Topic: glass polishing

[kammertime]

I was thinking about replacing all the glass on my Boss project with date coded glass. I cleaned all the glass as I was recording the date codes and was surprised to see how nice all the glass is. I am now thinking it would be better to polish out the minor scratches that I have. I have tried Eastwood's kits in the past with no luck.

Has anybody had their glass professionally polished  and if so what company did you use ? I found this company on an internet search:
http://glassrestorationinc.com/car-glass-repaired.php

Thanks,
John

[CharlesTurner]

I used a local place in the Raleigh, NC area a few times, not sure if they're still in business.  Was a mom-n-pop type.

Your glass has to be extremely nice to get show quality results.  Any pits or chips, especially in side/rear glass will not come out.  I've found that they can be a bit more aggressive with windshield glass though, but it's tough to get out road rash.

I've tried the eastwood kit in the past, all it seemed good for is to get out water spots. 

[nham3407]

I would be very interested to know what path you take to get your glass restored.  I have some scratches in my 72 glass and would prefer to retain the original as well.

[Smokey 15]

 I would be interested as well. I have quite a few pieces of 2nd gen. Camaro glass that has the usual fine scratches from the too stiff window seals. I may wind up disposing of them.

[dave6768]

My understanding (from reading many posts in the past) is that results are not very good.  You have to remember that you don't remove the scratch, you remove material from around the scratch to get it down to the same level.  In the extreme case, you'll see this distortion when complete.

[wunderwerks]

+1 to Dave.  I polished out a wiper scratch on a Mustang's really nice windshield using a polishing powder as a paste, 2" solid felt pad in a 7" Craftsman polisher.  I did this 30 plus years ago.  It took me between 2 & 3 hrs. before I was satisfied the scratch was no longer visible.  First time I drove the car and got a light reflection on where I had polished I could see the groove I created.  It wasn't real noticeable except to me every time I looked at the or through the windshield.
My son and I tried the same thing a few years later on the windshield of his 65 Falcon.  Windshield was out of the car on firm cushions.  We were doing great and almost done when a drop of water off of the water bottle landed right on the scratch we were polishing out.  The crack in the hot glass was instantaneous.  At least the cold beer afterwards was good.

[67gtasanjose]

I was looking into this concept again earlier this summer when I pulled all of the frames off of my side glass and began to clean all of them up, I was rather shocked to see how truly horrible they really were! I had already realized an issue on the inside of my back glass about a year or so ago and now have two date correct back glasses, BOTH with some rather serious scratches so I began to doubt I could ever find a set of dated windows for my Coupe that would be worth installing in the project.

ALL 7 windows NEW, and adding the dates to them seem to be absurd, I know I have no choice on the windshield but my budget would never allow for ALL NEW GLASS on the whole car.

FIRST: I tried finding a glass shop to do polishing. No luck. I tried local car restoration shops and the Internet for somebody in the 100 mile radius to take them to and nobody even returned calls or emails. Then, like others, I tried the $80 Eastwood Deep Scratch Kit and using a drill motor, results were essentially a swing and a miss. 2nd, I tried the same Eastwood kit on a buffer/polisher and had a friend who does granite/monument work and his guy gave the same window I had worked on about an hour, then gave it back saying he's not interesting in doing more. It had signs of improvement but the outlook for doing all of the glass was very grim at best.

Once again, I went to the Internet and found a guy named Pedro in Florida doing a YouTube video and it looked like not only him, but there were companies and individuals everywhere doing glass polishing successfully with similar discs like the ones found in the Eastwood kit and/or cerium oxide (powder or solution)... on buildings at least, and the results looked rather amazing, not causing distortion in the final product either. Yet, when I tried calling anyone, even Pedro of Florida, no return calls or emails when I stated I wanted to do Classic Car Glass.

I believed now that the real issue was Liability. Nobody wanted to take a chance on my "Classic Car. Date-Correct Glass".

Eventually, one guy somewhat local to me, DID call me back at least. He said he ONLY did architectural work (on buildings) and was only insured for the same but was having extremely good success using the GlassRenu System on those jobs.

I had already looked into GlassRenu Systems, I had even given them a call and asked for recommendations for local companies (this is where I got the name of the guy who ended up calling me back from).

So, I tried rolling the dice again. This time, I bought GlassRenu's "Professional Grade Scratch Removal System" (cost $250 +shipping).

BINGO! Now, it was recommended to use a variable-speed buffer in the many YouTube Videos on GlassRenu that I had watched and the variable buffer most often recommended was a Mikita variable-speed. I liked and trusted this choice since they offered the "numbers" on the wheel to help you to get to the correct RPM's for maximum success. Having bought that too, I am over $500 into this mess...So much for saving money, right?

The difference now is that I am successfully removing EVERY deep gouge and every single scratch and I am actually succeeding in removing sand-damage too! (My car was in the desert area all of it's driven life).

If you want to spend the money on new glass, that may be the "easy button" but since I was also hoping to retain all of the original glass without ALSO having the added cost/time to add in the etchings onto new glass, I feel it was the best choice to just buy this kit. 

Be sure to set aside a weekend or three.  You can put between 1 to 3 hours each window. (Actually less on some that have minimal issues). I think the time spent depends on how brave you are in process. You kinda learn as you go along what works best on what kind of damage so the learning curve may vary.

My glass at this time is progressing very well. The BLACK DISCS sent in the kit really do a lot of major work getting the glass readied for polishing, they are probably the most effective part of the process in the scratch removal process. Now, I have found some very deep pits from rock/gravel impacts that would take more time to remove but I have removed some VERY DEEP GOUGES, all minor sand-damage pitting and even DA sander damage (looked like 80-grit Da sander kissed a window at one time) and ALL of that came out 100% perfect in my opinion...NO DISTORTION I can detect at all. 

The "Grey Discs" are the most "consumable" item in the kit. I have since bought a 2nd 10-pack. My glass was in some cases as bad on the insides as it was on the outsides and I did not wish to use the black disks much at first, for fear of them being to aggressive but in hind-sight...I could have saved time and money had I chose to just do the whole window areas with extreme damage, using the black discs FIRST.

You should like the results. I really struggle to notice any issues at all with the glass now and everything I find wrong, a bit more time seems to ALWAYS remedy the problem...As I said, my glass was BAD NEWS, REALLY BAD NEWS to begin with!

The hardest choice I made was whether or not to buff through a Carlite Logo on the wing vents since the sand damage was on the logo-side of the glass on them. One side vent, I buffed through the damage including the logo etching and the other side, I did not (yet) buff through the logo but you can still make out the sand-damage.  You will likely have similar choices

If you are thinking about this, do a search on YouTube for "GlassRenu" and watch some of the videos.

[Bob Gaines]

I was looking into this concept again earlier this summer when I pulled all of the frames off of my side glass and began to clean all of them up, I was rather shocked to see how truly horrible they really were! I had already realized an issue on the inside of my back glass about a year or so ago and now have two date correct back glasses, BOTH with some rather serious scratches so I began to doubt I could ever find a set of dated windows for my Coupe that would be worth installing in the project.

ALL 7 windows NEW, and adding the dates to them seem to be absurd, I know I have no choice on the windshield but my budget would never allow for ALL NEW GLASS on the whole car.

FIRST: I tried finding a glass shop to do polishing. No luck. I tried local car restoration shops and the Internet for somebody in the 100 mile radius to take them to and nobody even returned calls or emails. Then, like others, I tried the $80 Eastwood Deep Scratch Kit and using a drill motor, results were essentially a swing and a miss. 2nd, I tried the same Eastwood kit on a buffer/polisher and had a friend who does granite/monument work and his guy gave the same window I had worked on about an hour, then gave it back saying he's not interesting in doing more. It had signs of improvement but the outlook for doing all of the glass was very grim at best.

Once again, I went to the Internet and found a guy named Pedro in Florida doing a YouTube video and it looked like not only him, but there were companies and individuals everywhere doing glass polishing successfully with similar discs like the ones found in the Eastwood kit and/or cerium oxide (powder or solution)... on buildings at least, and the results looked rather amazing, not causing distortion in the final product either. Yet, when I tried calling anyone, even Pedro of Florida, no return calls or emails when I stated I wanted to do Classic Car Glass.

I believed now that the real issue was Liability. Nobody wanted to take a chance on my "Classic Car. Date-Correct Glass".

Eventually, one guy somewhat local to me, DID call me back at least. He said he ONLY did architectural work (on buildings) and was only insured for the same but was having extremely good success using the GlassRenu System on those jobs.

I had already looked into GlassRenu Systems, I had even given them a call and asked for recommendations for local companies (this is where I got the name of the guy who ended up calling me back from).

So, I tried rolling the dice again. This time, I bought GlassRenu's "Professional Grade Scratch Removal System" (cost $250 +shipping).

BINGO! Now, it was recommended to use a variable-speed buffer in the many YouTube Videos on GlassRenu that I had watched and the variable buffer most often recommended was a Mikita variable-speed. I liked and trusted this choice since they offered the "numbers" on the wheel to help you to get to the correct RPM's for maximum success. Having bought that too, I am over $500 into this mess...So much for saving money, right?

The difference now is that I am successfully removing EVERY deep gouge and every single scratch and I am actually succeeding in removing sand-damage too! (My car was in the desert area all of it's driven life).

If you want to spend the money on new glass, that may be the "easy button" but since I was also hoping to retain all of the original glass without ALSO having the added cost/time to add in the etchings onto new glass, I feel it was the best choice to just buy this kit. 

Be sure to set aside a weekend or three.  You can put between 1 to 3 hours each window. (Actually less on some that have minimal issues). I think the time spent depends on how brave you are in process. You kinda learn as you go along what works best on what kind of damage so the learning curve may vary.

My glass at this time is progressing very well. The BLACK DISCS sent in the kit really do a lot of major work getting the glass readied for polishing, they are probably the most effective part of the process in the scratch removal process. Now, I have found some very deep pits from rock/gravel impacts that would take more time to remove but I have removed some VERY DEEP GOUGES, all minor sand-damage pitting and even DA sander damage (looked like 80-grit Da sander kissed a window at one time) and ALL of that came out 100% perfect in my opinion...NO DISTORTION I can detect at all. 

The "Grey Discs" are the most "consumable" item in the kit. I have since bought a 2nd 10-pack. My glass was in some cases as bad on the insides as it was on the outsides and I did not wish to use the black disks much at first, for fear of them being to aggressive but in hind-sight...I could have saved time and money had I chose to just do the whole window areas with extreme damage, using the black discs FIRST.

You should like the results. I really struggle to notice any issues at all with the glass now and everything I find wrong, a bit more time seems to ALWAYS remedy the problem...As I said, my glass was BAD NEWS, REALLY BAD NEWS to begin with!

The hardest choice I made was whether or not to buff through a Carlite Logo on the wing vents since the sand damage was on the logo-side of the glass on them. One side vent, I buffed through the damage including the logo etching and the other side, I did not (yet) buff through the logo but you can still make out the sand-damage.  You will likely have similar choices

If you are thinking about this, do a search on YouTube for "GlassRenu" and watch some of the videos.

Richard, you have sparked my interest with your in depth report and testimonial . I look forward to giving it a try. Thanks so much for taking the time.

[J_Speegle]

I was looking into this concept again earlier this summer when I pulled all of the frames off of my side glass and began to clean all of them up, I was rather shocked to see how truly horrible they really were! I had already realized an issue on the inside of my back glass about a year or so ago and now have two date correct back glasses, BOTH with some rather serious scratches so I began to doubt I could ever find a set of dated windows for my Coupe that would be worth installing in the project. ................... If you are thinking about this, do a search on YouTube for "GlassRenu" and watch some of the videos.

Thanks for the write up maybe it will be the answer to some members challenges and provide them with some motivation to give it a try

[CharlesTurner]

Guess I'm a bit skeptical regarding waves/distortions after buffing.  Taking out DA marks and scratches deep enough to catch a fingernail require a lot of material to be removed. 

Have you taken the glass outside on sunny and overcast days and stepped back for a good look at varying angles?

[67gtasanjose]

Guess I'm a bit skeptical regarding waves/distortions after buffing.  Taking out DA marks and scratches deep enough to catch a fingernail require a lot of material to be removed. 

Have you taken the glass outside on sunny and overcast days and stepped back for a good look at varying angles?

Yes, very much time and focus spent at varying amounts of light to varying amounts of shadowing, using different sources of light including natural, cloudy days, direct sunlight, florescent lighting and LED lighting. Watch some of the youtube videos. You cannot imagine how skeptical I was and how extremely concerned it would be a waste of money and time. I feel it is a gamble that paid off.

[67gtasanjose]

Keep in mind, all glass is "bare", no surround moldings on the door glass or others. Holding down the vent glass and the small triangle-shaped quarter windows was tricky.

I bought quantity of 4, 3-inch suction cups and mounted them to a strip of plywood, works excellent on the long door glass but not so well on the small ones. Good to have a 2nd set of hands that can figure out your polishing patterns and therefore stay out of your way while holding them onto the suction cups. I feared when working alone I would shoot one of those puppies across the room or into the steel framework of my work station!

[J_Speegle]

Guess I'm a bit skeptical regarding waves/distortions after buffing.  Taking out DA marks and scratches deep enough to catch a fingernail require a lot of material to be removed. 

My concern also. Know I saw some reproduction glass on a car earlier this year that had waves in the glass also if you got the angle just right. Wouldn't be happy with that after money and or time was spent

[67gtasanjose]

My concern also. Know I saw some reproduction glass on a car earlier this year that had waves in the glass also if you got the angle just right. Wouldn't be happy with that after money and or time was spent

I suppose that could happen, pending the process followed but using a 5-inch disc and shaving the whole window (as I ended up doing), pretty much reduces the chances. Remember, I had light sandblasting so I went across the whole window over the outsides anyways.

[67gta289]

Richard,

Thanks for sharing.  I can attest that the Eastwood polishing kits are good for almost nothing.  I suppose they cleaned up my glass real nice, removing some of the remnants of the adhesive/sealant from the rear glass weatherstrip.  But plenty of products would do that.

If my glass was still out, I would be driving them down to oh-hi-oh to put you to work, reimbursed of course.

The other thing to consider is that with your equipment, experience, steady hand, lack of fear, and results you might find people inquiring about this is a service.  I would pay for it, and I consider myself as one who wants to do it all myself, farming out only what I have to.  Regarding risk, if someone has original glass as bad as yours, why not try to save it for the cost of one way shipping and a couple hours work.  If a piece doesn't pan out, you toss it and there is no return shipping.  Then they go out and get a replacement, what they would be doing anyway.