A02 Windshield Tint

davepl · Poncho Master!

A02 Windshield Tint

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

Dave, the November 1969 parts book says GM offered 2 choices for your car, clear or tinted. As far as I've ever seen with no exceptions, you could not get one with the dark band on the top without the rest of it also having that light green hue to it. I'll be bold and put my neck on the chopping block by saying if Clint has a windshield that is clear except for a dark band at the top, it's one of one.

davepl · Poncho Master!

I hope I didn't misread his email and quote him wrong, so if it's wrong, blame me, not Clint! But I appreciate the confirmation on the tint, thanks!

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I would think that A01 & A02 windshields are the same as they should conform to the government dictates regarding tinting and safety standards. Probably no tint except for the band at the top. All other glass on a car with the A01 option has full tinting.

Having said that, I have noticed over the years that older southern cars (like a 1959 Chevy) had deep window tint that is not like what we are used to seeing in Canada.

I do remember a new Oshawa-built '68 Impala that the Reeve in Wentworth County bought. He was visiting dad at our house, who was the Deputy Reeve, to talk business. Meanwhile I was a little kid looking all around his new Impala sedan, which had deep tint in all windows except for the tinted band on the windshield. An A01 car was unusual in Canada back in those days. The car did not have a/c, but it was a 307 with a TH400.

seventy2plus2 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

4SPEED427 wrote:
Dave, the November 1969 parts book says GM offered 2 choices for your car, clear or tinted. As far as I've ever seen with no exceptions, you could not get one with the dark band on the top without the rest of it also having that light green hue to it. I'll be bold and put my neck on the chopping block by saying if Clint has a windshield that is clear except for a dark band at the top, it's one of one.

The 70 454 Laurentian had no A02 code, and it had a clear original windshield with no blue band across the top.

My 2 x 70 2+2's have the A02 option code, and both have the blue band across the top, but the windshields themselves might have a very light tint, but certainly not what I'd call tinted, so I said clear. My 2+2 convertible had the original windshield until I changed it about 5 years ago, and my 2+2 hardtop still has the original windshield.

This discussion reminds me of when I was a Project Manager, it just keeps going round and round.

-- Edited by seventy2plus2 on Monday 8th of April 2024 06:45:53 PM

unruhjonny · Guru

It may be worth mentioning that in 1997(?) I had to replace my car's original (yup, you read that right) windshield;
It had NO tint what so ever.
No blue band.

I hadn't thought about it when I got the replacement - and was surprised to see the difference between my original and the replacement tinted windshield - which had the blue band.

North · Guru

In that era (60's through 80's) on a GM car you had three glass choices. One was the standard setup with all glass having no tint. Next was the option 532 or AO2 which gave you a Soft Ray windshield only. this was a windshield with a blue-green coke bottle type tinting with a much darker blue band several inches deep along the top of the windshield. Next was 531 or AO1 which included the same tinting as the Soft Ray windshield (less the top band on other windows of course) but also all the other side and rear glass (even the back glass on a convertible top was Soft Ray-if it wasn't plastic like Firebird or pre 68 A body). The coke bottle tinting was the same on all windows as the windshield.

If you ordered AC you had to at least order the Soft Ray windshield but 95% of AC cars were ordered with the Soft Ray on all windows. Some aftermarket tinted windshields of the time didn't have the upper blue band.

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

North wrote:

If you ordered AC you had to at least order the Soft Ray windshield

John, I'm not sure what model years you have data for but for 1966 Canadian Pontiacs that does not apply. The order guide makes no mention of that.

davepl · Poncho Master!

Oddly, my base Laurentian has all tinted glass but the 2+2 convertible is windshield-only! (neither has AC).

North · Guru

The Soft-Ray windshield requirement for AC is often not mentioned on order forms but it was always a requirement from the advent of AC in the 50's on all GM cars. It is listed in the ordering policy rules that all dealers acknowledged annually. The logic was related to heat load (Soft Ray reduces heat transfer).

4SPEED427 · A Poncho Legend!

North wrote:
The Soft-Ray windshield requirement for AC is often not mentioned on order forms but it was always a requirement from the advent of AC in the 50's on all GM cars. It is listed in the ordering policy rules that all dealers acknowledged annually. The logic was related to heat load (Soft Ray reduces heat transfer).

That is sure possible but as you see according to the 66 Canadian order guide I could have bought my 66 air conditioned Pontiac with all clear glass. (as foolish as that move may be!)

CdnGMfan · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

It may have been understood that tint was a requirement initially and good policy later, but Al Mackenzie in Creston, B.C. has a '67 Chevelle SS396 convertible with factory air conditioning that had 100% clear glass. Apparently the original buyer assumed tint was included with a/c, oops! U.S. car originally.

gparis7 · Canadian Poncho Superstar!

I have had a number of cars with full tinted glass and in those cases - both US and Canadian - the windshields had a blue/green hue throughout with a heavy band at the top. Canadian cars of note for this were my 62 Pontiac Parisienne, 66 Bel Air 2 door sedan, and 64 Impala SS. The full tint in my 68 Caprice from west coast US is much lighter, while the tint in the US built 66 Caprice is dark throughout. The current replacement windshield in my 69 Kingswood wagon has a very dark band at the top but no tint thoughout the rest of it.