My 57 windshield has minor scratches and scuffs, no gouge's or deep scratches. can the windshield be polished to remove said scuffs/scratches? thanks man Jeff
Had a scratch polished out of a windshield. It left a ripple that I disliked more than the scratch . . . .
Some can and some can't be polished out. My friend had a date coded windshield in a '64 Corvette that a couple of attempts were made at cleaning it up. His results were the same as Pete's up above, it was kinda like a bad LSD trip looking through it at night. He finally took a hammer to it so no one could talk him into trying to polish it again. If it is an impossible to find windshield, you may have no other choice.
I have had several sets of GM T-top panels polished over the years. Those panels are always a mess from sliding around in the trunk. They are much smaller than a windshield and you don't have to look out them to drive. You also cannot get all the way to the edge do the trim (non removable) so there is a ridge around the sides. But you ask if it can be done and the answer is absolutely.
If they are really minor, a good cleaning and an application of RainX works wonders. Sent from my LG-TP450 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Had a o.t. car that had the windshield polished, it changed the optics and i couldn't drive that car more then 15 before it started to give you a headache or you felt like you were going cross eyed. forget driving it at night. I do have a small (about 1") but deep scratch on the lower part of my 54's windshield , the glass looks white in the scratch. Has anyone tried to use clear nail polish or a drop of clear coat on that type of scratch?. I tried that bullseye repair-joke.
We used to polish minor scratches with rubbing compound on a polisher Worked well But nothing major or deep
One of my pal/customers bought a repair kit. I'll try to remember to dig it out and give a name. Still, at the end of it all the scratch was too deep to remove. Made the rest of it look nice though.
If you have a scratch and polish (remove the surrounding glass to the levels of the scratch RIGHT???) that scratch in a small area say 1” wide the ripple left will bother you. But If you polish that scratch down in 2 foot wide swipe and feather the glass removal out the effects won’t be as bothersome.
If you're wanting to experiment with it yourself, I think the material you're looking for is Cerium Oxide. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=cerium+o...=c&hvqmt=e&tag=mh0b-20&ref=pd_sl_40gkf8eyvo_e
You'll definitely need to work a large area to ensure you minimize optical distortion. That said, it's a lot of work, and if it were me, I'd be spending the ~200 bucks and getting a new one if they're that bad. https://www.yearone.com/Catalog/1955.57.chevy/body/glass/windshield-glass
Novus makes a series of polishing compounds, mainly for boat plexiglass. their #2 & #3 are the 2 coarsest ones.
When I was building the Ranch Wagon, I saw a few scratches in the original windshield so I ordered a replacement, when it arrived it had a green shaded area across the top which I specifically told the company I did not want when I was placing the order and they assured me they had the clear glass like the original. It was a PITA to get it back to them and they didn't charge a restocking fee and told me my new windshield would arrive in about a week, true to their word the new windshield arrived and when I opened up the box I was stunned to find they had sent back the exact same windshield I had returned. You might ask yourself how I know it was the same one, I had wrote with a black sharpie across the windshield I did not order a green tint glass. I called them again and did my best to stay calm, the lady that answered the phone apologized for the screw up, the owner apologized but I still and the wrong windshield, he assured me he was going to overnight the correct windshield and he personally would pack it. Sure to his word the correct windshield arrived the next day, I opened the box and there was no green tint but, the glass had a crack about 8 inch's long. I returned the broken windshield, told the owner of the company it's like a baseball game, three strikes and your out, I decided to use the original Ford glass, it has a few scratches but I have learned to live with them. HRP
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