[einstein]

So what? When did we start accepting ebay sellers as the final authority?

Just because somebody says it, that does NOT make it true...

Glenn Uettwiller [email protected] (new address!)
http://firstgenfirebird.org/show/closeup.mv?CarID=209
http://firstgenfirebird.org/show/closeup.mv?CarID=210

"To choose one's victim, to prepare one's plan minutely, to stake an implacable vengeance, and then go to bed... there is nothing sweeter in the world." - Joseph Stalin

[sprintbirdman]

Hopefully...the pics I have will work here.

'68 Firebird Sprint auto non ac 3.23:1 rear gears
Tim

[thebuick]

I came across a parts car 68 bird 4 speed [no motor or trans,body could be rebuildable. good doors with bird glass has 160 speedo and 4 speed console.I went there to buy a fender and was surprised to see this car,is it worth buying and parting it out,also has a small sunroof ??

[wovenweb]

Depends on what you have to pay for it and what parts are there. And are you willing and able to hold onto some of the parts for an extended period of time.

[thebuick]

true.I could negotiate a good price because the guy is retired and ready to move the car and I could hold the parts if I needed to I have some space,lol

[wovenweb]

FWIW, I may or may not have bought, parted, and scrapped a low option base model coupe just for the door glass.

[gtobird]

Every once in a while I run into a parts car and have the same dilemma. Part it out, or buy and restore. I finally got to an approach that seems to work. I just figure out if I bought the car, what I would want it to be when I'm done with it. Then I add up the cost in time and parts to get it there. Next I compare it to what I could buy for that money in a completed car or a much better car to start with. Interestingly enough I haven't found a parts type car worth restoring since I started using this approach. On the other hand I can retrospectively say that I parted some cars in the past that I would now have restored. Hindsight is 20/20.

I also screwed up and bought parts off of cars that cost me darn near as much as just buying the entire car and parting it. You never know what someone is willing to sell an entire parts car for until you ask.

[lugnutx2]

In high school (1977) my friend's sister still owned her 68 firebird that she bought new. Options were: 400, 4 speed, hood tach, posi rear, PS, deluxe interior and it had the bird glass.

[thebuick]

no trust me this car is not worth saving I would never scrap a car just for door glass.its beyond saving, but the bones still have some pieces that are worth saving

[north]

When I was a kid a neighbor had a 67 GP hardtop that had GP on the door glass, I thought it was the coolest thing in the world!

Logically you would think that it was a way to highlight the absence of vent windows (GP in 67-hardtop only and Fbird in 68) and that it was cut during the model run as a cost cutting decision.

I guess the best way know what actually happened is to build a big enough database of 68 Fbirds looking at build date, assembly plant, tinted glass option etc.

[wovenweb]

That work was already done at the FGF site.(Database with dates, options, etc.)

[jinxd68]

here is what research i've done on the subject and came to. The glass was produced from sept to nov and installed into cars until that run was gone. the latest i've seen have a car with it originally installed was 01D(cowl tag). glass is dated with a 269 2610 2611 for one side 279 2710 2711 for the other. (9 sept, 10 oct, 11 nov) i believe the pass side is the odd number but i'd have to check on my car. the date is back by where the lock is, very faint. the norwood plant seem to be the majority of where they were installed but some of the LA cars had it as well. There was no "option" it was just installed on cars. high optioned, stripped down, tinted side glass, clear, ac, pw(rumored to be the curved bottom vs the flat bottom) IT DIDN'T MATTER. the thread on firstgenfirebird.org that Vikki Papesh did has some "answers" but nothing definitive. My 68 convert that is a 12D car has it with the 2611/2711(nov date) has it in clear, and my 68 hardtop 10D car has 269/279(sept) it as well.

[muscle_collector]

back in the late 70's I asked the parts manager at one of the Pontiac dealerships why some had it and he told me it was supposed to be on the cars with deluxe interior

[68tpls400]

Originally Posted by muscle_collector

back in the late 70's I asked the parts manager at one of the Pontiac dealerships why some had it and he told me it was supposed to be on the cars with deluxe interior

Maybe 'supposed to', but I've had it on three standard interior 'birds, and only one deluxe interior 'bird myself.

Still a mystery.

[muscle_collector]

yes I agree thru the 80's I have seen several in salvage yards with standard interiors that had them. im drawing a blank did all the 68 gp's get the gp call out on the windows???

[TedRamAirII]

Originally Posted by 68tpls400

Maybe 'supposed to', but I've had it on three standard interior 'birds, and only one deluxe interior 'bird myself.

Still a mystery.

Maybe they were originally for the Deluxe interior cars, but then they ran short on the regular glass and had to use them up. Then they decided after glass reserves were back to normal, they didnt want to spend the money on Bird Glass? just a theory. ; )

[ponyakr]

My bracket Bird has 'em. I've owned lots of '68's. Never really paid much attention to the bird glass til recently.

[Jeff Hamlin]

One of my first full resto's was a '68 Camaro with Astro Ventilation system.
They had the script etched on the door glass to announce/identify this feature.
Did this possibly relate to some sort of similar air flow/vent feature?

[Carousel-Red]

You got me thinking. Maybe F-body customers weren't happy with the loss of the forward ventilator window in the 68 model and the bird was an attempt to distract the eyes. In the case of the Camaro, Astro Ventilation was an intended replacement for the vent widows. From the brochure, "With ventipanes gone we developed a whole new ventilation system - Astro Ventilation." http://oldcarbrochures.org/NA/Chevro...olet-Camaro-05

[wovenweb]

About 5 years ago, I asked Vikki Papesh mentioned earlier in this thread " were any conclusions ever drawn"? Here was her reply:

I don't have them in front of me at the moment, but 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.

I think the 2nd part can be debated, but the most important takeaway was that the glass all came from a single supplier plant. Her comment of primarily Lordstown does contradict an earlier comment. It would be interesting to know if this is an accurate recollection on her part. She does concur in other statements with jinxd68 that no other clear pattern was ever discerned regarding selected options, etc. It would be interesting to know if any 'maro ever got a piece of 'bird glass by mistake and vice versa with the Astro vent glass.