as you can see from the pic, someone broke my quarter glass behind the drivers side window. been to several body/glass shops and the local cadi dealer who say i'll have to replace the entire top to install the new glass (which i already have). i'm hoping there's a way to get the glass in without replacing the top. any ideas?

I think you probably will have to replace the landau. Something that old won't just come off and go back down the same way. And I mean no offence, but judging by the other pics that I've seen of the car, it probably needs it anyway.

it does need it, badly. just wasn't next on my list of things to do right now. which is why i was hoping to work around it. guess it just moved up on my list of priorities.

I guess this is an exception to the rule of "If you must break a window to gain access to your car, always break the smallest one available". Come to think of it, there really doesn't seem to be any good window to break on that car if you had to get into it. Then again anyone with half a brain can figure out how to break into a car without breaking glass; it's just theives that have to do it *quickly* because it's not their car... Although some make it too easy. My girlfriend once locked herself out of the Ford Taurus wagon she had at the time, I broke into it, damage free, using a metal bar and a tomato stake, in about 20 seconds.

lucky for me i had installed a viper alarm a few days earlier.

You have to remove the rear seat and the side panel so that the area is exposed. The glass is held in place with black adhesive against the outer body panel. It is hard to reach this area to work on it. Use a brake cleaner or a carb & choke cleaner to soften the adhesive. Now it gets tricky. Work your hand into the inner framework and scrape off the old adhesive. Careful not to cut yourself.
Make sure your replacement glass is clean. I'm not sure which adhesive you should use, but I'm sure NAPA would have something, ask one of their technicians. You could use silicone, but it can get pretty messy and take a long time to cure. Gorilla glue comes to mind. You should be able to work the glass into place from the back of that area. Another set of hands might be helpful. Now you may need to hold the plate in place until it sets. I would cut a 2x4 to hold the plate from the bottom and a pair of wedges to hold it against the outer panel.

Now mind you that I haven't done this, but one of my Coupe's has the same malady, so I have analyzed how to approach this.