I did a real faux pas washing my 2004 convertible.

When drying the windshield I let my watch -band? stem? crystal?- put a long scratch on the front passenger window.

This scratch is not very deep, but it is annoying. I tried just rubbing the scratch with a cloth, but no change.

Is there a method of removing scratches from windshields? This is not the time to experiment and make a bigger mess.

Thanks,

Dan

 

Go to Griot's Garage. They sell polishes and other items you may need to repair scratches in glass.

 

Walmart or any auto parts store will have something.

 

If you will post this over in the CarCare section you will probably get some great advice from detailers etc that hang out over there. Good luck

 

Thanks,
I will look. I was not aware that there was such a thing as glass polish.
Dan

 

 

Yes there are glass polishes that will take minor scratches out if you can't catch it with your fingernail but if you can feel it then it is too deep. The polishing kit comes with a small buffing pad that you put on your drill but be very careful not to overheat the glass and move it in a large area around the scratch or you will cause distortion when looking through the glass. Not as scary as it sounds but if you are not confident , take it to a auto glass shop to have it done. It is not very expensive for an experienced shop to do it.

 

bj1k is right
I own a glass shop here in Colorado, any ways on to the problem at hand, if you can feel the scratch with your finger nail then it "can" be buffed out with rare earth cerium oxide glass polish, using a rawhide wheel...you want to mix the cerium oxide with warm water to a slurry..but be word to the wise, the glass can heat up and can break, also a side not the more you buff any type of glass the more distortion that will occur in this process, so keep that in mind...

 

Thanks for all the advice.
Dan

 

If you can feel it with a fingernail,,,,, unfortunately your stuck with it.

If not,,,,I would try polishing it out

 

I would just take it to a glass shop and see if they can get the scratch out. They have the equipment and know-how to get it done.

 

I've seen some advertising about pro auto glass shops filling some windshield problems with clear silicone, but the only repair technique I personally know about would be the suggestions from the body shop and the slurry grind.

If that doesn't cut it, I would hit the used parts for sale, but there is a repair.

Check out some back yard telescope information. They will give you information about glass polishing beyond the excellent advice offered about the grinding compound.

It would give you some idea about the process to achieve the desired results. Basically, completely supporting the back you wet polish the front with a wet slurry in descending grits , concentrating on an even surface without distortion. Any distortion will have to be polished out. IF you get it too thin, it won't fit the window register anymore. Power grinding would require a dedicated set up and machine.

That's why the method is not common knowledge, kind of useless in this application . Lot of labor, lot of skill , tremendous time, and you might be looking through a fun house mirror after all the effort if you screw up. (joke, taking a curved surface to even shouldn't be hard, it is already even except the scratch. )

I put my scratch on working carelessly on the driver's window. The tint kind of hides it, but replacement is somewhere down the road.

all the best for the season.

 

Try using a pure car wax or one of the paint scratch "cover up" products and see if it will fill in. If it works, then you can just reapply when needed. I would try that before trying to polish it out. If you have any tiny pits in the glass like most windshields have then if you polish the area then you may end up having a more noticeable area than you do now.

 

sewing machine oil

 

Jeweler's rouge

 

I had scratches in the windshield of my C6 Z06 - deep enough so that you can feel them with your fingernail. I was really reluctant to change windshields - not only for the cost but also for the potential of a poor installation.

After a lot of searching I found a detail shop only two miles from my house and they were able to totally eliminate it, without any optical distortion. That said, the scratches were really low in the windshield, out of your typical line of sight.

My suggestion is to see if there's a high end detail shop in your area that can do glass scratch removal, or a high end restoration shop might give you a referral.

It can be done, but you'll have to search.

 

the major problem that arises out of this is with the cost of the new windshield on the corvettes, most shops are not willing to do this..i wish the OP best of luck,

 

I've been in the car business for a long time and that is the first time I have heard of anybody claiming to successfully getting out a scratch that can be felt without overheating and breaking the glass or badly distorting the glass. I would have had to see that one.

 

I was skeptical too, but I figured that I had nothing to lose in terms of having some optical distortion. As I mentioned, the scratches were very low in the windshield . . . they were on the passenger side, just above the top pad of the I/P . . . not something typically within one's line of sight.

I wish that I had asked the shop that did my work what equipment they used. While in my quest to find glass scratch removal, I did come across a company called GlasWeld. They make a variety of scratch removal equipment. What was interesting is that the closest location to my home that used their equipment was in the Byron/Fenton, Michigan. However, that place used it for in-house manufacturing repair and not for customer/commercial use. A little investigation/conjecture on my part showed that it was a Tier 1 supplier to the automotive industry (sunroof systems).

 

Call insurance free replacement.