We’ve known Pete, the glass guy, for a long time… he has installed the glass on many cars in this area over the years and really knows what he’s doing.  We chose a slightly tinted safety glass for all four sides – nothing close to limo tint, just enough to have a very slight blue/grey appearance.

On the Bear body, an option was to have the windshield frame as a part of the body.  Some bodies we’ve seen have the frame airbrushed to look like chrome, but I think we’ll leave it black.  The glass installs from inside the car, with a garnish molding finishing it off.

Once the back glass was installed (again from the inside, with a trim piece supplied by Bear), Pete taped around the glass and the body, then squished a urethane (I think) in the gap to finish it off.  After smoothing it with his finger, when the tape was pulled off it looked terrific!

The door glass was a bit of a hairy situation to install… we had to pry the door apart while Pete pushed the glass in.  It would only go in one way, and to get the last few inches of the corner in, it was almost a “ok, here goes….. woo hoo!”  But both windows did get installed without cracking, so there’s no problem.  I tried to hide the Specialty Power Windows kit by using countersunk screws around the lip of the access panel to hold the window channel.

Power windows?  Really?   The switches are in the overhead console, behind the rearview mirror.

Maybe I should have cut the defrost duct slots before the windshield was installed… my only issue was the thickness of the glass. I was pretty sure I took that into account when I marked the slots, but I wasn’t 100% positive so I waited. Oh well, it turned out ok. I taped a piece of cardboard against the glass to protect it from the cutoff wheel.

How’s this for accessible!  This is in the process of hooking up the ducts for defrost and the ones in the dash.  If you were wondering why the duct on the left (and the one on the right, but it’s covered by the speedometer) have the front trimmed out, it’s because the duct hose needs to come forward immediately out of the duct, and then  straight down.  Trimming the outlet like this lets more air through the hose when it’s bent 180 degrees.

The heater flow valve is pretty much in the confines of the unit – I didn’t have to figure out where else it would go.