[T3] windshields and notes

[Jim Adney]

On 5 Nov 2011 at 19:24, Keith Park wrote:

> All type 3 windshields were the FCW 160, the seals were different. 

This isn't quite true. VW supplied 2 different windshields for Type 
3s: The windshield supplied for cars with the clips was slightly 
shorter (less tall.) The FCW 160 is an aftermarket part that is 
supposed to be the same size as the early VW windshield, hence it is 
too tall to work with the clips.

The window opening in all Type 3 bodys was the same, except for the 
Type 34.

Cars with the clips, '71 and later in the US, required a different 
rubber seal as well as a different windshield. Since this seal seems 
to be totally unavailable these days, the FCW160 with the early seal 
and no clips should work in any of our cars other than the Type 34s. 

If Keith ran into a FCW160 that was 1/2" too tall, that must have 
been a factory mistake, which probably explains why it was still 
hanging around.

Stories of windshields warping from poor storage have got to be 
figments of imagination. Glass just doesn't flow in less than 
geologic time scales. Stories of old glass being thicker at the 
bottom are true, but it's because it was made that way. Glass workers 
hundreds of years ago knew better than to set the glass with the thin 
side down.

The visconsity of glass is a measurable quantity, and it leads to 
insignificant flow even over tens of thousands of years. 

Poorly shaped windshields are still possible, but it would mean that 
they were made that way.

If you're interested in how windshields are made, here's a good 
YouTube video that shows how the 2 glass parts are made and then 
sandwiched around the vinyl inner layer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fg3moEI9V5g

-- 
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney at vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************