'57 chevy stepside front glass too small

[retired & glad]

I am working on a '57 Chevy stepside that I finally got a good smooth primer on and I started to dry fit the parts together to see how it would look and found that the front windshield doesn't fit. It is too small front top to bottom and from side to side is not good either.

I need some ideas on how to fix this problem. Should I cut the top roof off and try to lower it a little or just leave the glass out. I would like to finish this one but I don't know how to fix this problem.

NEED SOME HELP on this

Thanks for any ideas I get.

Richard

[slusher]

l would not cut anything. The AMT 57 and 55 trucks are famous for the glass being a little small or big. Back glass the same way. you can try getting a glass from another kit and trying that. l don't have one or l would give it to you. Built this kit about 3 times. Hobby Lobby has the cameo if you don't get a glass...

[retired & glad]

Thanks Carl, I emailed round 2 and they said they didn't have anything to replace it. I have been playing with some small heat shrink tubing this morning and it might work as a rubber gasket around the glass. So far it looks pretty good. I'll post something as soon as I can get it to work.

Thanks

Richard

[Guest]

I would add a strip of .005 or .010 styrene around the perimiter of the openings to make them smaller. Glue it on and sand it flush with the body. Then sand/file until the glass fits well. That way, you don't take a chance on messing up the glass.

[retired & glad]

Hey Roger

Thanks for the info. My first idea was to do that but I don't have any styrene on hand. Looks like I need to start ordering some things to build up my inventory of repair parts and pieces. The heat shrink tubing is working pretty good but not what I want it to look like.

Thanks for the reply.

Richard

[Longbox55]

Something to bear in mind, the windsheild does not fit flush to the cab on the 1:1 as it is depicted in the kit. It actually sits back from the roof edge aproximately 2".

[zenrat]

What Roger said.

I added some thin styrene rod, a touch of filler and Robert is your Mothers brother.

Looking at Bill's pic I have rubber where there is none IRL but the glass fit which is the main thing.

[Longbox55]

There is rubber under the stainless trim peice that pretty much extends all the way to the top of the trim. The trim itself was not standard on the '55-'59 Chevrolet and GMC trucks, most had the plain rubber gasket. The Cameo and them GMC Town & Country were the only trucks that had it as standard equipment, optional on all others. Mine did not have it from the factory, I added during the restoration.

[retired & glad]

Something to bear in mind, the windsheild does not fit flush to the cab on the 1:1 as it is depicted in the kit. It actually sits back from the roof edge aproximately 2".

I wonder why they didn't make a trim piece that the windshield would sit in? This is the way it should look.

Thanks Bill

[oldcarfan]

If you are exacting, you can vac-form a new windshield and trim it to size. I'm not that particular so I epoxied mine in place and used a fine tip Sharpie to simulate the rubber gasket. It came out pretty good.

Edited September 13, 2013 by oldcarfan

[retired & glad]

Thanks Gary

I'll probably do something about the same. I don't have anything to vac-form with. I'm not experienced enough about different mfgs. and kits to tell if something is exact or not. If it's not right in the kit, then it probably won't get changed to make it the right shape or size.

Thanks

Richard

[Art Anderson]

Something to bear in mind, the windsheild does not fit flush to the cab on the 1:1 as it is depicted in the kit. It actually sits back from the roof edge aproximately 2".

Exactly, but you said it much better, and a lot more concisely.

This was AMT/Ertl's attempt to make windshield and back glass that would fit more flush with the outer edge of the rubber moldings, giving the "look" in those areas of the real truck cab, instead of the "sunken in" look of the glass in model car kits done up to that time in the late 1980's. Only problem is, they didn't follow up nearly close enough in the test shot stage of development, to ensure that the tooling for the glass or the cab openings would make the edges of both parts match up correctly all the way around the clear part.

If you don't have any Evergreen styrene strip, you CAN use a good quality air-dry (single part) autobody spot & glaze putty, applied with a small knife blade on the inner edges of those openings (moldings) where you see from test fitting the glass beforehand where any gaps might be. A good putty that is readily available at auto supply stores and even many of the Big Box "Marts" is made by Bondo, coming in a fairly small tube for consumer use. Just use your Xacto knife (or any similarly small knife blade to "smear on" this putty on the surfaces of the molding next to where the glass with mate up to it, let dry, and smooth out with a needle file and some 400-grit wet or dry sandpaper. Simply keep repeating this, test fitting after filing and sanding, until you get a good mating edge. When you get it right, the glass will fit cleanly and perfectly, from my experience with this very same pickup kit.

Art

[Chuck Most]

I wonder why they didn't make a trim piece that the windshield would sit in? This is the way it should look.

Thanks Bill

If I recall, on this kit the trim is molded to the windshield itself and not to the cab. It's possible I'm thinking of the rear window though- it's been a while since I've torn into one of these kits, and I have none in the stash at the moment. If not, adding the trim with strip plastic would solve the issue of the glass being too small for the opening, as has been suggested.

[Longbox55]

That's correct, Chuck, the trim is molded to the glass on both the front and rear windows.

[sbk]

The kit fit is totally junk. I made the trim from styrene strip & the windshield out of .007" clear sheet.

Edited September 17, 2013 by sbk