Scratch in Windshield Glass

[mipa]

if you ever have a proper scratch in the windshield and you think about polishing it out.. just don't.

I spent about 3-4 hours yesterday to polish a deep 15cm (6 inch) scratch out of mine, since it was kind of in my field of view and annoyed me ..

scratch is gone, but now I have a big fat distortion which is even more annoying ..

so yeah.. just save your time and order a new windshield in the first place #facepalm

luckily I've found a factory who makes there here in Thailand

 

[AndyG]

if you ever have a proper scratch in the windshield and you think about polishing it out.. just don't.

I spent about 3-4 hours yesterday to polish a deep 15cm (6 inch) scratch out of mine, since it was kind of in my field of view and annoyed me ..

scratch is gone, but now I have a big fat distortion which is even more annoying ..

so yeah.. just save your time and order a new windshield in the first place #facepalm

luckily I've found a factory who makes there here in Thailand

I tried it once too. Not again.

 

[JMT]

This thread is killing me. But I’ll take the advice.

 

[TheBoogieman]

if you ever have a proper scratch in the windshield

I've only ever had improper scratches.

 

[JEEPCJTJ]

Maybe a modified thread title and a picture, or two, of what you see when looking through that big fat distortion could turn this thread into a sticky for the TJ How-to Guides section. Well maybe it would cause the need for a TJ How-NOT-to Guide section, IDK.

Technically scratches aren't removed, it's the glass around the scratch that's removed which makes that side no longer parallel to the opposite side and causes distortion. I worked with glass for several years. If a scratch can be felt, it's rarely worth fixing unless we're looking at some precious antique and even then, restoring antiques almost always reduces their value. I think the major reason there is any so called "polish" to remove scratches in glass is because snake oils bring in money.

Filling in a scratch with a good stone chip repair resin is the best bet but even that won't make the scratch completely disappear and won't stay in place if the scratch isn't deep enough to hold it.

 

[mipa]

Maybe a modified thread title and a picture, or two, of what you see when looking through that big fat distortion could turn this thread into a sticky for the TJ How-to Guides section. Well maybe it would cause the need for a TJ How-NOT-to Guide section, IDK.

I tried to take pictures before posting but unfortunately it's quite impossible to show, since the distortion only moves when you move your head. It's completely clear..

I did a great job in removing the scratch. I used red cerium oxide powder, a water sprayer and a micro polishing machine for that...

and yes, the scratch was super deep.. you could easy feel it with the finger nail.. so now I get why everybody told me you can't polish it out.. they just didn't say "you can, but you get a distortion" ;-)

 

[mipa]

that was the scratch.. since we drive right hand side here, it was kind of in my vision (bottom right) all the time..