Decoding Triplex glass numbers ?

[Durango2k]

Is there a possibility to decode Triplex glass etchings ?

I have found this on my rear heated screen:



The side windows show AS 2 on top, and I think TFMG on the bottom. IMPOSSIBLE to take a picture of, I‘ll write it down next time.

Carsten

[budmarston@aol.com]

Hello, Carsten -

My research and data in the Haddock/Mueller book "Jaguar E-type Six-Cylinder Originalty Guide" (pp. 397-399) suggest the following:

ASI/AS2: AS may stand for American National Standard; that institution has a series of “rankings” for auto glass. AS1 (laminated safety glass) can be used anywhere on a vehicle, AS2 (tempered safety glass) can be used anywhere other than for windscreens.

T R I P L E X
One dot above the T, R, E, or X gives the quarter of the year the glass was manufactured:
• T = Jan, Feb, March
• R = April, May, June
• E = July Aug, Sept
• X = Oct, Nov, Dec

L A M I N A T E D
A • under a letter marking indicates the last number of the year of manufacture
Kite logo Formed from the letters ‘BVS’ (British Vehicular Safety) or ‘BSV’ (British Standard Verification)

Presumably your rear heated screen would have been made in Second Quarter 1966.

Regards, Bud Marston

[Durango2k]

Hi Bud,

Would AS1 mean clear glass and AS2 tinted /green, then ?

April 1966 would fit to the other data I have about the car. Thats nice.

Carsten

[budmarston@aol.com]

Hello, Carsten -

I'm certain that the markings AS1 and AS2 do not refer to tinted glass -- those markings are on dozens of E-types I've seen with clear glass.

The only tinted marking for E-type glass panels that I am aware of is SUNDYM and SUNDYM would have been part of the glass logo marking, e.g., Triplex Sundym. I am not aware of any OEM tinted glass for the E-type that was not marked SUNDYM.

Regards,

Bud Marston

[288gto]

That wound certainly tie in with the markings I have on mine.
Below is a picture taken from one of the door drop glasses.




Simon

[Durango2k]

I found with some surprise that my car has received a new windshield in its former life. It is etched „Shatt-R-Proof, tinted“. Safety Plate AS1 LS6.

So, the rest of the car being clear I think, at some time it had cracked the factory item, and it was replaced with the shatterproof one. Which was then scratched when he drove without wipers by the wiper arms. Nice, huh ?



Sadly there are no dots, and there is no DOT code, so I cannot say when it happened.

Carsten

[ysmalkie]

Here is a more definitive answer:

AS1 means glass is with at least 70% transmission and can be used anywhere on a vehicle (by default used on the windshield),
AS2 is used for side glass.

TRIPLEX brand and trademark- the XXX logo. The logo was inscribed in a circle made of 4 arches for laminated glass. Toughened glass logo was without the circle.
The TRIPLEX brand was inscribed on the top of the circle. The Triplex font was the same as all the other letters until the end of 1962. From Q1 ’63 a somewhat thicker and larger font was used, as on your glass.
Glass type was specified at the bottom of the logo: TOUGHENED, PLATE or SUNDYM. Word PLATE was changed to LAMINATED in 1963.
SUNDYM was used for dimmed glass

F - stands for FLOAT glass
T – Toughened, heat treated

M3, M6 or M23 – Manufacturer codes, describing different models of glass – used since ‘65

The so called Kite - registered certification mark of the British Standards Institution.
The ‘Kite’ mark is an arrangement of the letters B, S and I.

Your side glass reads most probably TF M6 - Toughened, Float glass, with M6 manufacturer code.

Tadek

[ysmalkie]

I think it's LSG - Laminated, Sheet Glass

Again, M12 at the bottom is a manufacturer code.

The WG mark is interesting. On Triplex glass, there was a WF designation, meaning Front Windshield qulity, used since '65.

Tadek

I found with some surprise that my car has received a new windshield in its former life. It is etched „Shatt-R-Proof, tinted“. Safety Plate AS1 LS6.

So, the rest of the car being clear I think, at some time it had cracked the factory item, and it was replaced with the shatterproof one. Which was then scratched when he drove without wipers by the wiper arms. Nice, huh ?

Sadly there are no dots, and there is no DOT code, so I cannot say when it happened.

Carsten

[Philk]

It's amazing how something will crop up on one of the forum posts that triggers something in your brain.... This is the etching on my front windscreen..... there's more than one of us out there with a tinted Shatt-R-Proof windscreen! This is on our '64 3.8 OTS.



I'm wondering if these could have been a dealer fit "upgrade" in export warmer climates. My side windows are not tinted but, being a California car, having the windscreen upgraded would make a lot of sense. It's certainly old since I can see the beginnings of delamination at the top edge. I'll have a closer look at it next time to see what the fainter markings say.

[Durango2k]

My car lived in Georgia. Would that qualify for a tinted front screen ?

I can however hardly see a Dealer Upgrade. Any dealer would have asked whilst taking the order, so that the factory would deliver as requested.

Maybe another way round:

option a- only full tinted was available, all 6 glasses or it was clear all round otherwise. Then, if changing just the front screen would have been a lot cheaper, they might have done it that way.

option b- after a shattering OR after the owner‘s missus was angry enough because the damned british thing was sooo lousy hot in summer, the windshield was later exchanged on special order.

Carsten

[Philk]

Georgia would probably qualify!

Mine is a roadster with two original clear side windows so it was not a factory order with tinted glass. If it needed replacement due to breakage, I would have expected the replacement to have been clear too. As such, I wonder whether this was a local US upgrade (either with its first owner or a subsequent one) which would tie in to your "option a" above.

[Herblay]

I’ve noticed that Pilkington reproductions, albeit excellent, do not have the dots. Have someone tried to print those dots on the glass? I’m wondering about solutions to do it. My original glasses are really deterioriated

[Heuer]

Everything I have been able to find about Triplex codes is detailed in Factory Fit: http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php?p=60533#p60533

Lots of examples of various glass as well.

[ysmalkie]

Sandblasting.

This is mine on my '53 OTS.



Tadek

I’ve noticed that Pilkington reproductions, albeit excellent, do not have the dots. Have someone tried to print those dots on the glass? I’m wondering about solutions to do it. My original glasses are really deterioriated

[andrewdelport123]

This is very professional and informative.

[Philk]

It's amazing how something will crop up on one of the forum posts that triggers something in your brain.... This is the etching on my front windscreen..... there's more than one of us out there with a tinted Shatt-R-Proof windscreen!

I was recently having a good read-through of Haddock's massive originality guide (what an amazing source of information)….. I was interested to see (on page 397) reference made to a few cars having Shatt-R-Proof windscreens (he has a photograph there which I will not reproduce for obvious copyright reasons). Whilst our car is later than those cited in the text, I wonder whether (in the US) these were the default local make used by dealers either as replacement windscreens or, as in the case of ours, where the original clear glass has been upgraded to tinted.

[tonyabacus]

Bear in mind that there would have been a number of replacement glass manufacturers in the US catering for the stone chipped, cracked screens just like in the UK. In the 1970's we would buy screens from where ever we could get them quickly and fit them ourselves to keep our fleet on the road.

Also as we know on the OTS there have been numerous examples of screens cracking due to the hood/hardtop catches being tightened down too heavily. If dealers did not have a screen in stock then possibly a non franchised screen would have been used.

My car is a 1970 OTS and the front screen carries the name of a US maker 'Safevue', which has no date code, the side windows being the factory fit Triplex with the correct date code for my car's year.
Tony