UncleRobb

Last week I had my windshield replaced after the old one had developed a crack that was several inches long. Yesterday I noticed some serious distortions in the lower area, covering the HUD image, and in the upper area to the left of the rear view mirror.

I asked the dealer to get me an OEM windshield for usage with HUD. What is written in the lower left corner of the windshield is similar to what is written on the side windows, except that the GM logo is missing (I will post a picture of this writing as soon as possible).

I wonder if such distortions are something one nowadays has to deal with (e.g., the quality of the C6 rear window is known to be notoriously bad). If another windshield will likely show similar distortions, it does not make much sense to have it replaced again. With the original windshield I noticed distortions only close to the frame and none in the HUD area.

I very much appreciate your comments.

Thanks, Robert

Larry Myers

Without regard to the manufacture the windscreen should be distortion free. Anything less is unsatisfactory.

Homer3D

I had the windshield replaced on my 2005. I specifically asked for OEM GM glass. It was perfect and it did have the GM logo at the bottom corner. If the glass you got doesn't, then you might have received something else.

UncleRobb

Thanks for your responses, guys! Somewhere I read that OEM replacement windshields do not have the GM logo, even when ordered from GM. Perhaps this information is wrong.

Anyway, here is a picture of the front labeling in the lower left corner (passenger side). I wonder if the label says something about the quality of the glass, e.g. the number 2 (second quality?).

Later I will also mark the areas that distort with a pen and take a picture.

Regards, Robert

Hameister

That number 2 you're referring too is a manufacturing run, and has nothing to do with quality.

The quality is expressed as AS1 and 75% Min.

Here's a thread I started a few months ago, it's only 2 pages long, has lots of photos, and should answer many of your questions.

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c6-c...placement.html

And, NO, you should not be seeing any distortions.
All distortion should be small enough that you should not be able to reasonably perceive anything.

Chuck Little

You guys are too technical.

It's not like someone is making windshields out in the parking lot and making big money selling them to cut-rate glass installers.

It's a piece of curved glass. Lets get real here. Yes, there can be a million things that can be different.

If it's bad enough and you think it's not right, then have them replace it.

Do you really think that the one that comes in your car when it is new is perfect???

23/C8Z

i was supposed to have a new windshield put in this week but have to wait for next week due to my installer (good friend) attempting to find me a windshield without a defect in some way lol... unbelievable the quality control nowadays....

I am putting a non hud in my hud '08 and here's my reasoning... i have corvette museum collectors insurance. i pay $200/yr for insurance.. it's a weekend cruiser and only put maybe 3500 mi on it in a year and that's pushing it.. the car has 95k miles on it (original senior citizen owner used it to travel to his business 90mi round trip daily). i had the car on the road for maybe a week and POW!! massive stone chip where i thought the rock was coming through the glass lol...

If i purchased the HUD windshield @ my friend's discount it was almost $900... the non hud is $420... i am footing the bill as i DO NOT want to make the insurance company pay and then up my premium or cancel the policy or whatever for such a small thing given the rate is ridiculously low for full coverage.. So i decided to spend the $420 and if it should break or get a few chips i won't be pissed at myself dumping the other $500 bucks on something so fragile.. Unfortunately where i live, they are expanding the hwy's and roads and i drive through construction areas EVERYTIME I take this poor car out. and the construction is supposed to last through 2016

from all accounts including my installer, the non hud will work fine only losing some resolution in direct sunlight (like how's your nav radio when the sun hits it lol??) so for just that issue? $500 more when i could put that into something else in the car?? to me? it's a non issue...

If i had a low mileage garage queen, different story, but i don't lol i will use it, enjoying it, that's what it was built for. and if you saw my car in person after this windshield gets installed (and since i put the new headlight lenses in, thanks RLSsebring!) you would think the car has 15k miles on it...

OP, the hardest part is having to pick up the phone and demanding a new distortion free windshield.. after that you don't have to do a thing.. i say if you're seeing it from the driver's seat, especially in the HUD, replace it.. you'll be bothered by it until you move on from your car and why ruin the experience... best of luck and please keep us posted.. Hopefully i'll be able to share my install experience next week with you guys and i'll have the skinny on it all as my friend will teach me exactly how to do it as he does it in front of me, no worries of me complaining to a boss or insurance company etc etc lol...


PS. if anyone has any wish or want to change their lenses out Do it.. WOW what a difference when you look at the car.. like it's brand new again!

Dif

Hameister

Just for future reference, I know of no insurance companies that increase premiums, or cancel a policy for glass replacement.

I'm not familiar with the Corvette Museum Collectors Insurance, but I can tell you that the major players such as Libery Mutual, State Farm, Allstate, GEICO, Aetna, and many others, do not do that.

In the future, I would suggest simply calling your insurance company and asking of there is any kind of penalty for replacing chipped, or broken glass.

I'm certain you'll be pleased. In fact, in many states, such as mine here in Florida, the deductible is waived for glass replacement.

I have a $100.00 Comprehensive deductible, but paid absolutely nothing when my glass was replaced.

dshamrick

I had the EXACT Same problem only I barely got out of the shop parking lot before I noticed it. I told them that I refused to accept it.

If I remember correctly, the printing on the glass is the same as yours. They ended up putting in a GM windshield.

You need to talk with whoever did the install and tell them that it constitutes a safety hazard and that they need to make it right.

Safelite did mine and they did replace it. Now I have a GM OE Glass in it and I am happy.

My new one does have the GM logo on it. Without that, it is not a GM glass.

Bill Dearborn

The insurance company will not up your rate for making a claim on your comprehensive insurance. Even if they did it wouldn't make a big dent in your wallet as comp insurance is so cheap. Don't fool yourself into thinking you are saving money.

Bill

cclive

If the replacement windshield has defects, make them fix it...it's your money. But, that glass is the same glass, made by the same company as what came from the factory. Any run of parts will have a few defects...you happened to get one. Make them do it right and replace it. Check the new windshield before they install it and make sure that you are happy with it.

UncleRobb

Yesterday afternoon I marked the areas that distort the view with a black pen (see outside and inside pictures attached). I then went to the workshop where I had ordered the exchange of the windshield and told the owner that I am having issues with distortions.

He sat down in the drivers seat (a Recaro Pole Position), but said he could not see any distortions from the glass and that the distortions of the HUD were normal. On that day the shop was a little short on C6s and the only one I could see lacked the HUD, so I could not compare immediately. He had one of his mechanics take a seat as well, and again he could not see any distortions also.

Then the owner called the small car glass company nearby that actually did the exchange of the windshield he himself had ordered. There two mechanics and a customer who was introduced to me as a "car guy" sat in the driver's seat, but none of them could detect any distortions in the marked areas.

So in total five (5!) different people were not able to see these distortions although I gave them clear instructions: Please look through the marked area, focus the eyes at a distant object and move your head up and down and side to side while keeping the focus on that object. In fact, one typical way I notice the distortions is when I driving the car on the road and focus on a traffic sign to the left while keeping the focus on that sign. When the sign is pretty close - say 10 or 20 yards - I have to look through the area of the windshield that it close to the rear view mirror and then suddenly the sight of the sign distorts and the latter seems to increase in height while the width stays the same. It is not a very strong effect, but - to me eyes - quite noticeable.

Of course, all five guys are biased. Moreover, it would have negative effects to them (in terms of money, work, etc.) if they would admit to be able to see the distortions. Under such conditions, it is unlikely for one to notice an effect that is somewhere in the range from "not too obvious" to subtle.

The problem with the HUD, however, is another thing. Oddly I cannot see any distortions of the view of objects on the road in the area of the windshield that reflects the HUD image to the drivers eye. While the distortions that I mentioned before, that chance the appearance of objects the driver looks at, are due to variations of the thickness of the glass, the distortions of the HUD image must - to my best understanding - due to variations in the curvature of the glass.

Here is what I will do: i) ask other C6 drivers to have me have a look at their windshield (then I will be able to judge the quality of other windshields - perhaps this problem is ubiquitous as e.g. the strong distortions in the rear view glass); ii) go the ADAC (the biggest German automobile club) and ask their experts for help; and iii) find out if there is a (hopefully simple) device to measure variations of the thickness of the glass and if I can get hold of one.

Finally, I have to admit that I for myself also hesitate to have the windshield replaces again. I believe that the mechanic who did the work did a good job since I cannot detect any water leaks or excessive wind noises. Moreover, he was able to reuse the (very expensive!) weather strip, that my car insurance does not want to pay for. When I have the windshield replaced again, there is always the risk of issues. What if this time it is not possible to remove the glue from the weather strip without damaging it - who pays the some 1000 US$ for a new one?

The two attached pics show the outside and inside view with the distorting areas marked with a black pen from the inside. There are five areas: i) two areas close to the rear view mirror in the size and shape of a hand; ii) the area of the HUD; and iii) narrow stripes at the left and right edges. I have to admit that the black markings are a little difficult to see on the pictures - using a red pen would probably have made that easier. However, I cleaned the car before making the pictures. Thus, any irregularities you see on the windshield are definitely not coming from dirt.

UncleRobb

Thanks for the replies, guys! Here some responses:

I believe that "TRANS. 75 % MIN." means that the windshields transmission of visible light is at least 75 %, and I was meanwhile being told that the number two says that the glass has been manufactured in the year 2012.

I found your thread (and also many others as well) using the forum search, but it does not deal in particular with the subject of artificial distortions. Therefore I created a new one.

All C5 and C6 Corvettes that I could get hold of, did at least show distortions near the edges of the windshield. However, since these areas are not of importance, I did not bother.

I was told that it would not be possible to get a windshield that carries the GM logo over the (I believe there are two) European importers of GM spare parts. Of course I could try to order one from a dealer in the US, which, however, could be quite some hassle, especially if I want to return it due to quality issues. I would probably be easier for me to check the windshield for issues before swapping it.

Hameister

It seems to me, that the only way you will be able to satisfy yourself, is to sit in other 'vettes, with a HUD.

Use the very same critical, up, down, side to side, motions in each area of the glass and determine if they also show some areas of distortion.

Just make certain that you're not being hyper critical, and demanding the glass be replaced, only to find that the new glass has the same areas of slight distortion.

We all tend to look at our cars after they are repaired, with a far more critical eye than we ever looked at it before.

Good luck

Dano523

From the start, only one manufacturer making C6 corvette windows.

The GM inking part is polished off if the windshield is not coming from GM directly (so GM can get some mark up money on it since it has their label branding).

If the new windshield has distortion (either gm labeled, or it polished off), then have the installer replace it as a defective window.

To add, make sure the HUD plastic lens shield screen in the dash is clean before you start calling the window distorted (HUD display to the window distorted instead).

Rebel Yell

You beat me to it Bill. My Comp has no deductible, and will not raise the premiums.

UncleRobb

Hameister, what you wrote is pretty much to the point. We all - at least me, that is - tend to be somewhat hypercritical after repairs have been done to our cars. I have indeed been found guilty for finding artificial technical problems, that is, unimportant idiosyncrasies that already existed when the car has been manufactured, but that I have never noticed before. However, I have also detected glitches of the repair as well.

Today I went to a car dealer and had a look at a used C6, unfortunately without HUD. While I could find some distortion created by its windshield as well, it was noticeable to a much lesser extend than on my car. Tomorrow I will go to the Corvette meeting in Valkenburg/Netherlands (its only a one hour driving from where I live) and ask some fellow C6 owners to let me check their windshields for glitches, including a distorted HUD image.

Al Gumby

Windshields just aren't as good as in the old days. The first new C6 (ZO6) I sat in almost made me sick, the windshield was so badly distorted.

Inspect before install.

Hameister

Follow-up with your findings, please.