1971 Chevy C10 Auto Glass Installation - Project Get Shorty

Here you can see that we are starting to make some progress.

By now, some of you are thinking that when grinding the windshield down you would expect chunks of glass to come flying off. It's actually the contrary. For the most part, the glass cuts away just like metal, in miniscule grains. However, you will occasionally have a slightly bigger flake of glass come off, but they, too, are tiny and harmless in size. Here's a close-up of some glass runoff.

Here's another crucial thing to keep in mind: The 24-grit discs are pretty much good for one to two full passes across the windshield. After that, they get dull and don't cut nearly as good (when you change discs you'll see the difference immediately). When they get dull, a couple of things happen: First, it takes so much more effort to cut the glass that you run the risk of the glass heating up and breaking. Second, the dullness of the disc doesn't cut the glass nice and clean-it begins to kind of chip away at the glass (as shown in the picture), which can also crack the windshield. Therefore, eat the $2 it takes to pick up a disc and toss the old disc as soon as it begins to dull. A few dollars here and there is a whole lot less than buying a new windshield to replace a cracked one.

After 13 discs and three hours of straight grinding, the windshield was ground down and popped in place.

Finally things are done! For now, at least. Dig this side-profile juxtaposition between the stock cab and the chopped cab...

...Notice how the stock cab ran uphill, as opposed to the aggressive lean of the chopped cab.