mrg

Is there a trick or method to fixing a windshield wiper induced glass scratch? .. The scratch is radial (end of wiper blade) and about 1/8 inch wide. The scratch isn't too deep but can be 'felt' by the fingernail test.

ktchir

I don't know if the entire scratch can be totally removed but there are polishing kits available. (Muscle Car TV just ran an episode on polishing out a windshield scratch.)

4440stevesvette

Best to just replace the w/s unless you are into NCRS and you still have the original w/s with the correct date code

Frankie the Fink

You can remove a scratch ... I have done it with this product: http://www.janvil.com/glass_scratch.htm.
The scratch cannot be too deep and if you polish too aggressively you WILL get distortion. Frankly, unless you were considering replacing the windshield anyway I wouldn't attempt it on a significant scratch.

Any of these products DO remove material so its all a tradeoff of how far you go for what result. So you've been warned! I wouldn't have bothered but I had a horizontal light scratch dead in front of where I look through the windshield to drive.

DansYellow66

Yep, that looks familiar. A king size mess. Works on scuffs, water spotted glass and stuff you can't catch with your fingernail. Anything more than that and it will probably distort the glass and take you forever to remove.

VetteTechZ16

Its messy and takes some patience but it is possible to remove like mentioned above. Replacing glass... Midyear, no problem... Solid axle... been there, done that. You don't want to try it on your own. Done 10+ and they have all been different experiences.

PS - You can buy dated glass

92GTA

Would that work well for minor sand pitting?

VetteTechZ16

minor - yes... we have had good luck saving some original glass for major NCRS cars but took 8+ hrs of polishing to save.

Nothing compares to a new piece of glass

92GTA

To me it would be worth it, I want my car as original as possible.

Thanks!

Alex

VetteTechZ16

I agree... take your time and be patient.
You can fool people on the glass (new) but the gasket is not reproduced anywhere correctly.

Kerrmudgeon

What about that new process they use to fill stone chips, I think it's like an epoxy resin that they shoot into the flaw with a special suction cup thing. Why wouldn't that work for scratches as well? K

Frankie the Fink

No...that is even more noticeable and you actually have to have a pretty good ding for the epoxy to even get a "hold" to set up...

Kerrmudgeon

Frankie, my friend had a rock hit her Ford Escape and put quite a spidery hit with a crack, had it fixed with this method, and damned if I can even find it now!
Speedy auto glass, I think.

mrg

Thanks for the replies. Thinking of going with Frankie's suggestion on the Janvil product.

Frankie the Fink

I've seen good and bad results with the epoxy "fix it in your driveway" approach. If the technician is good, its a recent ding and the driver hasn't run their windshield washer fluid into the spot it can be pretty well done.
Doing a whole wiper, arc-like scratch isn't appropriate for this fix as well as many other scratch types...

kwkenuf

I'll be using the kit available from Eastwood to hopefully remove 1 wiper blade scratch and some fine sand blast pits over the entire windshield on my 65 coupe. Kit comes with different grades of sand paper, a foam backed sanding pad to chuck up in a low speed polisher or drill and a jar of rouge to finish polish it out. I'll try to restore the windshield before I replace it. Saw an episode on "Trucks" where they used the same kit on a similarly damaged windshield and it came out great. I'll report back here after this weekend or next on my results.

highschool67

I worked in the autoglass industry for years. Windshields are annealed glass and relatively soft. We used to use something like the Eastwood kit all the time. We also used jewelers rouge and metal polishing compounds which is what the Eastwood kit is in powder form. It takes patience and a lot of blending of surrounding surface. The old rule of thumb is, if you can feel the scratch with your finger nail it is too deep to polish out. Side and back glasses are tempered and harder than the dickens. You really can't polish the surface of tempered glass. You can however polish the rough microscopic edges of the scratch to make it appear a lot less obvious.


Fun fact......
Before the advent of "float glass" which is semi molten glass poured over a layer of molten tin. You had wavy looking glass. I'm sure some of you old timers have seen old houses with wavy window glass. Glass used to be pulled in a semi molten state through rollers which cause the glass to be somewhat obscure. Plate glass (1/4 inch and greater) for store fronts tables and the like actually had a very rough surface to it from the rollers. Originally laborers and then later in history, large equipment actually ground and then polished the glass to get it to it's final clear finish and nominal thickness. Hence the reason old plate glass is called "polished plate" in the business.

Kerrmudgeon

I have used my favourite metal polish, Autosol, to restore watch crystals that you could hardly see through, and on one with the raised magnifying date glass that always gets hit or rubbed first, and it came out like new.

my58

As a kid I worked as a lot boy for a car dealership. We often would wipe small scratches and chips in the glass with transmission fluid. After a few days of occassional wipes the small scratches would be filled and it would fool the eye. It may not make sense and it may be a BUBBA but it worked many times.