Grainy windshield !!

[prevnine11ownr]

Driving into work today I had the sun directly in front...I have a terrible looking "grainy" windshield...On a 2000? My 69 Z has less.... Whats up? Can it be buffed??

 

[Toby]

sure..you can buff it. I buffed my rear window in my 69 Camaro and it worked out well. I think I purchased my kit from NAPA.

 

[Snake Bitten]

Buff it with a brick...It must have a crack longer than a dollar bill to appease your insurance company (so I've heard)...gauge size of brick accordingly...

 

[AJT]

Good to see some 69 Camaros still out there! I have one also,Hmmm, maybe its a natural progression to a viper.

Andy

 

[Mike Adams]

www.zainobros.com


order z12

Call Sal

 

[Toby]

prevnine11ownr and AJT...you have a private message.

 

[Jerry Dobson]

Is the Grainy caused by abrasion?... sand or chips?

I try to keep my car PERFECT. I see grainy/haze in the multi part windshield. I think it comes from being safety glass.

 

[GR8_ASP]

My '95 windshield is quite "sandblasted" as well. The brick trick does not sound too good to me with $500 deductible. Has anyone tried the polish routine to see how effective it is?

 

[onerareviper]

Yes,

I tried the Zaino windshield polish. It does get the windshield clean, but that's it. It will not remove imperfections in the glass. Maybe 'Pete the ex-glass guy' can chime in, but I don't think there is anyway to get rid of the sand blasted look, except replacement. I wish there was, I'd do it tomorrow.

My. 02

 

[Anthony - 98 GTS]

I have some slight scratches in my rear hatch glass. Anyone know how to remove or lighten them??

 

[Andrew2KRT10]

OOpps,, I slipped with the hammer......

Works every time.

Thank God for Total Glass coverage.

AC

 

[Mopar Steve]

I am not encouraging anything here but, glass falls under your "comprehensive" portion of your insurance policy. I carry a $1000. deductible on all my cars, houses, business, boat, etc, but a ZERO deductible on comprehensive portions of the auto policy. The price difference is little to nothing. Ask your agents!

 

[Ron Hickey]

Griots Garage sells a couple of glass polishing compounds which might help. These are designed for use with a buffer.

 

[red98GTS]

Pete the ex-glass guy here. I hesitate to respond to this post at the risk of boring you guys to tears with another dissertation on glass, but for the sake of those of you who might not have heard this, please bear with me on this or skip the explanation! OK. In fifteen years of installing and buffing windshields, I have never seen anybody nor have I been able to "buff out" an entire windshield and get rid of the normal pitting and road rash that occurs just from everyday driving. It's very labor intensive, and if the windshield is that bad, it should be replaced. Yes, SOME light scratches can be buffed to the point where they are a practically invisible, but you have to be very careful you don't create a concave section where you buff, because your scratch will now be a "lens", and when you look through the w/shield, you will see a distortion. Nobody told you about that, did they. It's worse than a scratch in my opinion. So, buffing an entire w/shield is not something practical. Replace it. The insurance companies replace tons of windshields but there's a glitch. They obviously won't replace one (USUALLY) if you just call and say you have some pitting, etc. It has to be broken, and by that, I mean more than just a ding or a chip or a teeny little break. If that is the case, and they WILL ask you, then they will send over a repair guy who will fill the short crack or ding with a clear expoxy-like material, and the insurance company will save a few hundred and you will have a repair that doesn't look perfect, but better than what you had. You will STILL have all the pitting and road rash from before and be right back where you started. As was mentioned in response to this post, NO deductible glass coverage is a good idea. I am not saying you should break your windshield beyond a repair job. What happens to your windshield is up to you.
Check your deductible on glass. It's not expensive to have full glass coverage in most situations. Mine has paid for itself over and over. Plenty of rocks being kicked up here in Arizona on the freeways. One last thing: windshields are always "safety glass". Backglasses and doorglasses are "tempered". Two different things, and if there is a DEEP scratch in a piece of tempered, good luck. Hard as nails. All the buffing compounds out there are basically the same. They work with a felt-like wheel and require a know-how of how much pressure to apply without creating heat and how not to create that "lens" I spoke of. I don't recommend it for the average guy out there. I wish there was an easy solution for getting out all the little pits and rash in glass, but it's just the nature of it. Hope this helps somebody. Pete the ex-glass guy

 

[Cruisin9]

Is it possible to fill in a few small pits with an epoxy and then buff that until it is smooth with the windsheild surface. If so, which epoxy should I use?

 

[prodiver]

The Eastwood Company http://eastwoodcompany.com/ sells a very good windshield chip repair kit. Windshield Repair Kit (part # 40008). Follow the directions and you can't go wrong. I have used it on my Vette and my Viper. They also sell a polishing kit Part# 40030 but I have not used it.

 

[Shelby3]

I just went through this routine and tried several glass buffing techniques. I agree with Pete, replace the windshield. I just had mine replaced the other day for $495 installed and wish I'd done it sooner.

 

[RT/ED]

Had the same problem on a 79 Mercedes 450-SL. I followed trucks as close as I dared for two years hoping a stone would fly up and break the windshield....no luck. I decided to do the "hammer trick". One week to the day after the new windshield was installed, a rock hit the center area of the windshield putting a nice big chip in it that looked like $%&* after being repaired. Coincidence, bad luck or devine intervention???? You decide!

 

[Robert1994]

My windshield has exactly the same sandblasted look, and
your are right, the original windshield in my '69 Z/28 is
in much better shape than my '94 Viper. What's with that ?
Inferior glass ? Air flow patterns that directs the air
directly at the windshield instead of up and over ? Or
flawed from the factory ? I hear to much of this for it to be just coincidence. Would Zaino or a good wax clean some
of this ?

 

[Vic]

Had the same problem on a 79 Mercedes 450-SL. I followed trucks as close as I dared for two years hoping a stone would fly up and break the windshield....no luck. I decided to do the "hammer trick". One week to the day after the new windshield was installed, a rock hit the center area of the windshield putting a nice big chip in it that looked like $%&* after being repaired. Coincidence, bad luck or devine intervention???? You decide!

Coincidence, bad luck or devine intervention????

Neither! It was bad "Car-ma"!

Ha ha, get it? "Car-ma", like "Karma"? Bah-dah-bing!

 

[red98GTS]

No, your windshield is not "defective" because it has tiny pits in it. It was exposed to junk flying up from the roadway, and in time, usually moreso on cars driven on the freeway than in town at slower speeds, every windshield will get road rash. It's just something that happens unless you don't drive it. I'm driving mine.
No Zaino or any other polish in the world will rid a windshield of the zillions of little pits from road rash. I wish I did have a product that would do that.....I'd be living on top of the mountain right now.
Put your buffers away guys....a buffer should only be used to remove a very light surface abrasion....notice....I did NOT say scratch. Usually, scratches from things like bad windshield wiper blades, etc. are too deep to remove. If your fingernail "catches" on it when you move it across the scratch, it's history. As I said before, only a very experienced guy who knows how to do it without making a mess out of it should even attempt it, and truthfully, I myself wouldn't waste my time on it. That no-deductible glass coverage is lookin' pretty good right now, isn't it. pete the ex glass guy (livin' in the valley....not on the mountain top)

 

[SoCal Rebell]

I had mine replaced by the dealer under original factory warranty because of a small crack starting from the edge. It was pitiful anyway from following too many race tired cars on the track, from what I understand it's actually NOT glass it's Lexan.

 

[JoeB]

I had mine replaced by the dealer under original factory warranty because of a small crack starting from the edge. It was pitiful anyway from following too many race tired cars on the track, from what I understand it's actually NOT glass it's Lexan.

If you went a little faster you would not have to follow them. They would have to follow you.

Joe B (lookin at So Cal in my mirror ) 01

 

[Robert1994]

If it's Lexan and not glass, that might explain why it's
so much more pitted than anything else I drive. That's
just a type of plastic isn't it ? Not as hard as glass.

 

[GR8_ASP]

Don't think it is Lexan. The Vmania side windows for Gen I are Lexan and are quite different.

 

[malcoll]

My '95 windshield is quite "sandblasted" as well. The brick trick does not sound too good to me with $500 deductible. ....

Not to mention it's insurance fraud???? And people wonder why insurance rates keep going up!

 

[prodiver]

Most insurance companies do not have a deductable on windshield glass replacement and they generally don't have any problem replacing glass even if it is a small crack on the drivers side. They do not want anything distorting the drivers view of the road. If anyone is interested I have a friend that has 5 brand new Viper windshields for $500.00 each.

 

[BACKNBLACK]

I had the same problem. You can buff it out with a fine grit compound. The only problem is once you cut the window you might have a blur or as they call it a wave look.You might see object deflect different. The best thing to do is get someone to install original glass for you.About $400 installed.

 

[red98GTS]

Your windshields are all safety glass......not "Lexan". Lexan is a very tough polycarbonate material that bulletproof windows are made of. Not to be confused with Plexiglas, which is just a trademark name for acrylic (plastic) like Lexan. Lexan scratches, even the "mar-resistant" Lexan can scratch. Racers make w/shields and some make doorglasses and backglasses out of this material, but windshield wipers would not work on it without scratching it, and it's not practical for a windshield even if you could bend it to fit your car. Safety glass is two pieces of glass approximately 1/8 inch or so each, with a piece of vinyl-like material sandwiched between the two. This is called a laminate.
This provides the safety necessary to protect you from something coming through the windshield (within reason) and also helps keep the occupants in the car in a collision. It has been the standard for a long time. Unfortunately, it pits and scratches like all glass subject to road debris and time. Door glasses are tempered glass, not safety glass. Tempered is a "type" of safety glass. It is cut to size first, then heated, then cooled and this makes for a very hard piece of glass that breaks into many small pieces with a sharp impact only. When broken, it all breaks up into relatively harmless pieces. Another glass tutorial by pete the ex glass guy

 

[Vic]

What if you have a warped outlook on life, and color what you see with your bad attitude?

In that case, buffing your windshield until little lenses develop might correct your perception of the world.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
I'm not busy right now......