How do you remove light scratches from glass?

[Lord Warlock]

My original windshield is in pretty good condition overall, no chips or cracks, but there are marks where the wipers used to move, like the old wipers lightly scratched the glass.  You cannot feel them with finger or fingernail, you can just see them which bothers me.  I even dug out a kit I bought years back that had a felt pad on a drill bit that used some powder you mixed with water then used on the glass, and it didn't seem to do anything to remove it, so now I'm wondering if there are any other ways to remove the marks.  The windshield by the way is currently out of the window frame, but i hope to be ready to install the glass soon, and need to either fix the scratches or start looking for replacement glass, and I'd hate to have to use replacement glass when the rest of the car wears all original metal and glass. 

Have buffers, polishers (both 6" and 3") and plenty of paint type polishes available, but nothing i've tried yet has worked, got any ideas? Better to find out now before i put the front and back glass back in the car.   

[AKcharger]

Eastwoods sells a kit.

[fy469rtse]

yes try the Eastwood kit , messy but effective , even on more serious scratches

[Dino]

This is your original windshield and it's not delaminating?  Both lower corners on mine are milky white.  I have those exact same scratches in mine by the way, right in my line of sight.  I also have the pitting that comes with age so when the sun is low, I can't see a damn thing!

The Eastwood kit seems to work but be real careful on laminated glass.  Make sure to follow proper procedure to keep the glass cool.

[1970Moparmann]

Is this the kit you guys have tried?  Sounds like it doesn't come with enough disks that are needed. 

http://www.eastwood.com/glass-polishing-kit-for-deep-scratches-5745.html?reltype=2&parent_id=5657#tab_content_reviews

[Lord Warlock]

Mine shows no delamination that i can tell, then again its been in a garage for close to 30 years, only have a little browning around the edge where the gasket should cover it, (glass is out of frame right now) Tried polishing with hi cut 3M polish (used during initial polish of new paint after wetsanding), plus the other polishing kit.  Can a glass shop polish it out? I will have to hire one to come out and install the windshield glass so i wouldn't bother me to pay them to do it for me, provided it isn't that expensive.  Already expect them to pull glass and replace gasket on the stealth, as well as install the front and rear glass on the charger, so i expect it to be a bit more than i would prefer to spend, but both need to be done regardless, so will likely get done in the near future so i can get on with the project. 

 

[Lord Warlock]

Well, i can say that Cerium Oxide doesn't work for squat, first tried it with the cordless drill and pad that came with the cerium oxide.  After that failed, I tried again with a 3" buffer, usng the drill to apply the paste to the windshield over the upper scratch area,  then used he buffer to work it in well, spending a good 20 minutes at it, wiped it off, windshield looked clean, but didn't do anything for the scratches.   Then I upped the ante a bit with a glass polishing disc on a 6 inch variable speed buffer working the surface several times over an hour period of time, and again no improvement.  Give up with cerium oxide,  time to try something else, maybe i'll get the paste that eastwood sells, seems a bit pricey at 65.00, at this point I've already spent about half of  what i would on a new windshield.  Wish you could get more discs than they give you with the kit,  almost every review i read said it didn't work very well, only one person seemed satisfied with the results. 

[hemi-hampton]

Cerium Oxide pretty fine, If deep large scratch might need something more course like Silicone carbide. LEON.

[Lord Warlock]

These aren't very deep  or large scratches, its just the wipe path of the windshield wipers. The 6 inch buffer has enough power to work out a scratch like this in paint, just not evidently in glass.  I scratched a window (side glass) on the stealth i have (when stripping paint off for a paint job, sander slipped wwith 120 grit and edge of sander caught the glass)and they were alot worse than these, have to admit that cerium oxide didn't work then either, but found out that  spraying clearcoat on the glass made the scratches more or less disappear, fine on a side glass, not fine on a windshield. 

[AKcharger]

Ya' know windshields are pretty cheap, I got mine for $175 1st and 2nd gens are a bit tricky to install but 3rd gens are easy

[Lord Warlock]

compared to everything else i've spent money on lately, new glass probably would be the better thing to do, hate to install the glass with scratches and hope they'll polish out later.  Picked up a glass polishing kit designed for headlights, figure i'd try it on an inconpicuous place first, and if i ruin it, then i'll have to replace it.  Spent 500 on brake parts last week, and 500 on two tires, 750 on two wheels, 500 on new brake/fuel lines etc etc etc...seems it never stops...I just decided that if i'm working and have money coming in regularly i'll buy the parts now, and install them when time permits.  I work on a contract basis and tend to be unemployed a bit between jobs, but when working tend to make a pretty good wage so it averages out over time.  Current job is paying double what i made in my last perm type job that only lasted 4.5 years. 

[Lord Warlock]

where would be a good source for a new windshield?  I started to order one this afternoon, for about 225.00,  but then the shipping was as much as the windshield was so i backed out of the order,  I don't mind paying shipping costs on parts i need, but there is no way I'll pay more for shipping than the part itself costs, if i have to i'll contact the local AMD dealer and see what the options are.  Replacement is only an option if the new part is reasonable in cost, otherwise i'll put the original glass back in, the scratches I'm seeing are faint, and i  didn't have a problem seeing through them before, but knowing they are there makes me believe it isn't smart to install if there are better optics available,  after all, how often will i actually have the glass out?  only once in 35 years so far. 

[rave_12000]

Ya' know windshields are pretty cheap, I got mine for $175 1st and 2nd gens are a bit tricky to install but 3rd gens are easy

get new...I think I can get for $175 installed and guy comes to my house.  sell old one at swap meet to guy that isn't concerned.