build diary

November 16, 2004: The windshield is done!
I'm a little too excited about this, methinks, but for some reason it feels like the car is done. It's not - it needs wipers to be legal - but I can drive without goggles and the car looks better balanced. I'm still not sure if the glass should be 1" shorter but it works.

It turned out that the easiest way to get the glass to fit was to cut a new piece. It cost about the same as making a new frame and was much faster. Once again The Glass Brokerage in Grand Junction came through, working hard to make the perfect piece of glass and turning it around the same day. All for $30. Have I mentioned how much I like doing business with them? I'll be bringing the car by to show it off today because they're curious about what they've been working on.

With the new piece of glass, it was a matter of minutes to fit it inside the frame. The fitment is perfect with nice tight joints. Whew! I had been worried about that. I used a razor blade to cut away the extra inner tube, bolted up the side brackets and drilled a few holes in the scuttle. Voila, a windshield and a car that looks better! Funny, I'd never thought it needed the glass before but it's well balanced visually.

Driving the car with the glass in place is really nice. I have lots of visibility without the top cutting off any of my vision and I can comfortably drive without glasses. There's still turbulence - of course - but it's manageable. I had a great drive in to work today in crisp conditions and a big stupid grin on my face.

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