Ok well I was driving my 88 Firebird Formula 350 today, I turned off the highway and stopped at a stoplight. All of a sudden I hear a loud boom and look back and my back window is shattered! I looks like it broke from the inside but I had just cleaned the car out and the interior was spotless. What could make this happen?

 

Its auto glass, and lots of stuff can break it. Little rocks, bb guns, stuff happens like that sometimes.

I would be more concerned about the hatch "flexing" due to something getting under one of the side channels when you had it open and cleaning it. Check everything because you don't want the next one to break too.

 

I'm pretty positive that no one threw anything or shot it out but I did notice that there was a gap at the back of the hatch but it's been that way for the 2 years that I have owned it. I do however have to get a new hatch because I think it messed the top of the frame up on this one.

 

Wow, that sux!!

 

I had a sunroof do that once. Never did figure out why.

 

Look for a pellet or a 22 bullet when you are cleaning up.

 

In the event that it actually wasn't shattered by a rock or something else, I would look for frame damage. These cars are unibody construction and if the subframes are twisted say from a previous accident, it puts a lot of stress on the glass, particularly the front glass which is structural to a point.

My camaro had been in an accident unbeknownst to me when I bought it (before the days of carfax being regular) I found two major complications due to this...

Number one, my t-tops always leaked even with new seals. In fact when I replaced the seals and took the interior trim out I found that they had actually taken the plastic retainers for the t-top pins and turned them 90 degrees just to get the pins to line up.

Number two, one summer I'm driving a long and had to brake hard for one reason or another and I hear a noise. Took a bit to figure out what it was, but the front glass had actually lifted right out of the pane. This time I took it to a body shop my uncle was working at (a pontiac dealer) and he said when they took the glass out they found severe twisting and heavy rust forming from the gaps where the frame deformed away from the glass. Standard practice for a dealership would be to cut these subframes out and replace them with a good used piece, but because of the twisted subframes they couldn't do it without doing major replacement and putting the car on a frame rack. My uncle had one of his hourly guys weld some patches in and suggested, "If I were you, I'd sell the car as fast as I could," suggesting there was a lot more that he wasn't telling me.

 

You probably won't have to worry about that. Most everybody gets the hatch and glass together because they often break when you try to get the glass out.

The only thing you'll have to do is remount your spoiler and the clips that go up the sides of the glass.

 

Probably just caught a rock. I had a small rock chip thrown through my drivers window (not in my thirdgen), probably from a construction site on the other side of the road. Out of the blue, the damn window just exploded right beside my head while doing about 40 kph, found the rock on the floor.

 

maybe these can help reassembly

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...ent-101-a.html

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...alignment.html

https://www.thirdgen.org/forums/body...ajustment.html

 

Thanks, picked up another hatch from a cool guy for $50. Primered just needs paint. I drove the firebird over to his house because I really didn't want to haul it in my 5 mpg truck. Installed it on the spot and looks good.

 

I was able to get just the glass out and I have it for sale right now.

If you don't find anything in the car that looks like it broke the glass that usually means its because the body is either bent or is flexing.

 

That's what I don't get though...I've driven it for 2 years like this well besides carbing it for now. Also, I've already put another hatch on it.

 

Maybe you hit a bump just right and caused the body to flex. All that I am saying is it was either something hitting the window or the body is bent/flexed.

 

For what it's worth, back in the '70's I had a side window shatter from the summer heat. The car was parked and in my yard. A lot of things can break safety glass.

 

I was riding in my friends '93 on a straight empty stretch and his drivers side glass blew out when he launched due to the body flex. Window was rolled half way down and the t-tops were out. These cars will twist up pretty good. Scared the bejeesus out of both of us. I looked over after hearing the loud pop to see him covered in glass. SFC's are a must.