v8srfun

I have done hours and hours of research on windshield repair and buffing and to be honest I left more confused than when I started. Now that I feel like I learned nothing I went out to the car to see what I could make happen. I put my 3 inch buffing pad on the chordless drill and a wool buffing pad for some extra cut. For compound I decided that I would try meguiars medium cut thinking it would take some serious cut to make any results on glass as hard as it is. THIS WAS A BIG MISTAKE. I ended up with a windshield that was covered in miniature scratches that make the car impossible to drive at night. Just imagine a windshield that had sand paper for wiper blades. Now I know from the past that that polish does not have enough cut to do anything on glass so now I need to do something to remove the scratches in my line of sight. The combination that I found to work is a synthetic wool pad and meguiars swirl remover or griots complete compound. They both have cut but not enough to leave visible scratches on the glass. I run the drill at full speed and move about one inch per minute across the glass. It is a slow process I mean progress is almost nonexistent but it does work. With a couple more days of work putting a hour in here and there I will be able to get the scratches out but it is not fun. So to answer my own question glass can be buffed out but it is hard and a extremely slow Process. All of this on a windshield that has a chip in it and I may let my insurance replace it anyway.

OCDvetteman

Sorry you ran into so much trouble. It sucks to try something hoping it will help and it ends up making it worse.

Vetteman Jack

Glad you are making progress and thanks for the info.

v8srfun

Well I must say I actually have not made progress. On the drive home from work tonight all the scratches I thought I was working out and making smaller are still there. I am hoping that I can get polish to do something being that the car is literally no fun to drive in the night any more.

striper

Go to Griots and buy their products made for buffing glass, it is different. They should have what you need. You might also look online and see if you find someone who specializes in glass polishing. I had someone do a windshield for me and it was amazing. Took a big scratch out that was caused by a piece of metal hitting my windshield.

v6turbo87

.....got glass breakage coverage on your insurance.......????

v8srfun

Yes if it is chipped beyond repair or cracked it is covered and there is two chips in it that are pretty bad.

El original

Cannot polish glass. To answer your question...NOPE!

Dave1

Replace the windshield and your night vision problems are over......


They are not that expensive compared to all the efforts you have invested at this point.....

v8srfun

I think I am making some progress with a wool pad and meguiars ultimate polish but it is hard to tell. I will keep you updated.

I do not believe that glass can not be polished but I may not have the right tools and equipment to do it. If man made it man can break it and if man broke what man made man can fix it.

grampi50

Why not just replace the windshield...can't be THAT expensive...

v8srfun

Why spend 300 if I can fix it myself. I don't spend money just because I can.

joyryd_1

Google cerium oxide and read up on it and how to use it. That's the compound professional glass places use to polish and remove scratches. Works like a charm. I've used it... and you can buy some on the auction site pretty cheap.

momo20

use extreme caution when using Cerium oxide on glass, i own a window and door business and we stock/sell Cerium oxide a.k.a rare earth. yes you can remove light scratch's in glass with it. but if you can feel them with your finger nail, you are better off replacing the unit...the biggest issue with cerium oxide is its a fine compound, and when you "buff" the glass you are making a divot or removing glass from the surface which will leave you with some distortion depending where you applied the product...some will not be noticeable at all but i will bet you a shiny new penny that you will see some sort of distortion from an angle ...so like i said use extreme caution when using it!!!

rrichar2591

For what it's worth, I had a couple of chips repaired last week and while they were doing the work I asked if the windshield could be sanded or buffed to get rid of all the small little dings accumulated over 60,000 miles. I was told that any attempt would just make it worse and at some point the best alternative is to replace the glass. He quoted me 900 dollars on the replacement with the heads up display. This was at Techna Glass. It will be awhile before I need to take that step but it might be useful information for someone else.

v8srfun

I have basically given up on trying to repair it. I don't feel like buying another product just to find out I am not satisfied and need to replace the windshield any way. I am calling my insurance today to find out how much my deductible is then I will probably have safelite do the job. I don't have hud and they already quoted 300 but I think my deductible is less than that so we will see.

The Rabbi

My W/S looked sandblasted. A glass shop said ins would cover it as it is an obstruction. My ins. co approved an OEM which I insisted on. Safelite does not use OEM so I used the local glass co. Florida doesn't have a deductible on w/s.

BRKLYN

I was going to say that Florida insurance company replace windshields, when obstruction and because of so many sand and gravel trucks on the road. I lived in Kissimmee 27 years.