Solex Glass Replacment
Fireflite56
Posted 2022-12-19 1:35 PM (#626442)
Subject: Solex Glass Replacment



Extreme Veteran

Posts: 339
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Location: Wisconsin

For my '56 DeSoto restoration, I am attempting to have new glass cut for the doors (2 door hardtop) to match the original rear quarter glass and vent window glass. I have the Solex (green) tint option, so color match is very important. My basic requirements:

1. Match the color of the other side glass.

2. I do NOT want to replace all the side glass as I am trying to preserve as many of the original pieces with the correct logos as possible. Ideally I would be using original pieces for the doors too because of the logo and easy color matching, but so far I have not had any luck finding some that are good enough. The door glass is the exact same piece side to side in case anyone thinks they have a good one. Only the chrome frame surround is different.

The company that the shop dealt with says they only have one tint option and there is a noticeable difference to my original - the new glass is lighter in color (see attached photo) so it's not like the original glass is faded and causing a mismatch for that reason. Before I spend tons and tons of time diving down the hole of glass sources and local shops (of which I have contacted a few already), has anyone dealt with this or know of a good company to talk to? Ideally it would be a glass source that is a known Solex match or else a company that offers a variety of shading that I could match the original to.

 

I am also still in the market for a perfect original Solex windshield if such a piece exists. It's the same piece for the sedan, hardtop, and wagon bodies. I have tried some of the usual used parts sources, such as John Fowlie.





(Solex.jpg)



Attachments
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Attachments Solex.jpg (220KB - 47 downloads)
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ronbo97
Posted 2022-12-19 2:12 PM (#626444 - in reply to #626442)
Subject: RE: Solex Glass Replacment


Expert

Posts: 4034
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Location: Connecticut

I needed to locate door glass for both sides of my 55 Desoto. 55-6 Desoto/Chrysler glass is the same for 2dr models. The problem that I ran into is that all the original glass that I looked at either had a brown discoloration band along the edges, or had small bubbles in the glass on the edges or even in the center. The process for creating this earlier Solex seemed to have more issues than what they went to starting in '57. And trying to match modern to original is gonna be difficult to impossible.

I like seeing the original logos and my Desoto is a patina mobile. So I was OK with a little discoloration. But since you're building a show car, you may have to bite the bullet and go with the repro stuff. The lesser of two evils.

Ron

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Finsinthemirror
Posted 2022-12-19 3:28 PM (#626448 - in reply to #626444)
Subject: Re: Solex Glass Replacment



Elite Veteran

Posts: 1115
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Location: CA
Another option to consider is using the new glass only on the side of the car that needs it but replace the flat glass completely on that side (both side windows and vent window) so its less prone to catch your eye.
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