Rear Glass Options (and defroster) (1 Viewer)

[toadshade]

My defroster is dead and after testing it, it is really too far gone to repair. I was looking at the Frost Fighter kits, which are fine, but they don't fit as well as I would like so I am trying to avoid it if possible. What I wanted to know is if I found a rear glass from a donor, does the defroster on the 80 Land Cruiser have a history of going out or if I find a working one, is it a good bet that it will work for a while? I got a price for a new replacement from one of the common well known places and replacement cost is over $600. Pretty steep. I really only hope to do this once so that might be my option, but for that price, I was looking for all the ideas I could get.

 

[enox]

There's really not much to it. Just a simple circuit, you could get a donor one but I have heard replacing the rear glass is a pita.

It's only a +/- that causes the defrost. You would need to verify that the donor actually works, best bet is with a ir thermometer to make sure the temp is changing across the whole panel.

Did your defroster wires corrode or break? Are the plugs good and working?

 

[toadshade]

It’s not the lead wires it’s the actual grid. It is just extremely deteriorated. No obvious breaks but doing a voltage drop test across the grid it just goes to nearly nothing on almost every line. I would definitely check the donor window but before I did that I wanted to check and see if it was a known issue with the 80 series or if the chances of getting a good/bad 30 year old window was the same as most cars out there.

 

[enox]

It’s not the lead wires it’s the actual grid. It is just extremely deteriorated. No obvious breaks but doing a voltage drop test across the grid it just goes to nearly nothing on almost every line. I would definitely check the donor window but before I did that I wanted to check and see if it was a known issue with the 80 series or if the chances of getting a good/bad 30 year old window was the same as most cars out there.

depends where the glass comes from- Mine is in great shape but the PO owned a car wash.... I would just be more worried about trying to change that piece of glass since the windshield was a huge pain in the arss...

 

[toadshade]

Yeah I decided not to try that again. It would be worth it to me to hire someone to put that thing in. I agree. It was a terrible experience. Totally worth paying a couple hundred bucks for someone with the tools and experience. Which goes with part of my question. I can get a new (aftermarket) window with defroster installed for $650. Super high to me but if an old OEM in good condition is probably going to cost me about $300 +/- shipped I assume and a couple hundred to install, then I could have just answered my own question. Might be worth an extra $100 to just get the aftermarket and be done with it. That is assuming I am right on that total guess on the cost of a donor glass. At least I have till winter to really decide. But this goes along with some work I am trying to get done with a new interior.

 

[Mike22]

Yeah I decided not to try that again. It would be worth it to me to hire someone to put that thing in. I agree. It was a terrible experience. Totally worth paying a couple hundred bucks for someone with the tools and experience. Which goes with part of my question. I can get a new (aftermarket) window with defroster installed for $650. Super high to me but if an old OEM in good condition is probably going to cost me about $300 +/- shipped I assume and a couple hundred to install, then I could have just answered my own question. Might be worth an extra $100 to just get the aftermarket and be done with it. That is assuming I am right on that total guess on the cost of a donor glass. At least I have till winter to really decide. But this goes along with some work I am trying to get done with a new interior.

Where were you able to find the aftermarket rear glass?

 

[toadshade]

No. I decided to go the route of the heater replacement. Frost Fighter kit. I haven’t gotten around to installing it yet though.