mid year windshield

[Noel K.]

A recent auction on eBay advertised a replacement windshield for mid year corvettes. I sent them a question asking about quality of their product re: NC
NCRS judging. Their reply was that one of their windshields went into one of the highest selling 67's to go thru Barrett Jackson. Undoubtedly the "Last Stingray !

I'm concerned about two things - (1)that the windshield will pass judging ( although my windshield is original it has a pretty noticeable rock chip and wiper blade scratches and I would like to replace it )

(2)- the actual replacement process. Removing the trim and the installing the the windshield plus reinstall is very intimidating.

Suggestions - I have tried to check prior posts on this but all I seem to get is a consolidated listing of ALL the prior posts on all subjects.

Thanks in advance.

Noel Kendall

[Donald T.]

Re: mid year windshield

Noel,

The current repro tinted windshields will receive a deduct on originality. The clear windshields with the LOF logo and correct date code will judge better. There is a lot of good info on this topic in the archives. The problem your are having is you are searching for "any terms". Use the drop down box and select "all terms" to narrow your search. Hope that helps.

[Kevin M.]

Re: mid year windshield

If you decide on a replacement have a professional installer do it for you. I read a post where the install guys spent more time talking Corvettes than installing the windshield. You can do it but a lot can go wrong.

Kevin

[Joe R.]

Re: mid year windshield

Shallow wiper blade scratches (ones that you can't catch your fingernail in) can be polished out quite nicely. The rock chip probably can't be effectively fixed, but if it is not in your field of vision while driving it might be tolerable. My guess is that a single rock chip would cost you only one condition point in judging, which might not be worth the cost and bother of replacing the windshield.

[Gary J.]

Re: mid year windshield

If the car has tinted glass I would think that you would be out of luck just using a clear only replacement windshield for judging. The difference if the logo and date codes are the same, Repo VS Orginal is the tinted band width which is much larger on the repro.

You can take the deduct on originality which shouldn't be much for the the new repo windshiled considering everything else is the same or take the few points deduct on condition for the orginal.

I think before I spent big money for the repro I would try and see what I could do to the orginal one.

Gary Jaynes
#3503

[Wayne K.]

Re: mid year windshield

Noel,

If the chip is a bullseye, spider or small runner perhaps a windshield repair service can attempt a repair. It would look better and keep it from getting worse. Usually cost about $60. Wouldn't hurt to let them look at it. If the wiper marks can be cleaned up you might be satisfied keeping the original glass.

Wayne

[Noel K.]

Re: mid year windshield

Thanks for all of the responses. I called a couple of windshield replacement shops and pretty much a blank stare over the phone, if that is possible, when I asked about "filling" the stone chip and polishing the wiper arm area. There is no spidering nor running crack that dictates replacement, more of an aesthetics thing at this point.

I am gun shy re: replacing parts as i purchased repro hubcaps for the car last year for judging and lost all the points from the judge ( i posted a discussion about this at the time ).

The judges last year didn't give me much of a deduct for the windshield as they said they could tell it's the original glass in the car and would rather see some imperfections in the original glass as opposed to perfect glass that is a replacement. This is where I still get confused as you can replace transmission and rear end and have no deductions, but windshields or hub caps, or whatever, can result in a big hit.

My car does have the comfort/convenience group package which, I believe, included the tinted windshield. Perhaps I'll wait awhile before making the decision.
My learning curve is still pretty steep.

[Joe R.]

Re: mid year windshield

Hi Noel:

As I mentioned in my earlier post, shallow scratches from the windshield wipers can be polished out. My windshield had extensive scratches from both wipers, but fortunately they were all shallow. I spent about a day with an Eastwood glass polishing kit and a Makita variable speed angle grinder (much better than a drill for stability), and there is now no trace whatsoever of the wiper scratches. It was long, tiring work but the results were rewarding.

I believe that some auto glass shops can do the polishing for you if want to have someone else do it. Some of those shops may be familiar with the rock chip "repair" processes that were mentioned earlier, so perhaps you could get both done at the same time.