It’s Just Old Glass, Right?

I’ll admit it. I had a ridiculous attachment to Bondorella’s old windshield. An unreasonable attachment, some might say. I liked the old Utah parking sticker from 1985.The two BB holes. The insane amount of pitting. Yeah, it was hard to see through, but it had character, just like everything with my silly old truck.

But last year, when someone was “testing the integrity of the glass,” it cracked. Big time. Right away I ordered a replacement, but in the two months it took to come, I lost the heart to change it. There’s something special about peering through decades old glass. I know it’s silly, but all of Bondorella’s owners looked through that very same windshield. Think of all of the changes observed over sixty-three years! A true window into her history, literally and figuratively.

So instead of replacing it like I should have, the new windshield got tucked away until this past Saturday. Fellow Gasoline Girl Pati hosts a monthly Girls in the Garage class at El Camino College and decided weather stripping, windshield wipers, and windshields would be her topic. Yep. The time had come to bite the bullet and make the change. I pulled the still-wrapped windshield out, loaded it in the back of Bondorella, and headed for Torrance.

The G-Girls knew how attached I was to the old glass, but also knew it was time to replace it. With their help we carefully popped it out. I had it in my head the windshield might break in that process, so when it in fact did, I (thankfully) didn’t shatter too. It was okay. I’d said my goodbyes on the drive over. Even left a little pink lip print on the glass.

Here’s the BIG bummer though. When I unwrapped the new windshield, it had two cracks in it!!! One on the driver’s side and one on the passenger. Perhaps I should have checked it BEFORE we took out the old glass! I’m guessing it cracked on the long drive over. Oh well… we put a little tape on the cracks and Rebecca and Kristin helped put the molding on. It’ll have to do ’til I get yet another new piece cut.

Kristin and I put the glass in place….

… and with the molding good and soapy to make it easier to work with, we pulled the rubber through on the other side. I’d forgotten to bring my ball of twine to help, but a flat head screwdriver worked just fine.

I love the picture below. Looks like a couple monsters inside. Or a car wreck.

So there it is. Bondorella’s new glass. I have to admit…  even with the cracks, it’s SO much better. I mean, it’s like looking through nothing at all, it’s so clear! It definitely made a difference on the very rainy drive home.

Granted, I think I’ll always have a little pang for the old glass, but safety is kinda important, right?

The weekend also brought an oil change, chassis lube, and fluid check. Oh… and I learned a nifty little lesson on Sunday. Always disconnect the battery when working close to it. While checking the tranny fluid, the Lokar cable made contact somewhere and zapped me but good leaving a nice little welt on the finger! Ha!

Until next time….

Later Gators!

P.S. Many thanks to my fellow Gasoline Girl Rosa for taking all of the great pictures!

UPDATE FEBRUARY 28, 2012:  FINALLY! Bondorella has crack free glass! Over the weekend, I visited G-Girl  pal Ray at Jack’s Glass, and he cut a new windshield. After successfully transferring it home without a single crack, we installed it, and VOILA!! Hopefully some random rock… NO! Don’t even THINK it!