MR2 Roadster Owners Club

The Workshop => Maintenance, Problems & Troubleshooting => Topic started by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 10:53

Title: windscreen scratches
Post by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 10:53
I did a search and noticed a frew people have had their windscreens changed due to sctaches/chips, but has anyone tried the scratch repair stuff that the likes of 'Frosts' sell (use your power drill)

as mine has had a respray I'm dubious about having the windscreen changed via the insurance if I dont have to as the black paint on the surround only just meets the rubber at present and may not once fiddled about with.

would really prefer the windscreen out, spray the surround again myself and then refitted but thats going to cost I would have thought.

unless of course we have any windscreen fitters on here ?   s;) ;) s;)

previous owner spent thousands on the car but was too tight/ignorant to change the wiper rubbers and hence the scratches   s:( :( s:(
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Post by: Tem on December 19, 2006, 11:19
I know this sounds funny, but toothpaste is great stuff for that. The cheapest you can find, not the good ones.  s8) 8) s8)

Just keep on rubbing it and you'll get rid of all minor scratches and marks. You can't really remove any deep marks though.


I've also tried some products meant for this, but nothing beats cheap toothpaste.  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
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Post by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 11:20
I had heard that actually as its a mild abrasive

unfortunately I can feel these with my finger nail, but you never know
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Post by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 11:34
I've heard brasso works, not tried it myself, but am going to as I've got a scratch on my hardtops glass!!  s:( :( s:(
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Post by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 11:45
http://www.diyfaq.org.uk/decorating.html#glass
Title: Re: windscreen scratches
Post by: heathstimpson on December 19, 2006, 12:20
Quote from: "perry190"I did a search and noticed a frew people have had their windscreens changed due to sctaches/chips, but has anyone tried the scratch repair stuff that the likes of 'Frosts' sell (use your power drill)

as mine has had a respray I'm dubious about having the windscreen changed via the insurance if I dont have to as the black paint on the surround only just meets the rubber at present and may not once fiddled about with.

would really prefer the windscreen out, spray the surround again myself and then refitted but thats going to cost I would have thought.

unless of course we have any windscreen fitters on here ?   s;) ;) s;)

previous owner spent thousands on the car but was too tight/ignorant to change the wiper rubbers and hence the scratches   s:( :( s:(
Perry I bought that kit from Frosts but after many hours I just could not remove the scratches on the windscreen. Maybe they were just too deep. I have some arcs where the windscreen wipers picked up grit in bird crap and did some damage. Will probably need a new screen to be honest that means all the agro with a new screen sticker  s:? :? s:?    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
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Post by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 14:05
thats a bummer matey   s:( :( s:(

I'll give it a go first as its only on the passenger side, but doesnt look likely as a repair

did the frosts stuff do any good at all?
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Post by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 14:27
Have you asked at any bodyshops Perry? When i worked in 1 many years ago, if we marked the glass with welding or grinding sparks the paint/polishing lads had stuff they polished them out with.
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Post by: kanujunkie on December 19, 2006, 15:00
we have an orbital sanding kit in the hangers with varios grades of paper and a wet grinding paste, works wonders, sure there must be something like that out on the market
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Post by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 15:19
sounds hopefull then chaps   s:) :) s:)

I've ordered the frost kit to try myself and then I'll see how it stands then

if no luck polishing it out by what ever means then I'll have to bite the bullet and find an installer who fancies a cash deal to remove it and come back a few days later to install the new one so i can repaint the frame a bit better than the body shop did.
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Post by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 15:31
Are the windscreens bonded in or the rubber hold them in? If not bonded Perry they are easy to remove yourself and even putting them back in is just a piece of string in the rubber groove.
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Post by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 16:26
 s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    remember those days matey, i did that on the old triumph spitfire (string)

they are bonded in, (had one done on one of my old 'two's and had to wait a couple of hours before driving) but not sure if the rubber trim is?
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Post by: roger on December 19, 2006, 20:11
Never tried it, but this should work - contains the right product...http://www.glassscratchrepair.co.uk
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Post by: heathstimpson on December 19, 2006, 20:20
Quote from: "perry190"thats a bummer matey   s:( :( s:(

I'll give it a go first as its only on the passenger side, but doesnt look likely as a repair

did the frosts stuff do any good at all?
I have a load of scratches on the passenger side too again from bird crap. It improved them but didnot remove totally. Let me know if you have anymore luck and find any tricks with the execution  s:wink: :wink: s:wink:
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Post by: Anonymous on December 19, 2006, 21:13
will  do bud

thanks for that roger, looks the same as I've ordered, but it does say if you can feel it with your finger nail it wont work, I can   s:( :( s:(
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Post by: rtbiscuit on December 20, 2006, 00:10
i'm intrigued as well, i'v got a couple on the drivers side.

am intrested in this toothpaste idea,

can anyone give more details, does it cloud the window, do you need to buff it up afterwards.

if using an abrasive would wet and dry work, or is that to much abrasion.

how does this affect screen clarity.
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Post by: Tem on December 20, 2006, 04:35
Quote from: "rtbiscuit"am intrested in this toothpaste idea,

can anyone give more details, does it cloud the window, do you need to buff it up afterwards

No, it doesn't cloud up and you don't need to buff it afterward. You buff it while using it. Better reserve few hours to it and really use the good old elbow grease and skip the gym from that day.  s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  It's hard work, but it'll be worth it.

I suppose you could use a machine to do the job as well. Never used one and I'm not sure which one to use, so I've skipped it.  s:? :? s:?
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Post by: heathstimpson on December 20, 2006, 09:45
Maybe that was my mistake Tem; didn't give it long enough  s:? :? s:?
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Post by: carl_evs on December 20, 2006, 09:55
We used to use a product called 'micromesh' on aircraft canopies/bubbles and that stuff used get out some deepish scratches - although be warned, your arm will ache like hell as it takes ages to get down from the larger grades to the finest.   s:evil: :evil: s:evil:    s:evil: :evil: s:evil:

One of the valeters at my brothers place used to use same stuff.

Dont know where u wud get it - try googling it. (Be more expensive than cheap toothpaste tho   s:D :D s:D  )

Always had good results with it tho!
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Post by: Anonymous on December 20, 2006, 16:47
just been checking thier website and unfortuantely its for Acrylic windows not glass?  I assume aricraft canopies are acrylic then?
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Post by: Leeber on December 20, 2006, 17:30
Most modern light aircraft are (including some biz-jets), I think.
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Post by: carl_evs on December 22, 2006, 10:07
Yes they are acrylic... but have used it on glass watch faces etc and they always came up good - although never tried it on a large glass pane. Probably not the best product to use then - unless you had something you could do a trial run on?!
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Post by: Anonymous on December 27, 2006, 20:36
just spent an hour on this and 99.9% percent of the two scratches left by the wipers have now gone.   s:D :D s:D  

used the kit from frosts and my rechargable drill so as to keep the rpm down.  only tip really is to keep it moving and remember that the liquid splatters everywhere!    s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

I couild feel the scratches with my finger nail before and now not, so some of it must have been 'proud' rather than indented?
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Post by: heathstimpson on December 28, 2006, 07:43
Quote from: "perry190"just spent an hour on this and 99.9% percent of the two scratches left by the wipers have now gone.   s:D :D s:D  

used the kit from frosts and my rechargable drill so as to keep the rpm down.  only tip really is to keep it moving and remember that the liquid splatters everywhere!    s:shock: :shock: s:shock:  

I couild feel the scratches with my finger nail before and now not, so some of it must have been 'proud' rather than indented?
Must spend longer doing mine then. I ended up with the stuff all sprayed over the soft top; it is endeed a messy job  s:? :? s:?
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Post by: Anonymous on December 28, 2006, 09:47
it is messy Heath isnt it   s:shock: :shock: s:shock:    covered the whole car with a £1.99 plastic dust sheet from focus and just cut a hole where I was going to work and taped it down to the windscreen with masking tape.

garage floor and my jeans are covered in the stuff!    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:    s:lol: :lol: s:lol:
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Post by: kanujunkie on December 28, 2006, 11:42
surely its easier to just have the glass changed, especially seeing as no interior trim is touched  s:? :? s:?
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Post by: Anonymous on December 28, 2006, 12:12
as I said earlier in the thread as my car has had a respray I didnt really want the windsreen surround played with incase it didnt sit exactly as it is now, other wise the paint edge may be visible.

In the case of standard cars, then yes possibly, but of course its usually a £50 excess, the frost kit is £21 (inc  vat) and re-usable as many times as you need to in the future.

personal choice really  s:) :) s:)
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Post by: Anonymous on December 28, 2006, 16:58
I've often heard about THIS (http://www.briliant.biz/products.asp?CategoryId=7) stuff  s:wink: :wink: s:wink: