Does anyone have any pictures of the marking on an original (preferably '89) windshield? My '87 had it replaced right before I bought it so it says PPG 97 in the center bottom. Got a new '89 IROC and noticed the logo is exactly the same on the windshield as the hatch. Could this be original?

 

Here's my 87's windshield. A piece of paper behind it made it much easier to see. The rear is PPG but quite different than the front.

 

PPG is an OEM supplier and was almost exclusive back then.
Now there's PGM, (which is PPG Mexico,) Pilkington, and Fuyao.

Stay away from Safelite if you need a windshield.

 

Apparently I should have Google'd a bit better. LOF is OEM glass just like PPG and the date code looks like it could be IC which would correspond to June 1989. Trying to figure out what this poor car has been though and sorta shocked that the windshield could have survived 34 years and 110k miles.

 

FWIW, PPG stands for Pittsburgh Plate Glass.

The PPG label on the hatch is reddish in color, at the bottom center of the glass, and its codes differ from the windshield's codes.

As for longevity, there's a lot more traffic and sh*t on the roads nowadays than there was in the heydays of 3rdgens. I've replaced windshields of both of my trucks in the last 12 years, and one of them needs, yet, another replacement. If I was daily driving my 3rdgen today, its windshield would probably need replacing too.

 

Ah. As per this thread it was a difference in which plant the car came out of. Which kinda makes sense as my '87 is a Norwood build and while the front glass was replaced the hatch is original and has the red PPG logo, the new one being an '89 was built in Van Nuys. LOF stands for Libbey-Owens-Ford, which is now Pilkington which is still being used on GM cars, including my Lansing Grand River build sixth gen.

 

It is a little hard to see against your dash-pad, But it Looks like the date code is VI & would translate to December 1988
That would be correct for an early 1989 Van Nuys car. Can you confirm those letters & was your car built in January 1989?
Interesting the year & month looks to has a large gap in it which now has my wheels turning as to how they printed this info.

 

Good eye, there is a V and I. The door tag says 1/89. The hatch has a large gap too but different letters. If they are the same coding, the NC on the hatch would correspond to January 1989. Very interesting.

 

From what I have seen, Cars made in Van Nuys "L" seem to have LOF (Libby Owens Ford) glass, and cars made in Norwood "N" seem to have PPG Glass.
I have never, ever seen an aftermarket LOF glass, however PPG glass did make for the aftermarket and (from memory) The OE Label (IIRC) was located at the Bottom Right of the windshield, whereas the aftermarket glass had the emblem on the Drivers side bottom of the windshield. (maybe it was the other way around)

What is possibly the biggest travesty to restoring a 3rd gen is the fact that the plastic trim that goes around the windshield has gotten wider over the years, and the original style is no longer available.

John

 

When they ran out of right side windows at Van Nuys on August 26, 1992, they said they were air freighted in from PPG to finish up the cars on August 27. I’ll have to look at my windows to see what code is on them.

 

I forgot about this thread, glad it popped back up. I was meaning to look at mine, as it was replaced in early 90's, maybe 93. big rock slammed into it going down Houston freeway. curious what it might be.

 

Replaced in the 90's? Good chance your glass is a Pilkington. They were one of the biggest well into the 2000's

Let us know what you find!

 

Forgot again. Luckily i checked email. What is it?

 

May '89

 

Hmmm. Car door tag is 9/89. They must have found old stock of windshields or I dont recall events correctly. Maybe it was a different car.

 

What's the date on the hatch glass? Is your car an '89 or '90? I believe glass has a three month shelf life and it seems unlikely that they would have May date code stock in September.

 

Its a 90. Here is rear hatch. What is it?

 

T is August. If it were an '89 it would make sense that maybe it got pulled off the line for some reason and then finished months later. To re-VIN it would require the windshield to be removed and there's no way they'd salvage it, just cut it out and get a new one. Very odd.
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Im not familiar with why 1990 only had half year run. It was delayed for some reason. Perhaps they stacked a few up knowing they would be 90’s so they could ramp up production quickly once the go ahead was given.

 

Chevy lost the 1990 naming rights for the International Race of Champions to Dodge. They could no longer make an IROC-Z after December 31st 1989.

All 1990 model year F-body cars were made in 1989. Production of the 1990 model year F-body started somewhere in August of 1989 and ran until December 31st of 1989. GM wanted to get the new body style F-body cars out early. So they started production of the 1991 model year cars early in 1990 using up what would have normally been the rest of the 1990 production year and on top of that getting the full production year for 1991 model year F-body cars too.

1990 model year F-body cars got about a handful of months of production while 1991 model year F-body cars got about 4 handful of months of production.

 

Hmmm, if there were structural changes for '91 that required retooling then I wouldn't put it past them to run the body shop non stop to build out '90 bodies and just store them. And since the windshield is the only fixed glass they could install it out of process (early) and not have to worry about FIFO. Once the natural '89 run is closed, start the '90 vehicles. It'd be interesting to see to see other '90 vehicles and if they have a June or earlier windshield.

 

Ya, would be interesting. I checked my records, nothing in there about windshield replacement, so maybe it is factory. Also asked the wife if she recalled having it replaced, she did not. Other evidence is that it has an old Johnson Space Center decal on it that admitted the car into the JSC facilities back in 1992. I don't think that decal could have been transferred to a new windshield, it would be destroyed if an attempt was made.

BTW - why does windshield have 3 month shelf life? And how do you know so much about these date codes?

@rt66er - You mind checking your windshield for a date code. We have a little mystery developing in this thread.

 

I'll take a look tomorrow and let you know...