Glass refinishing/buffing

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1bad360duster

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hey guys my side windows are not in totaly bad shape. they are original and have slight scratches from being rolled up and down so many times over the years. I've heard of doing this but want to make sure i won't ruin my windows. also what is the best way to go about "buffing" the scratches out. Can you just wet sand the windows with say 1600-2000 and then buff them as you would paint? thanks
 
if they are lights scratches, im told you can get them out. but, ive heard that if you run your fingernail across the scratch and can feel it, that it will take away too much material to get rid of it and the glass will be distorted. again, thats just what ive been told. you probably wouldnt notice the distortion as much in the side windows though since your not staring out of them like with the windshield.

there are places you can get kits to do it. places like eastwood sell them, ive seen em other places as well. i have some light scratches in mine that i plan on trying one of the kits on.

im sure somebody else will chime in with actual experience with it.
 
orangetwist said:
if they are lights scratches, im told you can get them out. but, ive heard that if you run your fingernail across the scratch and can feel it, that it will take away too much material to get rid of it and the glass will be distorted. again, thats just what ive been told. you probably wouldnt notice the distortion as much in the side windows though since your not staring out of them like with the windshield.

there are places you can get kits to do it. places like eastwood sell them, ive seen em other places as well. i have some light scratches in mine that i plan on trying one of the kits on.
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im sure somebody else will chime in with actual experience with it.
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You're correct. We see it all the time. Light scratches can be buffed not the deep ones. We get new windshield ever now and then that comes from our supplier that has a deep scratch...... trash!
 
This is not a joke: On my car, rust from rainwater running off the paintless roof has caused some rainbow like coloration on the rear window glass. I'm thinking buffing should clear that up, but since the question has been raised, I'm wondering if anyone has had experiance with this?

For what it's worth, I bought the car this way, and it will be sanded and painted as soon as it gets to my garage.
 
blackbomber said:
This is not a joke: On my car, rust from rainwater running off the paintless roof has caused some rainbow like coloration on the rear window glass. I'm thinking buffing should clear that up, but since the question has been raised, I'm wondering if anyone has had experiance with this?

For what it's worth, I bought the car this way, and it will be sanded and painted as soon as it gets to my garage.
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We have had brand new rear glass come from the suppliers like that. We have a problem getting one that is clear without the rainbow effect for older cars. Now if it was clear before it got rained on from a paint less roof then that's the first for me. We had a 62 Nova II that you could stand one way and not see the rainbow then stand another way and see the rainbow. This was a brand new rear glass. Buffing might help if it was rained on and then the rainbow was noticed but if it came from a glass supplier that way then it will not buff out. The owner with the Nova said to "Let it go.... I'll drive it anyways." But to be truthful I wouldn't want it that way on my car... it was pretty noticeable.
 
Thanks for the reply. As far as I know, this is OE glass. I havent actually seen the car in person yet. This is the description my friend on the west coast (who inspected and bought the car on my behalf) gave. In the photos I have, you can clearly see the rust runoff on the passenger side taillight and rear bumper. I have better pics of the rear window, but none of them show the defect.

IMG00119-20100409-0902.jpg
 
Ok, some have said yes you can buff them out but with what? Are we talking some grit of wet sand, or buffing compound, or what? I would like to try and correct some sand blasting overspray, yes, I know I should have covered it better NOW :)
 
There was a dude on here that used some stuff to get out some deep scratches on his windows but for the life of me I should have saved it to my favorites.

I gotta really bad scratched up rear windshield glass, looks like hell.
I should replace it.
 
Deep scratches cannot be removed without glass distortion..... you get the Coke bottle effect. Believe me it looks worse than a scratch.
 
mullinax95 said:
Deep scratches cannot be removed without glass distortion..... you get the Coke bottle effect. Believe me it looks worse than a scratch.
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Agreed!
I have seen a few cars with replacement windshields (brand new) sporting that "coke bottle effect." That would drive me bonkers. If I keep my daily past this summer, I'm probably going to have the windshield replaced. 170,000 new england sanded road miles takes it's toll. I'm going to have the shop show me the glass before install.
 
I've tried the glass refinishing stuff it's a mess
and I had no luck REPLACE THE GLASS WITH NEW REPOP
 
i bet that stuff they use to fill cracks from safelite glass would fill and buff easy out for the deep scratches. its like an acrylic and they use preasure some way , just thinking in black and white
 
mikess68 said:
i bet that stuff they use to fill cracks from safelite glass would fill and buff easy out for the deep scratches. its like an acrylic and they use preasure some way , just thinking in black and white
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That is a good idea but it wouldn't work. It only works on pekes. You have to actually drill out the peke in order to give the solution a pocket for it to grasp. It only covers up the peke about 80%.... the manufacture states that it will never make it look brand new. Most of the time used car dealers get it done to make the glass look somewhat better but individually owned nice cars always gets a new windshield.
 
A friend of mine borrowed my welder last fall and ruined his windshield with spatter. So he asked me how to fix it. I said buff. He didnt want to buy the stuff for glass. He borrowed my buffing supplies for paint. It worked great for him. Saved his window. I would have never thought of using regular buffing compounds.
I still havent tried it myself but I did see the results with his; and was impressed.
 
...odd this came up.... I am actually in the process of trials and tribulations on buffing windows. I am working with some glass people and also experimenting.. all that has been said about deeper scratches is true. However..... I have not given up on the lighter scratches... been getting lots of info on products you would never think to use on glass... I will make a post of the results when they are complete.

-RPM
 
jewelers rouge is what alot of people recommend. i have tried this with no obvious results. just recently i've heard a few sources recommend toothpaste.. yep toothepaste, just stay away from the gel type as supposedly it creates more scratches. i haven't had any experience with it..yet.. but for the cost of a tube and some elbow grease it may be worth a try.
 
RPM said:
...odd this came up.... I am actually in the process of trials and tribulations on buffing windows. I am working with some glass people and also experimenting.. all that has been said about deeper scratches is true. However..... I have not given up on the lighter scratches... been getting lots of info on products you would never think to use on glass... I will make a post of the results when they are complete.

-RPM
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I have a dvd on how to do it. Maybe I should pull it out and see what the experts do. I havent watched it in a few years.
 
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