Have been away from the forum for some time now. For those who follow me on this grand adventure the car is doing great. I am toying with a major revision on the car. To be discussed later on "IF" it becomes a reality.About the windscreen issue. Some of you know that i have for one reason or another have gone through about 4 replacements. You read that right. I found out through my adventure that there are several curvatures of the screen. Dan supplied me with three of the four which were not good fits) and one of our members supplied a "second" screen. The variations of the screens, from one point being out of alignment to several over an inch. With this last replacement I could not get in touch with Dan so I ventured out to find another suitable replacement.
My journey carried me to every manufacturer of GT 40s. Pretty much involved a world wide search, as I was tired of trying to correct these"minor" differences. Only a good eye from another 40 owner would have spotted the differences or rather the imperfections of the replacements. The answer for me came from a happenstance conversation with my son. The one who in his younger days during the build wanted to help me out and learn about the process(he never made it to the basement during the build). He is now a college grad with a family of his own and working in the chemical supply industry. He mentioned that one of the people he worked with and supplied with product was in the glass business. I explained that the curvature of the glass was the major problem. He went on to tell me that this guy supplied screens for boats of all description and even supplied the curved glass that you see in high end display cases and even the curved widows that are seen on cylindrical hotels. So I gave this guy a call and we talked at length about my problem. After talking about an hour on the phone he came to tell me he had a screen "Buck" for a GT 40. I argued the point of it being a GT40 but he said he still had it somewhere in his shop, and it probably would take a little tweaking to get it to fit.The process is quite involved taking several days to put regular glass in the oven and heating and cooling in the buck.Then the trial fitting and noting what adjustments and then redoing the same again and again if necessary. Once the final fit is correct the laminating process is done pretty much like the trial pieces. Of course he would have to have the car there in order to do it. We settled on a price and the car was delivered. The process would take probably no more than 2 weeks.
Well two months later we finally had a screen. The interesting part is that they don't install the screens. A liability issue. When I arrived to pick everything up, we fitted the screen to the car and it was perfect. So it was bubble wrapped and with swimming noodles around the edges, put in the truck for the trip home.
A couple of weeks later my daughter was visiting. She wanted to see the car and asked to help me put the screen in. We did and it fit perfectly.
Now this is not exactly for everyone to undertake, but if you are having issues with finding the right screen, this may be an avenue for you.
Cost is an issue in a way. But considering that this is probably the only time you will do this, it might be an alternative. So after this guy gave me the price I argued with him a bit but figured I would pay a bunch for the shipping of another brand of glass and it still might not fit properly, which meant I might have to go through that a second or even third time with no guarantees it would be a match for my car,,,,, I bit the bullet and did it. Was it worth it? You would have to decide for yourself.
What was good for me is that after we decided on the price, it was a guarantee. Ron didn't charge me for the many times he had to redo the tweaking process to get it right, with both the regular glass or the laminated glass. So I think I got a bargain. Oh yeah, the price. The final cost was $1000. Do you think it was a bargain??? Even after you consider the trouble that is involved in finding a screen and hoping it will fit and what I would pay 2 or 3 times to "try" and find a suitable replacement if it didn't, and the trouble of trying to "make it fit" if it didn't. You decide. Ron and his son were great to work with and kept me informed. No complaining just true craftsmen who took a little longer than expected. Their contact info is:
Desman Corp.
5575 Dobbins Bridge Road
Anderson SC. 29626
Ronald A Lubsen President
Phone: 864-225-2580
Fax: 864-225-2526
Mobile: 864-934-0075
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