opening or re-opening a can of worms

[FWB]

ok, so plenty of us have had to get a new windshield......

an ever perplexing question i have had, and I'm sure others have had too is....

where do all of the windshields come from, who ultimately makes them.

are these made for just the cobra market?....in all honesty i don't think so.

i have a manual for my kellison, it shows a part number for the glass.
however it is by Royal Daulton....who is out of the automotive glass business and no cross reference to this number i have ever found in 7 or 8 years.

now i know there is one glass pattern that everyone sells and uses on all of the makes....

but does anyone wonder if this glass, we all cringe at the price of, is actually the same pattern for some other british vehicle, that is actually half the price of what we pay retail for?

i have some ideas, but, without a actual NAGS number for what we call replacement cobra glass, the only way is to hold two examples of the suspects up to one another and see for sure.

any thoughts?


Fred

[dcdoug]

A lot of guys go with this option: Fast Freddie's Fabrications - Fast Freddie's Lexan Roadster Windshield

I just got a chip in my windshield and am going to replace it with one of these.

[FWB]

take a really good look at 1955-62 MGA's, not the frame but the glass...

[saltshaker]

Fred, easy to install and won't break.....
Jon

[FWB]

Doug, Jon.....i don't need a windshield.......just trying to unravel what pattern these windscreens are. Kellison had them sourced from a british auto glass MFG'er, which was Royal Doulton, that division became autoglas, then the assets somehow ended up with pilkington...

the whole cobra market is being serviced by 2 or 3 glass manufacturers. and i can't imagine a cobra is its own pattern.....it must be the same as an AC Bristol right....what else is it the same as....the brit car manufacturers in the 50's shared vendors.....its not a very Big place over there only so many manufacturers of glass, lights etc......

[Mark IV]

Originally Posted by FWB

i can't imagine a cobra is its own pattern.....it must be the same as an AC Bristol right....what else is it the same as....the brit car manufacturers in the 50's shared vendors.....its not a very Big place over there only so many manufacturers of glass, lights etc......

Ah, but it is.

The Cobra glass is the same as the late AC Ace with the curved windscreen (the standard Ace was flat, the curved screen was an option). The early Aces had a different pattern, the last of the Aces which had the AC Greyhound grille turned upside-down (the Cobra 260/289 grille) are the Cobra pattern.

Yes, AC was a "parts-bin" specialist; MG door latches, Morris lamps, MGB steering racks, etc. but the glass was unique. Beclawat (Beclawat Manufacturing Inc.) was one of the windscreen frame suppliers that AC fitted the glass into.

Absolutely not the same as an MGA glass.