[cambirdracing]

The bird etched into the door glass of my 68 represent?

[mike nixon]

Pic?

[cambirdracing]

I'll see if I can get one next time I'm in the trailer.

[MoonShiner]

I'm guessing you are talking about this?

http://firstgenfirebird.org/forums/u...74932&page=all

[mogeo]

ahhh- one of the great mysteries. from what I understand it is somewhat rare and desireable and very random. It was etched into the glass by the factory, but did not necessarily come with any specific pacakge. Some cars had it with standard, or deluxe interior. Check out the firstgenerationfirebird.com website FAQ interior section. I have the "bird" glass on my 68 convertible with AC and standard interior.

[mogeo]

Mine is a December 67 build date

[cambirdracing]

Yea, that's it. I guess it is just the difference between early and late 68 production build? Need to get the codes off of the build plate.

[cambirdracing]

From what I can tell, my car didn't have a/c. For as far as that goes, it didn't have anything but doors, wheels and tires, and brakes when I got it. That and a bunch of rust, haha. That's why it is now a drag car, wish I had the funds at the time to return it to it's former glory.

[mogeo]

Read through and the conclusion from fgf and this is what I found:

"... ALL pieces of bird glass were manufactured in one plant, in a limited date code range Oct-Dec 1967. Both tinted and clear glass were made, and this glass was installed primarily in Lordstown cars built 11/67-mid 01/68.

The glass found in later cars and earlier cars still bears date codes from this range of dates, and is virtually guaranteed to have been installed at some point in the car's post-delivery history."

Rich

[68bird400HO]

Originally Posted by mogeo

.....and is virtually guaranteed to have been installed at some point in the car's post-delivery history."

Rich

I don't necessarily agree with FGFs conclusion regarding this statement. My '68 convertible is a factory 400HO, auto, non A/C car with standard interior, power windows and tinted glass-all. It was built at Lordstown in June of '68 and I do have the bird glass. Given that when I bought this car it had 36k original miles and was pretty much untouched. It still has its original top and interior and even still had its original deluxe wheel covers on it when I bought it. I am pretty sure my bird glass is original to my car even though it was built so late. Like other have said, there is no rhyme or reason to it. I think a few runs of it were made and the workers at the plant used it until it was gone, maybe judicioulsy or maybe randomly. I have also seen glass on '68 Camaros that has an "Astro Air" (or something like that) etched in the glass in the same spot. It seems GM did this on these camaros and birds with the deletion of the vent windows and inclusion of the new ventilation system in '68.

[mogeo]

400 HO- Great point about the line workers using up the glass till they were gone. Again, no real rhyme or reason


cambird- That 'bird is leaving real hard. Great pic!!

[Cammer-6]

Originally Posted by 68bird400HO

I don't necessarily agree with FGFs conclusion regarding this statement. My '68 convertible is a factory 400HO, auto, non A/C car with standard interior, power windows and tinted glass-all. It was built at Lordstown in June of '68 and I do have the bird glass. Given that when I bought this car it had 36k original miles and was pretty much untouched. It still has its original top and interior and even still had its original deluxe wheel covers on it when I bought it. I am pretty sure my bird glass is original to my car even though it was built so late. Like other have said, there is no rhyme or reason to it. I think a few runs of it were made and the workers at the plant used it until it was gone, maybe judicioulsy or maybe randomly. I have also seen glass on '68 Camaros that has an "Astro Air" (or something like that) etched in the glass in the same spot. It seems GM did this on these camaros and birds with the deletion of the vent windows and inclusion of the new ventilation system in '68.

There are exceptions to every rule
With the Bird glass there are no "rules" only observations and calculated guesses.
I think I may have made some of those FGF comments years ago when Geoff was putting the site together.
There is still alot of mystery to the "BirdGlass".
Ive never seen that late of a 68 with it before .
I did have a 68 that was only a few years old and was totaled, had one tinted and one clear bird glass.
It was a loaded 4 speed Sprint.

[wovenweb]

Originally Posted by 68bird400HO

I don't necessarily agree with FGFs conclusion regarding this statement. My '68 convertible is a factory 400HO, auto, non A/C car with standard interior, power windows and tinted glass-all. It was built at Lordstown in June of '68 and I do have the bird glass. Given that when I bought this car it had 36k original miles and was pretty much untouched. It still has its original top and interior and even still had its original deluxe wheel covers on it when I bought it. I am pretty sure my bird glass is original to my car even though it was built so late. Like other have said, there is no rhyme or reason to it. I think a few runs of it were made and the workers at the plant used it until it was gone, maybe judicioulsy or maybe randomly. I have also seen glass on '68 Camaros that has an "Astro Air" (or something like that) etched in the glass in the same spot. It seems GM did this on these camaros and birds with the deletion of the vent windows and inclusion of the new ventilation system in '68.

After getting data on dozens of cars with the glass, there was a general rhyme and reason to it. Is there a 100% guarantee on anything with the these cars, no. Yes your car could have had it direct from the factory but it is the exception. But the lack of cars with it from Lordstown in the intervening time period is an indicator. Similarly, as you don't know the full history of your vehicle(even given the mileage) doesn't mean it wasn't added later.

But to say it was random isn't accurate. Parts are produced at given times for given reasons because it takes work and effort. There is a reason why it is fairly obvious my current 03C Ram Air II head equipped car is a clone for those who know the general history of Ram Air II equipment.

[phoenixpnr]

I was once told that it cam on cars with deluxe interior, and I guess that build date comes into play. I have had over ten 68s none of the standard interior cars had it and only one deluxe interior car did.
But as 68bird400ho mentioned that his car has standard interior and bird glass.
Does any one have a list of 68 Bird options that might list the glass as an option?

[68bird400HO]

Originally Posted by wovenweb

But to say it was random isn't accurate. Parts are produced at given times for given reasons because it takes work and effort. There is a reason why it is fairly obvious my current 03C Ram Air II head equipped car is a clone for those who know the general history of Ram Air II equipment.

Comparing GMs decision to discontinue the RAI d-port in favor of the RAII round port late in 68 is a whole different can of worms than talking about a short run of glass. The special glass really doesn't serve a functional purpose, it was for decorative reasons only. My guess is that since they eliminated the vent window they wanted to put something there so the side windows didn't look so plain, hence the reason for the "Astro..." script that I have seen on some 68 camaros as well. They likely stopped production after a short period to save costs since it wasn't necessary. Someone listed the date code range of the bird glass somewhere. Do we know if there was other non-bird glass produced during this same time period??? Do we know if it was just one supplier that made it??? I would be interested in seeing what the data you collected shows since I have not seen a specific pattern. It does not show as an option on any documentation....it was just a run of glass that they made for a short period. There are several standard interior cars that had it as well as cars with various engine options. Did A/C cars ever have it or could it be on non-A/C cars only??? One reason why my late built car may have had it was because it was a tinted window car. I am guessing that there were fewer cars built with tinted windows all the way around (esp. w/o A/C) so the tinted bird glass may have hung around the plant longer.

[Kurt S]

Originally Posted by 68bird400HO

It was built at Lordstown in June of '68 and I do have the bird glass.
I have also seen glass on '68 Camaros that has an "Astro Air" (or something like that) etched in the glass in the same spot. It seems GM did this on these camaros and birds with the deletion of the vent windows and inclusion of the new ventilation system in '68.

What's the dates of your glass?

From http://www.camaros.org/glass.shtml:
LOF sand-blasted almost all glass marks with a stencil. The only exception was the early '68 model "Astro-Ventilation" mark, which used fired-on white ceramic paint [a thank you for this correction goes to Dan DelGratta of LOF]. Decals are incorrect.

Rich's comments on the usage dates are directly relevant to your car:
The Astro-Ventilation logo was dropped from the 1968 door glass after Nov '67 (approximately) production. However, one pane of apparently original May '68 door glass with the Astro-Ventilation logo has been observed in a 05C build. The mating glass on the opposite side of the vehicle is Sep '67 Astro-Ventilation glass, and combined with the other dates seen in the set, CRG believes that the May '68 pane had the Astro-Ventilation logo added by LOF to create a matching set, presumably to fill a void in production and/or to use up left-over panes. Of course this conclusion is speculative, but we will continue to watch for other, similar, indications.

[Coach]

Judging by the pic in your sig, it is getting plenty of glory now ( and air ! )

Love the first gen birds, still one of the top 5 cars I've ever owned.

-Harry

[cambirdracing]

I'll have to dig up some pic's of when I got it and scan them and post them. I got it back in '93. Took me 4 years to get it to the track. It also survived a marriage, buying a house, adopting my wife's son, having a 2nd child (daughter), a divorce and a second marriage.

[cambirdracing]

Thanks, it'll go about 1.46 in 60'. Not bad for an old station wagon engine, haha.

[pmdclassics]

I used to have a 68 Firebird convertable, sprint 6 that came with the bird glass. Very cool feature and I wish more Firebirds had the option.