73-80 vs. 81-87 side window glass

[ChuckN]

Quick question- I did a search and didn’t find anything but know it’s been mentioned- my truck is an ‘81, a guy gave me a passenger side window but it appears thicker. Also, the blue of the Soft-ray looks a little darker but hard to tell exactly on the garage. I did see guys like @Redfish had problems with tight seal/felt fitment and I want to replace those as well. My window just has a chip on top. I don’t want to add another problem to the process in the meantime. Thanks in advance.

 

[Redfish]

Quick question- I did a search and didn’t find anything but know it’s been mentioned- my truck is an ‘81, a guy gave me a passenger side window but it appears thicker. Also, the blue of the Soft-ray looks a little darker but hard to tell exactly on the garage. I did see guys like @Redfish had problems with tight seal/felt fitment and I want to replace those as well. My window just has a chip on top. I don’t want to add another problem to the process in the meantime. Thanks in advance.

You have to keep in mind that Redfish is not very smart and struggles with things that involve "Work".

I inherited the window seals from the PO and have no idea of their quality. The original parts were shot so anything was an improvement. After everything sat for a couple of weeks, warm weather happened and miraculously everything began working beautifully. Also replaced the window motor and eventually the regulator as well...

Not long after I bought The Truck the driver side window shattered one day when I closed the door and I had to have it replaced. The glass guy told me he wished I had given him time to order new felt/seals and I told him I actually had them and they were actually in the tool box. He replaced the seal while I watched and everything on that side worked fine. But of course when I did it...

 

[bluex]

81+ glass is a little thinner than 73-80. Use the corresponding year window guide to match the glass. I believe the belt line are the same.

 

[ChuckN]

@Redfish Tis the way it goes sometimes bud! Your truck is too nice for me to think you don’t know what you’re doing so we’ll call it faulty equipment.

 

[ChuckN]

81+ glass is a little thinner than 73-80. Use the corresponding year window guide to match the glass. I believe the belt line are the same.

Cool, thanks. In your experience, is the blue hue of the earlier glass darker than the later stuff?

 

[bluex]

Cool, thanks. In your experience, is the blue hue of the earlier glass darker than the later stuff?

Can't say that I've ever put them side by side to check. I tint everything so that would cover it up anyhow lol

 

[GTX63]

I've had SB from 74-85 and lots of them. The vent structures do interchange. The tints really didn't change from newer to older as I recall. At least I have never noticed any difference in levels of factory tint shade.

 

[TotalyHucked]

As stated, '81-up is slightly thinner (like, 1-2mm, BARELY thinner). Not sure about the tint, all our repop stuff has the same shade to it. I do know, depending on where the truck lived, the tint will fade differently.

 

[ChuckN]

Thanks guys, good to know. Tomorrow will be somewhat sunny so I’ll see if I can see how far off it is. I don’t mind if it’s a little different- but then again I could see if I could get a matching one for the other side from the guy, gets seals at the same time, and have matching thicker glass and color.

 

[TX87R10]

As stated, '81-up is slightly thinner (like, 1-2mm, BARELY thinner). Not sure about the tint, all our repop stuff has the same shade to it. I do know, depending on where the truck lived, the tint will fade differently.

Wanted to chime in. I believe I have a passenger window out of an early truck and the difference when I check with mikes is about 3.6mm vs 3.3mm.

I guess it’s possible that is the manufacturing tolerance on glass thickness? Seems like a lot. Difference in years though I can’t imagine a 3.3mm vs 5.3mm fitting in the same slot, the 2mm you mentioned seems extreme so figured I would chime in and see if it tracks at all

 

[Snoots]

They (GM) switched to thinner glass for several reasons.
Thinner glass is lighter. When they added power windows, the motor had less work to do. A motor with smaller coils could be used; therefore, lighter. Smaller glass = smaller channels required (less weight).

 

[TX87R10]

They (GM) switched to thinner glass for several reasons.
Thinner glass is lighter. When they added power windows, the motor had less work to do. A motor with smaller coils could be used; therefore, lighter. Smaller glass = smaller channels required (less weight).

Have any idea if the specs on thickness to corroborate the difference in weight? I’m greatly interested if this is the cause of the pinching in my passenger window

 

[TotalyHucked]

Wanted to chime in. I believe I have a passenger window out of an early truck and the difference when I check with mikes is about 3.6mm vs 3.3mm.

I guess it’s possible that is the manufacturing tolerance on glass thickness? Seems like a lot. Difference in years though I can’t imagine a 3.3mm vs 5.3mm fitting in the same slot, the 2mm you mentioned seems extreme so figured I would chime in and see if it tracks at all

I just measured on a '76 and an '85 we have in house. the '76 was 4.8mm, the '85 was 3.7mm. So just over 1mm difference. Gaskets and channels are all the same/interchangeable, there's enough material to make up the difference

 

[TX87R10]

I just measured on a '76 and an '85 we have in house. the '76 was 4.8mm, the '85 was 3.7mm. So just over 1mm difference. Gaskets and channels are all the same/interchangeable, there's enough material to make up the difference

Interesting, I saw online that the bottom channel can be installed incorrectly leading to other issues I wonder if that could be what’s killing me. Doesn’t seem logical my 0.3mm are causing issues if your gaskets and stuff are the same in both