Glass manufacturer / supplier feedback

The body shop is fairly far along on the body work for my '68 Satellite and it's time to order some glass. I originally was going to just replace the windshield, but I'm replacing all the rubber weatherstripping and they have the door glass removed anyway, so......thinking about getting a whole kit. Problem is, AMD is on backorder with an unknown ETA for the tinted windshield (per Jeff at 521 restorations. Jeff is the man and has helped me a lot!)

I have learned that AMD has their glass made in Taiwan, hence the current backorder.

Other sources for glass that I've uncovered are Roseville Moparts (also sources AMD) and the following outfits that most of us know, but I don't know where they source their glass from:

Jim's Auto
Dante's Mopar
Iowa Glass

Then I read on another FBBO thread that one of you sourced your glass from Pilkington Glass. On another website I read that someone had a bad experience with their glass in that it pitted in only 2 yrs and they felt it was soft glass (a disclaimer being that the car saw gravel roads from time to time). I'm not sure if Pilkington Glass is made overseas also or in the U.S.

PPG also sold their glass division and it's now Pittsburg Glass Works. I'm not sure where PPG gets their glass from.

Does anyone have an opinion on their preferred glass source? I prefer not to have it made in Taiwan, but if every other manufacturer is doing like AMD, then what choice do we have? None of us want pitted glass after only a few years.

Thanks for your input!

im going to be watching this thread very closely, as i want to change out my front and rear glass on my GTX....

FWIW im leasing a BMW (third one so far).

the last one had pilkington glass (factory), and this latest one has sekurit glass. the last one had rock chips everywhere...looked like the hood on the GTX lol.

the second one had a few rock chips which didn't crack the glass, but then on the highway a rock jumped up and actually cracked the glass, and by the time i got to work, it had connected with the chips that were there already. (got the insurance to cover that one somehow! lol).

IMHO stay away from pilkington if you can. i've never seen a glass chip so easily from just a couple little rocks. all the other cars i've driven to work (in downtown Chicago, 5 diff cars, for 10 years now) have had rocks bounce off the windshield with no ill effects.

good luck in your search!!!

The company called Auto Glass in the mid west is listed in Hemming's they were 1/2 the price of Pilkington for the same glass. Most Glass companies have moved off shore to Avoid Unions, EPA and OSHA. Taiwan is the place for glass now. If your glass chipped easily then assume it was not properly heat treated after mfg. Speak with the guys at Auto Glass and get a confirmation on the conditions of new glass.

XV Motorsports has glass kits, just another possible source.

snakeoil24 said:

The company called Auto Glass in the mid west is listed in Hemming's they were 1/2 the price of Pilkington for the same glass. Most Glass companies have moved off shore to Avoid Unions, EPA and OSHA. Taiwan is the place for glass now. If your glass chipped easily then assume it was not properly heat treated after mfg. Speak with the guys at Auto Glass and get a confirmation on the conditions of new glass.

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You say the glass from Auto Glass is the same glass as that of Pilkington? Do you mean that both are distributors and not actual manufacturer's or that they just both have the glass made at the same plant in Taiwan? So far it's 2 points against Pilkington's source.

iraqivet01 said:

http://www.521restorations.com/index.pl?page=Glass

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Yeah, that's Jeff at 521 restorations. He sources from AMD and the tinted windshields are on backorder. That glass comes from Taiwan. I have no problem with that overall. I just wanted to compare quality of sources other than AMD. I bought my AMD repop hood through Jeff and the quality is excellent.

5.7 hemi said:

XV Motorsports has glass kits, just another possible source.

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Good point! Jeff at 521 mentioned that to me also. I hear their kits are double the cost of AMD. Yikes. I will also contact them and see where they source their glass and if it's really twice as good and if they have it in stock or if the windshields are also in short supply.

I just checked their website and they sell all of the glass except windshields. Total cost shown on their site for 7 piece kit including rear glass, but excluding windshield, with shipping included is $1690.

Ouch!!! Since the glass is out, you could wet sand and polish the glass and get a windshield at a later date.

I might be able to help you find resonably priced glass. Tell me what you need. Year, make, model, first 5 of vin. Do you need clear, tinted or shaded? I could get the glass and fly to your location and install it for $1700 LOL.

PS Auto Glass, psautoglass.com, in Janesville Wi.. Prices seem good, was thinking of getting my windshield from there.

TBONE said:

PS Auto Glass, psautoglass.com, in Janesville Wi.. Prices seem good, was thinking of getting my windshield from there.

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TBone and Snakeoil - thanks for the PS Autoglass tip. I just got off the phone with Chad over there. Great guy to talk to and lots of good info. He says their glass is made in the U.S.A. and not sourced from Pilkington or their supplier.

Yesterday I also called a local glass shop here I found an old business card for and that guy has 1 tinted windshield here in Santa Clara near my house. He says it was manufactured in Mexico but the quality is better than Pilkington. He says he has restored several cars using Pilkington glass and he agreed that it pits easily and didn't fit as well. In calling half a dozen other glass distributors yesterday, most all were sourcing from AMD and 2 others also had not-so-nice things to say about Pilkington glass. I'm not trying to bad mouth Pilkington here, just relaying what I've been told. It's a shame that one of these guys said the U.S. glass quality is not what it used to be and now the glass being made in mexico and taiwan exceeds the quality of the U.S. made Pilkington (although all are required to meet D.O.T. safety standards, which doesn't guarantee durability from pitting).

I will post more details with a breakdown on who I contacted after I get done with a meeting I have to go to.

So as of now, it's one of these 3 options with prices being same for 1 & 2 and saving $125 on shipping for #3. None of these options are date stamped as I'm not showing my car, although that option exists for more $$:
1) wait 45+ days for glass from AMD and I'm sure it will be top quality
2) order in stock glass from PS Auto (U.S. made)
3) pick up in stock glass from local source (mexico made)

What say all of you?

more info:

for fun reading, check this thread
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads...&Main=6575392&Words=+Q5_Ed&topic=&Search=true

and this one from the A-bodies site:
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/archive/index.php/t-109328.html

It's difficult to get a straight answer, but it seems the consensus is that the AMD glass is about the best out there, although since it's not old school OEM, some of the side glass may have slight contour issues, but most are reporting no issues at all. Supposedly the AMD stuff is made in Taiwan.

Other reviews of chinese made glass other than AMD are generally poor, with people complaining about brittleness, edge contours, clarity issues.

I've read good and bad about the mexican made glass. Some show the trade name as Criminex. Since it's only $100 and I've read enough bad reviews of it, I think I'll steer clear of this glass. People are complaining about curvature issues at the edges and visibility clarity issues which I hadn't even thought of.

PS Autoglass has good and bad reviews as well.

Yesterday I contacted several distributors and suppliers and here's their scoop:
Roseville Moparts - AMD glass
Dante's Mopar - AMD glass
Iowa glass - doesn't sell auto glass anymore
XV motorsports - doesn't sell windshields. Sell all else and sources from multiple suppliers
PS Autoglass - rep claimed it's made in U.S.A. Not sure about quality.
PPG - sold their glass division and now it's called Pittsburg Glass Works. Talked to Ray Sands Glass who is a distributor. They were out of PPG, but had Pilkington in stock. I've read that the old PPG was good quality. Not sure about PGW, but she said that PGW uses XYG glass, whatever that is.
ECS glass - mentioned in one of the threads I pasted here. Have read good and bad things.

So I'm down to waiting for AMD glass or possibly ordering a windshield from PS Auto Glass if I can find out more info.

Now that I've read so much about many of the suppliers providing side glass that has a not so exact fitting curve to it, I think I will keep my current stock clear glass on the sides and back and just replace my windshield to start. The outcome of the windshield will tell me whether to proceed with the rest. I would just like to do it all at once since i have everything out and am replacing all the rubber and putting it back together.

More good and bad regarding PS Auto. Note where one guy says the windshield from them was made in South America and the side glass in Thailand.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php?topic=63794.5;imode

OK, last thread for you to check out:
http://board.moparts.org/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=5030803&an=&page=0&vc=1

It appears that the side glass is much more of a challenge to make than the windshield. Not sure about the rear glass. Even AMD has some trouble with waviness at the top edges of the side glass, but not so much with the windshield.

One outfit I just came across that supposedly has the best quality is ECS. I am calling them tomorrow to see if they have the windshield in stock. I hear they are pricey though!

68 Sport Satellite said:

Other reviews of chinese made glass (…) are generally poor, with people complaining about brittleness, edge contours, clarity issues.

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Wait, wait…I'm confused. You seem to be suggesting Chinese parts have poor quality or something? (note: sarcasm!)

Yes, Chinese parts have poor or nonexistent quality and I sure as fizz won't trust my life to Chinese-made safety-related components like brakes, seat belts, windshields, etc. Keep in mind that there is no such thing as "DOT approval". The way the auto safety regulations work in the US and Canada is a system called "self certification". There's no requirement for manufacturers or importers of regulated safety-related car parts to submit them for any kind of testing or type approval. Instead, the manufacturer or importer self-certifies that his product meets all applicable regulations. This self-certification is considered to have been done when the manufacturer applies whatever markings are required ("DOT" on a headlamp, "AS-1" on a windshield, etc). There is no prescription for what testing the maker has to do, that's left up to the maker to satisfy himself that his product meets the safety regulations. If a pile of twisted metal, busted glass, and mangled bodies accumulates to suggest there's a noncompliance, then the US DOT or Transport Canada may decide to open an investigation and do their own testing. If the part is found not to meet the safety standards, the manufacturer and/or importer can be fined and forced to recall the parts.

This system worked OK as long as everyone participating in the parts market was playing by the same rulebook, where the basic assumption was that you were going to make a legitimate effort to put out a safe, effective product that meets the regulations (and everyone participating actually knew how to make the parts they were making, and didn't try to pass off part-shaped toys as actual parts). But now auto parts are coming from countries that regard safety regulations (and, y'know parts specifications) as a nudge-nudge, wink-wink, ha-ha funny joke about silly Western quirks, and our self-certification system isn't even close to adequate to deal with it. Remember the Chinese tire fiasco of 2007? Yeah, the US importer of the exploding Chinese tires simply declared bankruptcy. Too bad, so sad, no recall, no payee finee.

That's not how it works in most other countries of the world, which use the European-based international UN "ECE" auto safety regulations. Those require type-approval: you, the manufacturer, send your part in for testing. The test protocol and the technical requirements are freely downloadable in multiple languages, so it's easy to know exactly what your part has to do. If your part passes, you get a type approval number which you mark on your part and it is then legal for sale in any country that uses the ECE regulations. Periodic "conformity of production" testing is required to make sure you didn't just send in some extra-good sample parts to get your type approval and then cut corners and crank out garbage. If your volume-production parts don't comply, your type approval gets suspended and you are in very serious and immediate doo-doo. It's not a perfect system; some countries' type approval authorities are stricter than others, and there are labs that'll grant a type approval as long as your part is fairly close and your check cashes OK.

But mostly the type-approval system does a better job of keeping people honest who otherwise might be tempted to increase their profit by turning out garbage and marking haw-haw-haw, hee-hee-hee, DOT on their shoddy parts. A German acquaintance of mine spent the last two decades of his career in the Chinese brake parts industry. He was very well positioned to see exactly what happened and what didn't happen, and he summed it up this way: "The good parts pass type-approval testing and go to ECE countries. The parts that would flunk type approval testing go to North America."

I've read good and bad about the mexican made glass. Some show the trade name as Criminex.

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Why does that brand name make me chuckle? Is it petty criminex or repeat-offender criminex?


There's also a lot of auto glass being made in South Africa these days. I'm told it's of mostly good quality, but I don't have direct experience.

Not sure about PGW, but she said that PGW uses XYG glass, whatever that is.

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Chinese garbage from our "friends" at Xinyi glass. For a nice illustration of how much this fine outfit cares about funny Western notions like "quality", see here and check out this YouTube video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNQE5l5HiqE

xyg makes pos glass...lol

thanks Dan, for a good read. i heard something about the european system a while back, didn't get any detail bout it.

ya quality has been exported, just like our jobs....

68 Satty; great info on the windshields there, thanks. im sure you have heard the old addage-"you get what you pay for." hopefully ECS pans out and has a higher quality glass, even if it is a bit more spendy.

SlantSixDan from the A-body forum! Thanks for all the great info. Yeah, I had a feeling about most of that. What confused me though is that AMD, while not perfect or quite as good as the originals, are widely thought of as pretty good quality, yet they're made in Taiwan. The most recent stuff from Pilkington is supposedly junk and they claim to be U.S. made.

That Criminex comment was pretty funny....

It's hard to decipher most of the other supposedly U.S. companies as being actually manufactured in the U.S. or just distributed from here. I wouldn't be surprised if the stuff from ECS is also from overseas and they just happen to have a more qualified manufacturer with better quality control. I've read that 5 yrs ago ECS had big problems with quality and has worked hard to resolve it recently.

So I'm still down to wait for AMD, buy from ECS, or buy from PS Auto Glass. All likely from overseas manufacturers....I think I'm going to end up waiting for AMD. I just hope it doesn't take longer than the month and a half minimum they're saying.

68 Sport Satellite said:

SlantSixDan from the A-body forum!

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The very same.

What confused me though is that AMD, while not perfect or quite as good as the originals, are widely thought of as pretty good quality, yet they're made in Taiwan.

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A lot of good quality products come from Taiwan, which despite the Chinese Communist Party's perpetual temper tantrum about it, is not the same as China.

The most recent stuff from Pilkington is supposedly junk

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I'm not buying it. I haven't seen bad Pilkington glass yet. If and when I do, I may change my mind. So far the Pilkington complaints I've seen haven't been very credible.

wouldn't be surprised if the stuff from ECS is also from overseas and they just happen to have a more qualified manufacturer with better quality control.

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That's probably a good guess.

Just got off the phone with ECS. They don't stock anything, the guy that does glass was too busy to talk to me so they took a message, and they said typical lead time for a windshield is 6-8 weeks! That's the same as the backorder situation with AMD and supposedly they cost more. Forget that!

Then I called Chad back at PS Auto Glass. He told me they get their glass from a few different sources, but that he refuses to stock XYG glass. That's good to know. He also said he's seen some (but not all) of Pilkington's glass arrive noticeably thinner (up to 30%). He said with them over the last few years it's hit and miss. He also said that he has a high opinion of AMD's glass and that their side glass is better quality and more consistent that what he sells. However, he said they stand by their customer service and if they ship anything and it's not right, they'll take it back with no questions. That confirms what I've read multiple times about PS Auto Glass' customer service. I've talked with this guy three times and he seems like a real straight shooter. I'd be happy to do business with him.

So I'm back where I started! I'm going to order the side glass from AMD through Jeff, undecided yet on the rear glass, and for the windshield I think I'll also order AMD through Jeff and if 2 months from now it's still not in and my car is ready for it after paint, I'll just call Chad at PS Auto Glass and get their windshield in a few days. He said they rarely go on backorder.

For reference:
Jeff who reps for AMD is at 970-227-0588
Chad at PS Auto Glass is at 1-866-565-9557

Even if I'm not restoring my car for show do you think I should pay the extra $50-$100 to date code the winshield? I don't think AMD offers that, but PS Auto Glass does.