Does anyone have experience getting wiper marks out of a windshield? The metal end of the wiper arm apparently scraped part of the windshield...the scratch is barely enough to catch a fingernail, so I don't know whether it can be polished out or not....any suggestions are much appreciated....
After calling around to a few glass shops, I was given the name of local guy in Salem Oregon that specialized in polishing out scratches in commercial/retail store windows. Seems some people enjoy scarring windows with their diamond ring! He used a diamond compound to get my wiper scratches to completely disappear, but it took him a couple of hours to do it since my wiper marks were relatively deep and he had to go slowly to avoid heat buildup. Cost was around $150. Cheaper than replacing the windshield.
That's the thing, the scratch will still be there but buffing makes it "clear" again, sometimes. Depends how much a new windshield costs, someone for a few more dollars you have a new glass that the wiper actually touches and doesn't skip over the scratch. I have a jeweler's wheel for my buffer and i use jeweler's rouge with water to make a paste.
I had a windshield with a polish repair, left a wave in the glass that you would only notice after a few minutes, gave me a headache and had to trash the windshield
Cerium oxide powder or paste is available. I've used it with a felt polishing wheel in a drill motor and by hand with a white scotch brite pad. I've also used it in a vibratory tumbler on smaller pieces of glass. Amazon is where I purchased it in the past. https://www.amazon.com/Cerium-Oxide-Glass-Polishing-Compound/dp/B009XUAA4Y
Leave it alone, unless your willing to deal with the distortion scratch removal causes. The only sure way to eliminate distortion is to replace the windshield.
I also had a light wiper scratch/rub on my old '32 Sedan Delivery. Talked to my glass guy, He said to use a Dremel tool, foam wheel/disc and jewelers rouge. He said to "take your time, not too much pressure and it could take hours to get it all out". Got to work...about 20 minutes in and no noticeable difference. Smart guy that I am, I decided to use more pressure. Big mistake...after 2 minutes, this caused too much heat and the plastic laminate between the glass started to get foggy. Shit, now the windshield is even WORSE. I'm gonna have to replace the windshield...not that big of a deal...it's flat glass. But I had the windshield frame glued in to try to keep it from leaking...and of course, I screwed up some paint trying to get it out. Moral of the story; LEAVE IT ALONE and learn to live with it.
The moral to this story is "don't F**k with something that you can live with." More often then not you only make matters worse.
Hey GMAN, Although we both came up reasonable "morals to story"...do they really apply ? The whole hobby is based on improving things. I know I'll probably keep messing with things on my cars...even if I don't really know what I'm doing.
Interesting about the bad glass repair experiences. I guess if you only polish the scratch area, you could easily get some annoying distortion. The guy, and his son, who did mine used a large diameter polishing wheel and they worked a large area of the windshield well past the scratches. He and his son took turns for a couple hours before they were finished. They knew their stuff and I was very happy....no distortion, couldn't tell it was ever there. Just like good paint work, those with talent and experience have better results than others.
How about a pitted windshield? Like sand pits. Only see them when the sun hits it, but pretty distracting.
I wonder if the stuff the windshield chip repair places use would work? Maybe call and ask. Can’t be the first time someone with a scratched windshield has wanted it fixed. A bunch of years ago, I repaired a BB hole in a piece of flat glass. The epoxy that glass artist use is optically identical to glass, so that once it cures, you can’t tell where one piece ends and the next piece starts. Don’t know if it would stand up to windshield duty, though. Search for Hyxtal epoxy. Sent from my iPad using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I doubt it. When a glass gets sand pitted, it's pretty much toast. I've never found anything to make it better. Most of the time you don't notice them, but like you said, sun at the right time of day and lights at night will really show it. We put around 100,000 miles a year on semi trucks, the glass in them is usually pitted in half that. I try to put up with it as long as I can, replacements on some trucks is pretty expensive.
Lmao! I do a Model A glass, installed in the frame for $120 don't fuck up and use urethane, you'll never get it back out. I just install them with black silicone.
Hey Lloyd, I did use black silicone but my mistake (besides ruining the windshield) was I didn't get the silicone fully cut in a few spots, so when I pulled the frame, a couple of big silicone strips came with it. The issue being some of the paint had decided it preferred sticking to the silicone, rather than the primer. My own fault...I was already pissed off and didn't exactly take my time taking (ripping?) out the windshield frame.
I can see trying to buff out an imperfection on a piece of glass that is stupid expensive or obsolete, but it's just a bandaid. Sometimes you do what you have to do. Being in the autoglass business, it's surprising to me how inexpensive some of this glass actually is.
Hey Lloyd, yeah I'll probably just add glass polishing up to my many "sounded like a good idea at the time" fails...along with panel welding warping. wire harness smoking etc.
Never thought of that...I'm pretty sure Hagerty covers glass. After I ruined the windshield, I should have just thrown a rock at it, and turned in a claim.
The older the car, the more upright the windshield, the more the pitting. And, I guess, the older the car, the older the wiper hardware, the more the scratch. Just play the mind game of calling it "patina" and leaving it like that. That works for plenty of guys.
The Jalopy Journal
