Scratch removal from glass

[Dave R.]

I have a 1969 Corvette that has some significant scratches in the side glass. I know you can polish out some scratches with the proper tools but, was wondering what were the limtations of this process. Can you polish out deep scratches? How can you tell if the glass is salvageable or not?

Thanks,

Dave

[Wayne P.]

Re: Scratch removal from glass

If it catches your fingernail it's trash.

[Wayne P.]

Re: Scratch removal from glass

If it catches your fingernail it's trash.

[Terry M.]

Re: Scratch removal from glass

Wayne's response is the typical answer, but it does not tell the whole story. Even deep scratches which catch the fingernail can be polished away, it just depends how much time and patience you have for a very boring and tedious task. I spent over 25 hours per side on the glass on my 1970 -- that time spread over several weeks -- a couple of hours per night.

That said, one can tell that the glass has waves in it if one looks hard enough. I have never had a deduction for that "feature" though, and that was the point of polishing out the scratches.

It is important to remove the glass from the car, support it well (the side glass is curved), and be careful not to be too aggressive in order not to build up any significant heat in the glass. Marking the glass on the bottom side with grease pencil so that the scratch can be seen while the front side is covered with the abrasive slurry is also a help.

[Terry M.]

Re: Scratch removal from glass

Wayne's response is the typical answer, but it does not tell the whole story. Even deep scratches which catch the fingernail can be polished away, it just depends how much time and patience you have for a very boring and tedious task. I spent over 25 hours per side on the glass on my 1970 -- that time spread over several weeks -- a couple of hours per night.

That said, one can tell that the glass has waves in it if one looks hard enough. I have never had a deduction for that "feature" though, and that was the point of polishing out the scratches.

It is important to remove the glass from the car, support it well (the side glass is curved), and be careful not to be too aggressive in order not to build up any significant heat in the glass. Marking the glass on the bottom side with grease pencil so that the scratch can be seen while the front side is covered with the abrasive slurry is also a help.

[Pat M.]

Re: Scratch removal from glass

Dave - I had significant scratches in my window glass on both sides, and I was able to substantially reduce their appearance using the Eastwood product (I forgot the name). The scratches were not really removed, but it is much harder to see them, for whatever reason.

The caveat is you must be VERY careful not to dwell in one spot, or to polish too much overall, because you can thin, and thus distort, the glass. If your glass is bad enough, you may not have much to lose if you try. But you must decide what "bad enough" means to you, and if it's worth the risk. Good luck, Patrick Moresi #45881

[Pat M.]

Re: Scratch removal from glass

Dave - I had significant scratches in my window glass on both sides, and I was able to substantially reduce their appearance using the Eastwood product (I forgot the name). The scratches were not really removed, but it is much harder to see them, for whatever reason.

The caveat is you must be VERY careful not to dwell in one spot, or to polish too much overall, because you can thin, and thus distort, the glass. If your glass is bad enough, you may not have much to lose if you try. But you must decide what "bad enough" means to you, and if it's worth the risk. Good luck, Patrick Moresi #45881

[Dave Suesz]

I had extreme scratches

in the LH door glass of a Thunderbird SC I bought some years ago. Basically, the outer center guide, about 1" wide, was adjusted tightly against the glass, and over time had scraped a deep, wide, opaque white stripe the full height of the glass. I told them I'd buy the car if not for that damage. They called the next day, I looked at the glass, and except for a slight "wave" in the glass it was perfect. I drove that car for 6 years, and since I adjusted the guide the day I got it, the damage did not come back.

If you had told me before then that such severe damage could be polished out of tempered glass, I'd have laughed.

[Dale Osterman]

Re: Scratch removal from glass

Dave I just removed really deep scratches from the side glass on my 85 Vette with 3M Trizact(sp)sanding disks. The disks are followed with a polishing compound. The whole system is available at Eastwood.com. The number of disk you need will depend on how bad your scratches are. The coarse disks seem to do most of the work and are used up faster. Removing the scratches from the 85 was an experiment to see if I could use the process on the rear glass of my 65 coupe.

[Dave R.]

Re: Scratch removal from glass

I was looking at my side glass again and, based upon the replies I have received so far, I think I should be able to polish the scratches out. I was wondering about the date code information that's present on the glass; wouldn't that get "polished" off if there are scratches in that general area? Would I be better off leaving the glass as-is or should I try to find another side window with the correct dates and codes?