On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 13:47:29 -0500, Tim Wescott
wrote:

On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 10:59:24 -0700, etpm wrote:

On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 12:50:04 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Ed Huntress" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 11 Sep 2013 08:17:46 -0400, "Jim Wilkins"
wrote:

"Artemus" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
So I have this wild idea to make the rear window on my Scion xB
openable. It is of course made from tempered glass and so making
holes in it won't work. I am pretty sure I have seen handles glued
to windows on cars but I'm not sure. The rear window is now just
glued to the rear hatch. I'm thinking that if it was removed a
gasket could be installed, and hinges, gas springs, and a latch
installed. So can this be done? Anyone here done this? I'm pretty
sure that making the hinge assembly, latches, and handle won't
present any real challenges. After all, I do have a complete mahine
shop and I am a machinist.
Eric

Think about the other end. Windshields are glued in with a silicone
adhesive and the rear view mirrors are glued to the glass too.
Art

The latch, wiper, struts, brake light and hinges on my Honda's glass
upper hatch are attached with thru-hole fittings. The heater grid
contacts are bonded to the glass.

Art's point, though, is that "tempered" glass is very highly stressed.
The surfaces are in compression and the core is in tension. If you
drill it, or even scratch it deeply, it *may* propagate a crack
through the glass and shatter it into chunks (not sharp shards).

That was purely a description, not a prescription. If you find an
instance of a high-stress glue attachment its repair procedure and
materials should be helpful.

Glass is not among the materials I study much, but I suspect that, in
production, they either do their drilling while the glass is in the
annealed state, or they have a way of locally annealing it after
tempering.

As for gluing to it, there has been good advice in this thread. You
can get a very strong bond with the right materials and technique.

--
Ed Huntress

If the glue ages and fails, like my professionally installed mirror, a
sharp maneuver could fling the hatch glass into another car's
windshield.

jsw

I know that rear view mirrors are glued on, as well as windshields and
rear windows. They use different glues. Rear view mirror glue is not
good at taking shocks, it's brittle. OTOH, regular windshield glue is
too soft. A rear window coming off could lead to a disaster so if I
attempt this I need to make sure that can't happen. Last night I
realized the only safe and practical way to make the window openable is
to mount it in a frame exactly the way it is mounted now and mount the
hinges and latch to the frame. I just laid a straight edge on the window
and it is curved in both X and Y. Making a frame to match this compound
curve would probably take me a long time. I should probably give up on
this idea unless I can get one of those pimp my ride type shows to do it
for me. Hmm.....
Eric

I definitely think that if you want it to be safe you should arrange the
latches and hinges so that they'll hold the window in even if the glue
completely fails.

Perhaps have two straps running down from the hinges to the latches on
the outside of the window, with the window glued to those? Then the
worst that'll happen is that you unlatch the window, open it, and it
falls on your feet.

Aluminum channel, which you can bend by hand, has been used for
framing the tops of windshields on kit cars and some race cars for
decades.

--
Ed Huntress