Smooth As Glass

Fesler “Flush Mount” Glass Installation

Words and Photos by Chadly Johnson

With cool cars, it’s the details that really impress today’s discerning car builders. In the case of our ’68 Firebird, this flush-mounted windshield is an almost mandatory modification if you plan to play at the top levels of custom car show competition.

Flush-mounted glass is a great way to give your classic muscle car a sleek and modern look, but it does come with a fair amount of work and need for a clear understanding of the key techniques. Classic muscle cars were obviously never designed for flush glass, so the factory window openings will need to be reworked to accommodate for the new modern glass and trim.

Remember, classic muscle car window surrounds were accented with bright trim pieces that hid critical attachment components, like window clips and weather stripping. These elements are not used with flush glass installations. For this reason, you will need to “build” the metalwork around the glass to take up this margin.

Lucky for us, MetalWorks Classic Auto Restoration was available to walk us through the steps involved to install Fesler’s new flush glass in their 1968 Firebird. While this may be over the “pay grade” for some bodywork technicians, it does show the levels folks are going to when upgrading these classic machines. Watch and learn!