Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

ok so my 75 day old windshield got keyed.......safelight and progressive insurance both say to bad we wont repair or replace it for free......figures....Do you think a product like plastx from Meguiar’s would work on it? I dont want a hazzy finish like I think it might end up being if i use a product thats ment for plastic.....I went to auto zone and couldnt find anything to fix glass scratches.....It really peeves me that safelight and progressive dont give a damn about it.

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...c/DSC01321.jpg

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...c/DSC01320.jpg

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

[quote=chevyboyac]ok so my 75 day old windshield got keyed.......safelight and progressive insurance both say to bad we wont repair or replace it for free......figures....Do you think a product like plastx from Meguiar’s would work on it? I dont want a hazzy finish like I think it might end up being if i use a product thats ment for plastic.....I went to auto zone and couldnt find anything to fix glass scratches.....It really peeves me that safelight and progressive dont give a damn about it.
/quote]
I can't imagine a key doing that. It looks to me like something hit and scraped it? Anyway, when I worked for Tektronix (oscilloscope manufacture) many moons ago, we used a powdered tooth paste mixed with water to remove scratches from the glass screens. It takes quite a bit of rubbing. I have also had sratches in a side window on a van. I used rubbing compound with extensive hand rubbing to remove them.

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

I'm told jewelers rouge can be used to buff out light scratches......may be worth a try.

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

So this was some little schmuck's idea of a good time. Wow, some people are just assholes beyond belief, aren't they?

I'm afraid you're going to be really hard pressed to do much for this as these look quite deep. PlastX isn't going to do a darn thing on glass, nor will most anything else you can work by hand. There are glass polishing kits out there, but they make use of cerium oxide for the abrasive and require use of a rotary buffer to do the grunt work. The serious draw back is that you can generate a lot of heat this way and distort the glass, potentially giving you poor optic quality and a wavey view through the windshield. Or you can easily generate a TON of heat and break the glass.

Much as it pains me to say this, replacing it is probably your best bet. But how is vandalism not covered by your insurance policy? Shouldn't that fall under the comprehensive coverage component of the policy?

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

I'm with bluecoupe....jewelers rouge....

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

You can get automotive clear coat and dab it into the scratch wih a touch up brush then let it fully cure( a few hours in the sun should do it). After its cured take a razor blade and scrape off the excess clear.if you do it right the clear should fill in the scratch.

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Keys, Brass can not scratch glass, unless it is dirty.

The scratches are parallel and road rash in my opinion.

Look up Harbor freight and or Eastman automotive. THey have kits, polish and pads for your drill to remove windshield wiper scratches, like when the blade slips off in a storm and you dont notice it in the rain.

THat will keep you occupied for some time, dont do it in the sun and show us the finished views. Been there and done that too, Tooth paste was my late dads (Dentist USN) favorite for plastic, ONLY. Woody

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Dude ( mr secret) where do you live?????????????????

Looks like ice scraper marks to me, Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmm???????????

Woody

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Na this poped up in the last week, we havent had snow here since like 2 weeks ago or so.

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

They said I have to pay the deductible first which is 500 bucks and the last windshield only cost 354 bucks

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Caused by drive through car wash? But then why not the paint too?

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

I hatetosay it bt if the paint isn't damaged I wouldhave to wonder if it was vandalism.

I mean paint is so easy to key. This looks like something on a broom used to clear the snow or a tool that was supposed to remove some frost but scratched the glass.

Now let's consider the glass.

Safelite uses windshields out of China. I won't use their product even on my beater jeep. However, many insurers insist on them so you are kinda stuck.

So perhaps an innocent attempt to clear the windshield with say a broom out of the shop with metal filings on it.....Would do exactly like Woody suggested with the wiper system. Should not have been able to happen but......

The good news is that if it was a vandal they didn't do your paint. Paint would be far more costly than the glass.

Repairs of the glass will likely give you distortion as Mike in Orange suggested. If it was me, I wouldn't try. Just replace it, but do so with Pilkingtons.
That is the original glass.

I'll wager Safelite didn't use the right urethane sealant system either.

Go for the Pilkington.
Insist on it.

roadster with a stick

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

after you deal with this I would suggest you consider lowering your Comprehensive deductible. This is the very reason I urge my customers to take low comp deductibles. Comp is a less expensive coverage than your collision and it might make sense to pay 10$ more a month and get a free windshield when this happens. Unfortunately when some people think auto insurance they want it cheap and that is what some people will sell you without telling you the problems with higher deductibles. One of Progressives gimics is the "name your price deal" well you get what you pay for. If you have a questions please feel free to pm me, be glad to help you.
Pat

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Its not that hard to do, Woody
Window Scratch Remover? - Benzworld.org - Mercedes-Benz Discussion Forum

:D

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Im gonna go to harbor freight and see what the windshield repair kit looks like If I dont like it I will buy this online and try it. Glass Polishing Kit Pro

I did get the pinkerton glass cause I started a tread 2 1/2 months ago about what type of glass I needed. Well the dude took me in the back and showed me all the glass they had and he said it was all made in the usa and pinkerton but i know nothing about glass so I dunno what it is. I will post after pics no matter what type of fix I try.

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Sell the car and get an SRT-6... problem solved.

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

If your cover wont pay unless it is accidental damage, may be its time for an "accident" ?;)

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

How easy or difficult any scratch is to remove from any surface has to do with how deep the scratch is and how hard the surface is. Glass is pretty darn hard, and if you can feel those scratches with your fingernail then they're pretty deep. They can be a real bugger to remove, if not darn near impossible.

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Mike is correct......again.

I worked in the glass field years back. If the scratch is deep enough that your fingernail "hangs" up on it, it's probably too deep to polish, for multiple reasons.

We used a high-speed polisher and Cerium Oxide (used with water) to polish scratches......it still took a very long time to do it correctly. Don't try to go too fast or push too hard or you'll end up either breaking the window or causing dull spots. This is especially true with automotive windshields......remember, it's not a full plate of glass, it's safety glass. If you heat the window too much you'll "haze" the plastic laminate and you'll have worse problems than just the scratches. Another problem is thinning out the glass and surrounding area to the point that it looses it's structural rigidity. Go too thin and hitting a bug at high speed will break the glass in that area. One final thing to think about is distortion. When you start taking a lot of glass off there you'll more than likely have distorted view through that spot......... think circus mirrors (made by using thick and thin glass in front of a silver nitrate backing) The actual glass thickness is what's manipulated to cause the distorted view in them.

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

I just used 2 of the 6 pads...and used up my drill battery will try another pad on mt second battery once it is fully charged.....looks like all but 3 or 4 of the scratches are gone will post pics of it finished later today

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...c/DSC01324.jpg


And done I think if i had 4 more pads I could get the last tiny scratches out but those are so faint they barely show up in the pic. Took 6 pads and 5 cordless drill batteries worth of time. Time well spent I think. Thanks for the info!

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Yea pads. from harbor freight 14.99 AND it aint no 5 min repair lmao
http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/a...c/DSC01329.jpg

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Nice job, I'm glad that worked for you.

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

WEEKEND

Well done Harbor Freight, TAAAA DAAAA

Now that you have done it youll be touching up all sorts of blemishes. More fun than Aids free hookers sponsoring Nickle Nite.

WEEKENDWEEKEND

WEEKENDWEEKEND

WOODY:cool:

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

Looks real nice!

You even managed to nearly remove the image of a guy with a camera.;)

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

That's horrible! I'm sorry to hear that, I swear some people have no consideration for other people's property. I remember walking up to my car a few days after I got it and seeing a huge scratch across the entire door. Could a crack repair kit fix it? I know https://crackeraser.com/ has DIY kits, not sure if it'll fix a keyed windshield, but it could be worth a shot.

Re: Keyed windshield...ideas?
 

I understand that you're new to the forum and it's good that you want to get involved in discussions but you need to look in the upper left for the date of the post! You have replied to a post from 2010!!!! While your comment is right on, these members have probably moved on from this discussion. Enjoy the forum, look forward to your next post.