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Re: [T3] British windscreen requirements


Tempered glass was standard on all aircooled VWs in the UK.  You
could specify laminated on later ones, but generally laminated only
became standard in the late 70s.  All the other windows are usually
toughened (safety glass; often marked "sekurit" on VWs).  Most UK
mass-produced cars in the 50s/60s/70s had toughened glass not
laminated.  Of course, almost all the pre-war cars had laminated,
which suffered from de-lamination quite badly.

Tempered windshields are handy when removing or refitting; a push
with your feet (wipe grit off first) gets them out, and you can
‚çFÎth fist or push quite hard to install, unlike laminated.
And no star crack if hit with a stone; they either shatter
completely or are unaffected.

I believe UK law, since some time in the 80s, has required cars to
have laminated screens, but I'm not sure when this came in.  I don't
think it has ever been illegal in the UK to use laminated glass for
the windshield.  They changed the law when it was shown that in
accidents, it was more dangerous for the head to go through the
shattered screen (with serious abrasions and cuts to the neck for
example) rather than be held back by the fine shards on the plastic
film.

Dave.
UK VW Type 3&4 Club
www.hallvw.clara.net/
-----Original Message-----
From: Jim Adney <jadney@vwtype3.org>
To: type3@vwtype3.org <type3@vwtype3.org>
Date: 31 January 1999 23:53
Subject: [T3] British windscreen requirements


A question for our UK members:

A friend of mine claims that British automobile codes require
tempered glass to be used in windshields rather than laminated
glass.
Is this true?

I see in the microfilm that there seem to have been two windshields
available.  One is labeled as laminated (M 89), the other is not
further identified.  Was it tempered?

If so, where else was tempered glass the type of choice?

Jim
-
*******************************
Jim Adney, jadney@vwtype3.org
Madison, Wisconsin, USA
*******************************

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