Smitty's Glass Shop Would be Proud...Kinda ..So Much for Family Tradition

John's grandfather used to have a glass shop...maybe that's why he figured that since the driver's side window on the truck was broken, it was up to him to fix it (you know, instead of allowing a professional to do the install). After ordering the window and having it arrive on our doorstep (Tracy didn't know you could do that...it seemed like you should have to have a special license of sorts to order vehicle parts that could shatter so easily), John pulled out his copy of Window Replacement for Dummies and got started. Okay, so it was actually the original shop manual for the truck, but you get the picture...


"Mr. Smith...we have a package for you." Our first look at the new window glass.
According to the manual, step 1 was to remove the wing window, as shown on the passenger side of the truck.
Here is the wing window removed. (Tracy wasn't much impressed at this point, as it wasn't the taking APART of the window that had her concerned...)
After taking the window out and apart, John discovered that the gasket holding the window glass in the frame was pretty much disintegrated. He needed to find something that would work effectively and would be available to him at that exact moment.
This 3M windshield tape looked like it had potential!

Hey, this isn't so hard after all! Tracy was pretty impressed with the ease in which John placed the glass in the frame with the help of the tape.

John makes sure he has a good seal before he installs the completed window into the door. It was at this point that things started to get ugly...
Tracy walked out into the garage to find John pulling the window back out of the door, covered in what looked like black, tarry bubble gum. Oh how she wishes she got the full effect of the mess as it stretched down a good 6 inches before it sprung back up and shriveled into a goo against the glass. (Her apologies, as she was laughing too hard to capture the moment in time!)
Another day, another plan: ASK a glass professional what to use! John took a little field trip to an auto glass shop, where he was assisted by a (white) Rastafarian-looking man with a lazy eye (or two). Seriously. We don't make this stuff up. The man beckoned him to the back room, where he apparently had a secret stash of glass installation tape that he gave of John free of charge. Or so he tells us. Hmm.... There quite possibly could be more to that story than someone's letting on...

It's amazing what the right tools will do for the job! In less than a half hour, John had completely installed the window beautifully, and we no longer have to leave the window down in embarrassment (which works fine in the summer, but was going to be a little hard to explain when the weather cooled off!). Way to go, Mr. Auto Glass Repairman!