'63 T-Bird yellowed glass

[hedotwo]

I finally got around to beginning restoration of a '63 T-Bird hardtop promo I'd picked up a while ago.  I never noticed the heavily yellowed glass until I began disassembly to restore paint/chrome/etc.  I've spent the past two hours wet sanding and swear I've taken the glass to half thickness and the yellow is still there ?.  I've come to the conclusion that the yellow is all the way through, even though not all the glass is yellowed, just what was exposed to whatever.  So, my question is.....  will the glass from the AMT '62 HT Bird work on my '63?  Or, does someone have another idea how to remove the yellow?  I'd read through an older post that said to try to give it an alcohol bath?

Edited June 20, 2020 by hedotwo
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[Can-Con]

The windshield does fit pretty good. [just checked with my '63 hardtop] The rear window won't fit a hardtop as it's for a convertible.

 

Oh, re-reading, I see you mean the glass from a '62 annual kit, not the newer roadster ,, yes, it will fit fine. 

I'd try giving it the old paint stripper bath, I use Easy Off myself. It won't hurt the glass. I've done it  to strip paint off before. 

Wish we could still get vaccuformed glass from Modelhaus.  I have a couple of that generation T-bird coupes I need rear glass for.

Edited June 20, 2020 by Can-Con

[StevenGuthmiller]

You could try soaking in oven cleaner or Super Clean, but I have little hope that you will ever see this glass clear again.

It's been my experience with these old kits that once the glass begins to discolor, the yellow goes all of the way through the glass.

 

 

 

Steve

[Can-Con]

BTW Rich, 

If you decide you can't use that glass, don't throw it away, I could use it. 

Maybe we could work something out.

[bisc63]

Since you've reduced its thickness, sounds to me like it would make the perfect size vacu-forming/ stretch forming master.

Edited June 20, 2020 by bisc63
typo

[hedotwo]

1 hour ago, Can-Con said:

BTW Rich, 

If you decide you can't use that glass, don't throw it away, I could use it. 

Maybe we could work something out.

Thanks for the replies.  Right now it's soaking in 92% alcohol and I'll keep an eye on it with fingers crossed.  When I was wet sanding it was a yellowish slurry that continued to come off as I continued to sand, with no visible change for the better.  I mainly used a 400 Tamiya sponge pad to do most of the heavy cutting.  I'll keep plugging away at it, but not holding out much hope.  I'll remember you for this glass Steve should I decide to go a different route and I wouldn't need it any longer.  Wonder where this yellowing would come from.  Cigarette smoke maybe?  The promo paint looked like acid rain had fallen on it ?, but it stripped fine in Super Clean.

[Mark]

Maybe you could give the glass a light smoke tint, just enough to lose the yellowing?

[Snake45]

5 hours ago, hedotwo said:

Wonder where this yellowing would come from.  Cigarette smoke maybe?  

Naw, cig smoke wouldn't yellow all the way through, and it would come off with Windex, possibly even soap and water. 

[oldnslow]

Putting a car with yellowed decals in direct sun light will some times get rid of the tint , maybe it will work for the glass as well ?

[hedotwo]

Well, not surprisingly soaking overnight in the 92% alcohol didn't faze the yellow.  I'll give the wet sanding one more try today, but not expecting much.  Not sure about lightly tinting as I've never had any luck  the times I've tried it.  The sunlight test wouldn't hurt and I may try that.  

I'm assuming Future can be tinted to create a window tint?  What would be good to use for the tint?  Craft acrylic maybe?  The times I've brushed Future it leveled decent and if it bombs I can easily remove it.

Thanks

[Jack L]

I use future with Tamiya clear acrylic for window tint

[Tom Geiger]

Interesting that the alcohol bath didn’t work, always works for me.

[Mark]

With nothing to lose, I'd try the Future with a drop of smoke gray acrylic, or maybe gray Tamiya panel line highlighter mixed in.  Just one drop...I've done this with clear resin, it doesn't take much at all.  If it's not to your liking, take it off and start over.

Edited June 21, 2020 by Mark
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[hedotwo]

23 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

Interesting that the alcohol bath didn’t work, always works for me.

How long did you leave yours in the alcohol Tom?  Mine was in maybe 24 hours.

[Snake45]

1 hour ago, hedotwo said:

How long did you leave yours in the alcohol Tom?  Mine was in maybe 24 hours.

If sanding and polishing haven't gotten it out, soaking in alcohol won't do a thing. 

Lemme ask a stupid question: Have you polished the inside of the glass too, or just the outside? 

I have never heard of this happening with clear styrene in either model cars or airplanes in over 60 years of modeling. Heard of it with one or two brands of model airplanes that used the wrong kind of plastic for vacformed canopies, yes, and I even have a couple. But never with styrene. Very odd. 

[Tom Geiger]

2 hours ago, hedotwo said:

How long did you leave yours in the alcohol Tom?  Mine was in maybe 24 hours.

I don’t remember. I had yellowed glass that had some paint on it. I soaked it to dissolve the paint and was surprised that glass came out clear as well.  Maybe up to a week

[Snake45]

Here's an outside-the-box idea: If you can't get rid of the yellow, you could lean into it. It might look cool on a "Day 2" or mild custom car painted candy or flake red, orange/tangerine, gold, or even pearl white. 

[TooOld]

Place the yellowed plastic in a clear glass jar full of Hydrogen Peroxide and set it in the sun ,  a few hours later the yellowing will be gone . The HO slot car guys restore their old Aurora bodies and windows this way . . . I've tried this and it DOES work .

[hedotwo]

Yes, I've worked on both the inside and the outside.  I've never seen glass like this either, but it sure seems there's no end to it.  I'll try the peroxide tip next although today is overcast wouldn't you know.  I'll let you know if it worked.

Thanks

[StevenGuthmiller]

6 hours ago, hedotwo said:

Yes, I've worked on both the inside and the outside.  I've never seen glass like this either, but it sure seems there's no end to it.  I'll try the peroxide tip next although today is overcast wouldn't you know.  I'll let you know if it worked.

Thanks

Glass yellowing on these old annuals is actually pretty common.

I've acquired several built models over the years with yellowed glass.

 

If the Hydrogen peroxide trick doesn't work, You could try the tinting avenue.

Yellow and blue makes green, so you could try a very pale blue tint in the hopes that it will result in a pale green tint, which is what most cars of this vintage had in the first place.

 

Another option is to replace the glass with thin clear sheet plastic.

It will give you a clearer and more in scale appearance than the thick original glass provides anyway.

As long as the windshield doesn't have any compound curves in it, (which I don't believe the '63 T-Bird should have) it won't be difficult to do.

 

 

 

 

Steve

[hedotwo]

I’d thought about trying to make the glass too, Steve.  To be honest, I’ve never tried it in all the years I’ve been building.  This might be a great time to try ?

[Tom Geiger]

 

when making my old glass, this tape helps a lot. It holds the glass on the curves

[hedotwo]

13 hours ago, Tom Geiger said:

 

when making my old glass, this tape helps a lot. It holds the glass on the curves

Thanks Tom

[Mark IV]

"As long as the windshield doesn't have any compound curves in it, (which I don't believe the '63 T-Bird should have) it won't be difficult to do."

Obviously you have never installed a "Bullet Bird" windshield, they are the poster child for compound curves! I have done many on 1/1 cars and with the rubber retaining gasket to hold it in the frame you really get a feel for the curves, not just in plan view but in profile and front elevation. There is not a close to flat surface on one!

 

[Can-Con]

2 hours ago, Mark IV said:

"As long as the windshield doesn't have any compound curves in it, (which I don't believe the '63 T-Bird should have) it won't be difficult to do."

Obviously you have never installed a "Bullet Bird" windshield, they are the poster child for compound curves! I have done many on 1/1 cars and with the rubber retaining gasket to hold it in the frame you really get a feel for the curves, not just in plan view but in profile and front elevation. There is not a close to flat surface on one!

 

I think te should be OK for a windshield. 

The one from the new tool AMT '62 does fit pretty good.  

I did some time in a glass shop myself back in the late '80s but my thing was mostly upholstery, but I did do some glass too.  Boss would never let a trainee touch a car like that though. ?

But, is the rear window only curved on one plane or does it slightly bubble out like the windshield does ? , Kinda hard to tell from the pics I've seen.