Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Keith D]

Some ideas please!

I used my Austin Seven on a long Club run a week ago. I returned it to it's garage in the evening in perfect condition and have not been in there again for a week. The garage is securely locked and contains my other cars and valuble tools. Yesterday I opened the garage and found the driving door window shattered all over the seats and running board. (It's made of safety glass). Nothing has been touched in the garage, nothing is missing and the door lock has not been tampered with. There were no pets or livestock around or inside the garage. What on earth has caused this? The only thing I can think of was that the glass was highly stressed and just let go.

Has anybody else had anything like this happen??

I'll now go and check my insurance policies!!

Keith

[stuchamp]

My '57 Chevy stress cracked its front passenger door window a few weeks back while in the down position while parked in the garage. It has new felt runners and weatherstriping. Its also not too tight in the channels. It is the original glass though.
I'm guessing its weather related? (we can go from one extreme to the other in minutes). I had noticed that the plastic sheet between the glass had gotten more bubbles in it over the winter/spring months. Possibly the bubbles grew and caused the stress cracks? Only the inner pane has multiple cracks and the window is still together.

[exbmc]

My wife's last Astra estate was parked on the drive, when the tailgate glass shattered. Not much inside, as most of the debris went outwards onto the drive. We had previously found some glass debris rattling about in the tailgate, so it had probably already had a glass replacement. A mate who worked at that time, for Autoglass came and replaced it while checking carefully for any panel distortion that could cause stress. Insurers coughed up, no problem.

[rustyreks]

We had a toyota that had a habit of breaking the same window one day we were outside and it decided to explode for no apparent reason as we were on the third window by this time i discovered there was a piece of metal vibrating against the window part of the door mechanism once i bent it away from the window we never had that problem again this pressure can build up slowly over time there will be something causing the glass to stress whether it was a poor fit in the frame or vibration of something against it it doesnt happen for no reason.

[Jim.Walker]

Toughened glass has a tough heat treated surface which is in effect a stressed skin. One nick in that and it can go anytime without warning or apparant cause. The nick could be an old unnoticed stone chip or damage to the edge or surface when fitted. I imagine temperature variations vary the stress levels to the point of eventual and sudden failure.
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Quote from my late Dad:- You only need a woman and a car and you have all the problems you
are ever likely to want". Computers had not been invented then!

[Nic Jarman]

My Celica rear window let go in a fairly dramatic way. When I checked around the aperture I found a small crack in the top plastic trim. When it was removed there was a neat dent in the metal behind just the right size for an airgun pellet.
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1936 Morris 8 Series 1
1973 MGB roadster
1977 MG Midget 1500
Dax Rush