3/8" plywood to protect against UFOs - Unexpected Flying Objects.

- Eric

Olds Dad

I like this idea - given the precious commodity known as "floor space" it think this will work with my high ceilings.

This glass is not particularly rare, but it's always 'rare' when you need one and don't have one I suppose.

Thanks to everyone for the inpurt

Koda

Our glass comes vertical in metal racks at the plant.

Tom442

Protect it from sparks from a grinder and or welder as well...
Tom

Oldskeeper

A friend of mine stored a 62 starfire windshield laying face down in a box in the attic of his garage, after several years and coming to the end of his restoration he went to install the glass and it had flattened out enough that trying to install the gasket would have broken the windshield.
He had to order a new one and the old one from the car is sitting in the attic in a different box on it's edge and will hopefully conform back to it's original shape.
I store all my extra glass on it's edge in my garage attic and so far no problems.
Steve

Olds64

x2

I had the rear window removed from my 71 98 at a glass shop a year or two ago. I then repaired the window channel and had the rear window reinstalled by the shop. They were kind enough to store my rear window for me while I repaired the window channel. I drove the car once or twice without a rear window.

FWIW, I later took my 71 to the same shop so they could align my glass. I had installed new weatherstripping. I feel I have a good relationship with them now. I know where I'm going if I need glass work done in the future.

Yellowstatue

I use old heater hose split lengthwise in appropriate lengths on the edges and corners and store on edge...

Olds Dad

Wow - this was the sort of thing I was thinking about

Olds Dad

Yeah - I had a windshield sitting on the hood of another car and casually tossed a folded up tarp (yes...tarp) onto the hood next to it - my aim was off and it landed on the WS and, well - anyone need a cracked '55 Olds windshield?

Olds64

Bummer!

Olds Dad

This is what I ended up doing - have four up there now and room for two more -

MDchanic

Looks great!

- Eric