Thread: The more you know... window tinting

When I was living in Roma in the early sixties, some form of windscreen protection was considered essential, certainly on light vehicles (closer to the road), especially if you went outside of town.

The need for this has become less, mainly for two reasons -

1. Windscreens used to be invariably toughened glass, and if damaged, the result was no windscreen at all. Today all windscreens are laminated, so that they are still usable after a stone impact. Some examples - in 1961, in a university field trip to Broken Hill from Sydney, the university Landrover drove from near Wilcannia to BH and back to Sydney with no driver's side windscreen; in 1965 I drove a brand new Landcruiser from Brisbane to Alice - from just west of Camooweal to Alice with no windscreen; earlier in the same year I drove my brother's Citroen from just west of Condamine to Brisbane with no windscreen and no headlights; in 1964, we sent a Ford F600 from Roma to Brisbane, it returned to Roma the first two attempts with no windscreen after less than 50 miles, third attempt, the new windscreen was not broken until past Condamine, so continued on to Brisbane with no windscreen. (worth noting - Roma was able to replace the truck windscreen twice in two days "off the shelf", and I could have replaced the Citroen windscreen in Condamine, but I did not have enough cash - no credit cards in those days, and of course they did not take cheques.)

2. Roads are vastly better. Queensland in particular specialised in single lane major highways - just a strip of bitumen about two metres wide, and passing or overtaking meant one or both in the gravel next to the bitumen. And even where the road was two lanes, it was rare for the bitumen to be wide enough for two trucks, or even for a truck and a car. And somewhere about the late sixties, road building and maintenance authorities seem to have realised there was an advantage in only surfacing roads with gravel small enough to make broken windscreens unlikely.

Hello Prelude, and All

As a kid the family car, a 1965 XP Ford Falcon, had a full perspex windscreen-sized stone guard that was held in place via a series of brackets. The windscreen protector was only installed for long driving holidays. I have not seen this type of stone guard since.

Kind regards
Lionel

John is correct, it's the advent of laminated glass ( and 'freeways ) that was a major change here. Back in the days prior nearly every servo or garage or workshop advertised "Windscreens Fitted!!", and it was a good earner for them, as most journeys could not be completed with an opaque screen, which is what it became when broken. Even the "Zone toughened" ones were only to help you get safely off the road. A broken screen at night was extremely hazardous as an oncoming light made vision impossible. I think this may be the origin of the "One windscreen claim a year" segment of auto policies.

Screens are expensive, but in most cases now a stone chip is an inconvenience, and also in most cases can be ignored until roadworthy time. The old screens were also not considered structural, being only held in with rubber and goop. They could be easily kicked out.

The protector in my pic is on the screen of an R730 Scania, which is a much bigger target than the one in a, say, Yaris. It probably protects against maybe 75% of stones, but is below line of sight in normal driving.

I have an anecdote... Back in the early 80s I did a bit of hitchhiking, a few times from Bris to Melb amongst others. I was once picked up by a true laconic Aussie in a Holden, HK-T-G, don't recall, somewhere near Jerilderie maybe, like that anyway. Car had no screen at all, and the NASCO stone guard was a twisted wreck. Good thing he wasn't going fast. I asked what the hell had happened, and he said "A ****en 'roo decided to hitch, just like you, only I never stopped for that bastard". I asked him what happened to him, and he just poked his thumb into the back. "Saves me 'avin' to shoot one for me dogs". Australia sure has changed. You'd probably need to go a bit further off the beaten track for something like that, and of course the 'Cruiser windscreen wouldn't break. And I probably wouldn't hitch at gunpoint. Cab driving taught me you never know who you're going to meet. But it could be fun, back then.

Another anecdote. I was once behind a brick truck. This was before the modern ones that carry their own forklift, more like a tipper. I was in my MGB. I was just wondering if he knew he had something between his duals on the back, and it flew out. Half a brick hit my screen. MGB had a lam screen way back, and of course it was small. It was ruined, of course, but I could still easily see and the screen prevented the brick from entering the car. Not sure a "safety glass" screen would have done that.

Most windscreens now have UV protection. when I drive my Jazz with variable tinting glasses on they never tint and I still get glare. The recent Land Rover screens have something called "cooldrive ' or something similar which is a UV blocker.
You could buy some "Snap Shades" for the side and rear glass although I doubt they make them for old cars. I have them for my Ford Everest.
in Australia most people have concertina foam reflector windscreen covers for when they are parked in the sun.
Regards PhilipA
Replacement screens in Australia for RRC are actually D2 screens and have masking around the edge and UV protection.
BTW windscreens in Australia are generally cheap unless they have rain sensors etc. But don't break a side window or back window as they cost a bomb.

Originally Posted by Lionelgee

Hello Prelude, and All

As a kid the family car, a 1965 XP Ford Falcon, had a full perspex windscreen-sized stone guard that was held in place via a series of brackets. The windscreen protector was only installed for long driving holidays. I have not seen this type of stone guard since.

Kind regards
Lionel

That is exactly the sort of screen I was talking about, although the ones I remember were mostly held on by suction cups. They were a lot cheaper than the metal mesh ones, but rapidly became scratched, especially if you used wipers on them.

The ones I most commonly saw, for cars, were a three piece, fine mesh affair. The main part being a flat section, with a smaller, hinged wing either side. The main section, usually clamped to the back of the bonnet, with hinges beteen the clamps and guard. They could be laid flat when not in use, or to lift the bonnet.

Who remembers the big suction cup in the centre of the windscreen with, taut steel cables going to the body at each corner of the 'screen, or the trick of placing your palm on the glass, as another vehicle approached? Both supposed to absorb the shock and resultant breakage.

Originally Posted by V8Ian;[URL="tel:3229393"

3229393[/URL]]Who remembers the big suction cup in the centre of the windscreen with, taut steel cables going to the body at each corner of the 'screen, or the trick of placing your palm on the glass, as another vehicle approached? Both supposed to absorb the shock and resultant breakage.

I do. I don’t think any of those things worked. But I was in the habit of putting my hand on the screen anyway in my cars that didn’t have laminated screens.