Cracked Windsheild on SPF 2238

[eschaider]

Dave,

You might want to look around on both SCOF and Club Cobra re: the broken windshield thing. This appears to be a fairly frequent occurrence on the newer SPFs. Someone (I don't recall who) thought of using GE Lexan after replacing two or so windshields.

Not a bad idea all things considered. It's no more expensive (maybe cheaper), it won't shatter from stone impacts but it will crater. Washing requires the same sort of care you would give to glasses with plastic lenses although in fairness the Lexan is noticeably tougher.

Most important it never cracks the way glass does.

Ed

[dmoscoso]

Thanks for your help guys,

I called up Olthoff's dealership and Dennis himself answered the phone. He was very helpful and, he too, agrees that I should be able to change the glass myself. He even offered to walk me through the process after I get my glass.

He also agreed with you guys that I must go with the dealer glass and it's pretty much my only course of action. They've changed several of these windshields and even went as far as asking me where/how it's cracked because that may indicate why it broke. In my case the crack runs top to bottom right in the center of the glass. This kind of crack is probably cause by a manufacturing defect.

I read some of the threads on this site about windshield repair and one fellow said he gound his own windshield from Lexan - I know I ain't that good - so I'll go the dealer glass route.

Thanks for all your help fellas - its awful nice to have all these resources at your disposal!

- Dave

[ROMM]

Good luck finding a windshield. I waited nearly 7 months for a new one. Had a dealer out of Humble, Tx finally get one from South Africa where they say the glass has to come from. Trailered my car for 3 hours to have the windshield changed out only to have the guys at the dealer say the windshields they had would not fit and that they were for the "new" cars. This was already after I gave the number of my car and when it was built. I have SPF1988. So they told me I would have to wait until another shipment came from South Africa. This was totally unacceptable. During this whole plight I spoke with several dealers and even Barry himself (SPF parts guru). I even sent him pics of the cracked windshield. He was a great guy, but bottom line is that I still don't have a new winshield and it has been almost a year. I gave my info out to several dealers and Barry himself, but no one has contacted me. No one. I admit I am really dissapointed in how SPF treats its customers. It is absolutely unaccepted to not be able to get a freakin' windshield for your car in what has been close to a year now.
Anyway, it got to the point where the windshield was so bad that I literally could not drive the car. I could not drive my immaculate (other than busted windshield) $60K car because of a dammed windshield. So what I ended up doing is putting in a Lexan one. Costs about the same as glass. Now I can drive my car. Its not as good as a glass windshield, but it is getting the job done, and now my windshield does not rattle like it always had, even when the glass was not cracked. Also, when the windshield guy pulled the glass out of my windshield, he said that the glass was installed improperly and that the windshield frame seemed to be slightly bent. The glass had been changed out a week before I bought the car 13 months ago. But that is another story. I am still waiting on a call for my new windshield...

[Tony Aprile]

Originally Posted by ROMM

Trailered my car for 3 hours to have the windshield changed out only to have the guys at the dealer say the windshields they had would not fit and that they were for the "new" cars. This was already after I gave the number of my car and when it was built. I have SPF1988. So they told me I would have to wait until another shipment came from South Africa. This was totally unacceptable. During this whole plight I spoke with several dealers and even Barry himself (SPF parts guru). I even sent him pics of the cracked windshield. He was a great guy, but bottom line is that I still don't have a new winshield and it has been almost a year. I gave my info out to several dealers and Barry himself, but no one has contacted me. No one. I admit I am really dissapointed in how SPF treats its customers. It is absolutely unaccepted to not be able to get a freakin' windshield for your car in what has been close to a year now.
...

I agree with your frustration....I have owned my SPF for 5+ years and have replaced several SPF windshields while working part time for a SPF assembly shop, I don't understand the windshield problem...there are only two glass shapes..the original style and after car #1300 or so the new high cowl style.

The newer style came in two forms...non bonded glass..with the center support rod, then the later partically bonded glass to frame with no support rod.

Im curious...what was Barry's answer to you ???

[carmine]

I wonder if passengers are grabing the top left corner of the windshield with there hand in order to assist them in pulling themselves off the seat and out of the car. This could i would think could stress the glass to breaking point.

[mpanten]

Man I hope I never need a windshield. I hear nothing but horror stories about getting replacements. I have had to buy other parts and have had mixed results, usually having to call several dealers and getting several different answers. Someone could make some money if they figured this out.

[Silverback51]

After reading this I think I will just order a spare windshield and have it in my spare parts room.

[JCoop]

Originally Posted by carmine

I wonder if passengers are grabing the top left corner of the windshield with there hand in order to assist them in plulling themselves off the seat and out of the car. This could i would think could stress the glass to to breaking point.

Could be...which is why I have affixed a sticker to both corners and center that says "NO HOLD". The other disturbing thing is leaning down on an open door.

[mpanten]

Originally Posted by JCoop

Could be...which is why I have affixed a sticker to both corners and center that says "NO HOLD". The other disturbing thing is leaning down on an open door.

Add to that when someone throws their seatbelt over their shoulder on your nice paint job

[ROMM]

Originally Posted by Tony Aprile

I agree with your frustration....I have owned my SPF for 5+ years and have replaced several SPF windshields while working part time for a SPF assembly shop, I don't understand the windshield problem...there are only two glass shapes..the original style and after car #1300 or so the new high cowl style.

The newer style came in two forms...non bonded glass..with the center support rod, then the later partically bonded glass to frame with no support rod.

Im curious...what was Barry's answer to you ???

Well I had sent some pics to Barry of my cracked windshield because I wasn't sure if it was a defective glass or maybe installed incorrectly. When I received the car, the windshield had a bad rattle to it and there were no cracks. You have to remember that the glass had just been changed out at a Phoenix Superformance dealer because the previous windshield had a crack in it too. Well after about a week of owning the car, a huge crack appeared on the passenger's side. Barry looked at the pics and told me that it was probably from passengers grabbing the windshield to get in and out of the car (as carmine brought up in his post). He said the windshields were on back order and it would be awhile before any would come in. I gave him my contact info and email and such, and he got me in contact with the dealer in Humble, Tx I had mentioned earlier. I talked to them and they said they had some glass coming in and they would call me. They never did, they told me they lost my contact info, but I called them several times to check and it was not until 6 months later that the glass was in. Nothing was really ever mentioned about two different windshield glass' to me until the day I trailered mine for 6 hours round trip to get my glass changed out, only to find the glass would not fit.
Also for what it is worth, the glass that was in mine when I bought the car (the new replacement glass) was a Shelby windshield.

I can upload a few photos if needed.