Windshields - Where to buy?

[Zelten]

[ImAddicted]

Yes, they are Fuyao, Chinese manufacturer that makes OEM glass for Subaru and Honda as well as aftermarket applications. I put one in my friends Bay and it fit fine. I did a TriVal (Plinkington, also made in China) in my Bay that was fine as well.
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1979 Transporter (sold)
KC1MUR

[Zelten]

[d-rick]

Tom's Imports over here in Columbia ,MO usually has a handful of new bay windshields instock..I have bought lots from him over the years....I think they are about $120ish?
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1959 mango-trailerbus
1962 single cab *1/2
1966 13 window
1967 panel/camper
1968 cig-panel *1/2
1968 passenger bus *1/2
1969 beetle
1969 dormobile
1978 sage green Westy
1990 DoKa
2002 Golf TDI

[airschooled]

I have brand new bay windshields, FYG with no tint/stripe. $200+tax, local pickup only.

Robbie
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Learn how your vintage VW works. And why it doesn't!
One-on-one tech help for your Volkswagen:
www.airschooled.com

[blue72beetle]

Does the dash or top panel need to be out to replace a windshield?
_________________
-Andy-
-1970 Ghia-
-1971 Bus 1776 Microsquirt EFI-

[airschooled]

[SGKent]

Is that $200 the sale price with free delivery, new German seal, and installation at that price? And does that come with a rock chip guarantee for the first 12 months / 12,000 miles? Is that local to you or local to the buyer?

[metahacker]

after spending a bunch of time studying this topic .. calling many windshield suppliers .. reading lots of forums, etc.. i can say this much:

the FYG would be considered the current "state of the art" for this application
(many years ago the FYG might have been crap but the opposite is true now)

and the XYG should be avoided if possible (but will probably work)

those will be the 2 most common brands that you will see

most windshield OEMs have been gobbled up through M&A

if you want a tint strip, you can also get the OEM windshield used on Mexican buses...the Vitro (aka "Crimenix")...but i'm not so sure it's that good.

what robbie is offering is basically as good as its going to get

i dont think you are going to see a holy grail Sekurit/Saint-Gobain bus windshield with a DOT27 stamp on it, or even a PPG, or even a Pilkington.. for that matter.. and if you do find some fancier make, i bet you if you look up the DOT # on the glass, it will cross reference to one of friends over in CCP ... like XYG all windshields should have a DOT # on them - and the database is published - you can figure out precisely where your windshield came from

that said, another option -- West Coast Metric claims to have Brazil OE ones ... but i think your safest bet is the Fuyao Glass (aka "FYG") ... and the overseas made examples are, ironically, known to be better than the FYG made in the US in the plants they took over in Detroit or South Carolina....

I have a FYG in one of my buses and its nice. im putting another FYG in to replace it .. with 3M Crystalline CR80+ nano ceramic tint installed on the glass pre-gasketing ... can't even tell it's there but posts performance #s like a limo black out film ...

here is one supplier's (www.expressautoglassinc.com) take on windshield quality, ranked from best to worst:
Sekurit
Pilkington
Guardian
Fuyao
AGC
Mopar
Carlex
Carlite
AP Tech
PGW
ATI
Vitro
TriVal
XYG

the only thing that is tricky ... i believe certain Pilkington/Guardian are actually rebranded cheaper ones like XYG .. so be careful and check the DOT# if you can .. and look it up in the database ... it will tell you who REALLY made the windshield ...

that said, probably irrelevant/moot since not all those people offer a BUS windshield... and u can entertain all the high-falutin' windshield aspirations you want but you will probably end up back at FYG as your best option

good luck out there

[Abscate]

[SGKent]