Wing windows are cool-literally. Although, cool is only one aspect, since there are other factors involved with vent wings of any substantial vintage that quickly throw cool onto the fire. For most, the sound of air with the windows up is not cool, unless you have the A/C cranked up full-blast. And where there's air, there's usually water leaking in, as well. How cool is that?
BeforeAs you can see from the before and after images, the one-piece window kit really cleans up the side glass area and makes it just a little harder for someone to break into the truck. |  | |
The obvious answer is simple: Install new weatherstripping. A basic weatherstrip install will cure some of the wind noise, but the wind wings are a bit harder to rebuild. The wind wings are held together with a series of blind rivets and a stout spring assembly on the lower pivot. Can they be rebuilt? Yes, but it's not the easiest task and not very custom.
There is an alternative solution, one that wasn't available until just recently, but it means losing the vent windows altogether. We learned about a company called One Piece Products, which constructs a killer solid side window kit for the curved glass era of the C10. Though designed for use with stock doors and window regulators (power or manual), the kit could also be made to work with aftermarket factory-style power regulators from companies like Electric-Life. Because this setup is custom and also cures a wind noise problem, we didn't hesitate to make an appointment to have one-piece windows installed.
You know what people say about form versus function, right? Well, in this case, it's enough of each to make it appealing to both schools. The loss of the vent wing eliminates a useful venting function of the truck, but it also opens up your plane of sight dramatically, allowing you to see the full length of the door out of each side without obstruction. Form is obvious: The loss of the obtrusive divider bar opens up the side profile the way it should have been done, something GM didn't implement until the late-1980s. With the window openings not affording much room to begin with, many early C10 owners ought to instantly welcome the new One Piece Products elbow-room-maker, and we're about to show you just how easy it is to accomplish.
The Install
Until the vent windows start howling with the wind, you may not have considered eliminating them altogether. After this tech story, the days of whistling wind noise and wet floorboards will be gone. Thanks to One Piece Products, you can fly without wings in your C10. The kit offered comes complete with new safety glass, runners, felt, and hardware-basically, everything you need to complete the conversion, just short of the truck itself.