94-96 Buick Roadmaster questions

Two things- First, do the Roadmaster based hearses (Superior, S&S, etc.) use standard front doors?

I recently purchased a 96 Superior that had the drivers front door window smashed out. My mechanic tried to put in a used standard Roadmaster door glass, but could not make it go up and down correctly. He called in a glass shop that brought out a new window which had the same problem. The glass "expert" gave up and left.

The problem is that as the window goes up, it curves to the inside of the door rather than following the track into the frame. By forcing the window outward it will go up and appears to fit the frame as it should.

Any ideas??

If it's a Superior or an S&S, it could very well be a commercial glass car. In which case, the front door glass would be specific to that vehicle marque. Check the door glass on the passenger's side for any makers logo and a NAGS number. Then make sure you've got the proper glass.

I just looked at some 1996 Superior sales literature I have, and yes the Buick used commercial windshield and side glass.

I have a 96 Buick Bucillac here I will check the glass tomorrow when it is light out. However I think your problem is a channel alignment one. More when its daylight

One more thing to think of, was your car built from a Roadmaster sedan or a Roadmaster wagon? The wagon and the sedan are not the same car. The Roadmaster sedan is a unique body, while the wagon uses the Chevy Caprice body.

Peter Grave said:

I have a 96 Buick Bucillac here I will check the glass tomorrow when it is light out. However I think your problem is a channel alignment one. More when its daylight

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Im pretty sure Buillac has standard glass, but have no coachbuilder info to support that, but his car has commercial glass.

Patrick J. Martin said:

One more thing to think of, was your car built from a Roadmaster sedan or a Roadmaster wagon? The wagon and the sedan are not the same car. The Roadmaster sedan is a unique body, while the wagon uses the Chevy Caprice body.

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The Superior/S&S Buicks were the wagons. As far as I have ever heard of using the Sedan style is the Buillacs. Although close to the Chevy body, different glass was used, the Chevys used standard glass.

All Buick-based Superior and S&S funeral cars were based on a decontented Roadmaster station wagon. If my memory serves me correctly, some models (the lower priced offerings) used standard glass all around while the "premium" models were built using commercial windshields and side glass. From a body perspective, the Buick, Olds and Chevy of this vintage wagons were essentially all the same.

All right I have gone up to the yard and measured three vehicles the results are as follows Car #1 1996 Buick Roadmaster Station Wagon,Windshield height 33" approx measured at right side ,door glass bottom front to back 33" height at rear 19 3/4" door length 47 front to back at belt line. Car #2 1996 Eureka Bucillac Roadmaster, all measurements for Car #1 apply to this Coach. Car #3 1996 Cadillac S&S Masterpiece (Commercial Glass) Windshield Height 29" measured on right side edge, door glass 33 1/2" measured at belt line Height Rear 18 1/2" Front measured at angle at top front to bottom front 18 1/4 door length again is 47". You need to remember the windshield and side glass in the standard cars are angled back (rake) on the windshield and canted in on the sides so the glass is taller than the higher appearing Commercial glass cars where the side glass is almost strait up and down and the windshield rake is far less sharp. That all being said ALL side glass in the front doors are the same Caprice,Roadmaster,Cadillac as are the doors. The issue with the 96 Hearse is alignment and lube. The channels in the door should be heavily sprayed with Silicone Spray all slider tracks greased with liberal amounts of white grease watch the alignment on the front channel as this will cause the window to pop outward as it rises. As far as glass indentification for the front door its easy the standard glass has a continuous curve on the outer top edge down to the bottom front, the Commercial glass is almost strait going up at the front with a definite angle at the top front and then strait to rear.
Now a word about the whole line of these cars Caprice,Roadmaster and Cadillac. The front doors except for the mouldings and trim are all the same the windshields are all the same. The rear doors are not the same but individual to the line in the sedans,Wagons rear door shell the same Caprice by itself and Oldsmobile and Buick the same again but vast trim differences. The wagons are another story all wagons have the Caprice front sheet metal only difference by the make is the grill, hood ornament , Front bumper cover and cover rebar. The front "Dog House" will interchange as a unit across the series including wagons- Cadice,Bucillac,Bucap, etc. To my knowledge only the Caprice cop car and Impala SS had the disc brakes in the rear and the conversion Cadillac had a 12 bolt rear as to all others having a 10 bolt rear. The rears are all standard sedans the same, Caprice Police different (Disc Brakes),Impala SS by itself Disc brakes and wider for fat tires,Station Wagon all (wider). Cadillac limo conversion 12 bolt vs 10. Hope this makes a clearer picture of these neat last of the GM rear drives.

For what it's worth, from the GM Parts Catalogs:

94-96 Buick Roadmaster Sedan, Wagon, Hearse/Limousine are all considered "B" bodies by GM along with Chevrolet Caprice/Impala SS.
They all used GM P/N 10172528 RH glass and 10172529 LH glass in the front doors.

1993 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham used the same door glasses, while 1994 thru 1996 used GM P/N 10209090 RH glass and 10209091 LH glass BUT 1993 and 1994 model years shared the same door shell part number. But 1995 and 1996 Fleetwood Broughams used a different part number for the door shell.

All I might guess is that the glass specification could be different for thickness, tint,sound absorbing ability, who knows? I suppose I could dig in furhter to see if door run channels are different whick might give a clue also.

If anyone needs me to dig furter, PM me.

It may depend on where the mirrors were located. Some years had the mirror mounted to the door, and some to the window frame, making different glass needs.

Also as mentioned before, the original poster has commercial glass, which is higher and flatter than standard glass. If anyone here has a coach like his maybe someone can post the numbers. My 95 Superior Chevy funeral coach has standard glass, (just for reference because you mentioned Caprice) the left front window info is PPG soft Ray Safety Flo-Lite AS-2, 28-5, soft temper 4, Lot 18, M505. The rear left door window (I know not discussed, but to show how much coach glass can change. I don't know if this window is Caprice, something else or coach built, so if you know what numbers come up, I would love to know) Anyway the info for L rear door is Temper Spec-Temp, AS2, M13, 5/32T, DOT 243. I only got drivers side, because it is pouring out and one shower a day is enough for me. BTW, mine was built from the sedan, not wagon.