Windshield Wiper Impression

[Paul A.]

My Vette has a very annoying impression left on the original windshield due to a wiper blade from a prior owner. I’ve tried a few fixes to remove it to no avail. Jewelers polish, wax in which really doesn’t help. I can feel the mark with a fingernail pass. (Hard to photograph glass…it’s just the arched mark. The line below it is a reflection). Any suggestions out there?

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[Brian M.]

Re: Windshield Wiper Impression

It can be done.
Eastwood has a kit to polish glass.
I successfully polished some minor scratches out of a Jaguar side window.
The risk is cracking the glass from the heat generated from polishing.
Check YouTube for some examples.
Good luck.

[Terry M.]

Re: Windshield Wiper Impression

Brian is absolutely right. Doing so requires the proper equipment, and great gobs of patience.

In addition to a kit including Cerium Oxide one will need a proper speed tool to drive the felt buffer that does the polishing, There are kits that start with water-proof sandpaper to remove large amounts of glass, but then more polishing is required. = more time.

It is the same process one would use to reduce the paint around a scratch on the outer layer of paint on the body. You have to reduce the glass in a more gradual way in a large area to make the depth of the scratch less obvious.

Do some research online and be very careful. It is easy to do permanent damage. This is the sort of job that takes a lot of time and is not for the faint of heart. I also did this and got that t-shirt, and I am not sure I would ever do it again. Whatever you do will only make the damage less obvioud. It wiill not totally disapear.

[Leif A.]

Re: Windshield Wiper Impression

Brian is absolutely right. Doing so requires the proper equipment, and great gobs of patience.

In addition to a kit including Cerium Oxide one will need a proper speed tool to drive the felt buffer that does the polishing, There are kits that start with water-proof sandpaper to remove large amounts of glass, but then more polishing is required. = more time.

It is the same process one would use to reduce the paint around a scratch on the outer layer of paint on the body. You have to reduce the glass in a more gradual way in a large area to make the depth of the scratch less obvious.

Do some research online and be very careful. It is easy to do permanent damage. This is the sort of job that takes a lot of time and is not for the faint of heart. I also did this and got that t-shirt, and I am not sure I would ever do it again. Whatever you do will only make the damage less obvious. It wiill not totally disapear.

And, you run the risk of optically distorting the glass. Being a windshield, that would not be a welcome outcome.

[James G.]

Re: Windshield Wiper Impression

FIRST BAG THE CAR, then cut open the area you are working on, tape off and seal whatever you are not polishing, ie. the trim so the slurry doesn't get under and make a mess.
I used a felt pad on a battery operated drill, some glass polishing compound, and a little water to make a slurry, then with the 3" pad face down I slowly worked on the scratch,
The first two photos are a week after I bought the car in 2018.
The secind pair are fairly recent.
Most of the time I forget the scratching was ever there, occasionally I catch it out of the corner of my eye.
MANY TIMES OF IMPROVEMENT.
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[James G.]

Re: Windshield Wiper Impression

The mark is still there, however AFTER polished it is MUCH less noticeable unless it catches the right(wrong) light.Here are 2 photos from a couple of weeks ago. There is a slight distortion HOWEVER it's a small distortion on the pass side which I rarely if ever see. IT is very difficult to pick out unless you know it's there. Poilishing inside the depressed area makes the distortion much less visible as it's less opaque or perhaps even CLEAR however it is still there.
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[Ed R.]

Re: Windshield Wiper Impression

I've read these threads over the years and have never seen an explanation as to the cause of these streaks. I've had my 66 for 34 years and never had an issue until the windshield was resealed after painting. Could it be because the windshields are deformed somehow when being reinstalled?

[Paul A.]

[James G.]

Re: Windshield Wiper Impression

Just keep putting your hand on the area you are polishing and keep the pad moving, Polish 10 -15 seconds and feel it with your palm, is it warm, at all? 10 - 15 more Again feel the area - IF you keep touching it every 15 seconds you will be hard pressed to put enough heat into it to crack it
When you see how nice the glass looks when the water spots are gone(especially in the tint band) you will want to work the rest of the front glass. Which is why I recommended that you first bag the entire car then cut open and tape off the glass.

To polish the area you illustrated shouldn't take more than a few hours (maybe 4-5 if you have never polished anything) Setting up and clean up included.

[Brian M.]

Re: Windshield Wiper Impression

Wiper blades that are so worn the metal touches the glass and blades that have dirt on them and abrade the glass when operated dry. During the operations check frequently people will have a spray bottle of water to wet the windshield so the wipers are lubricated.

[Ed R.]

Re: Windshield Wiper Impression

Thanks Brian. I'll have to be more careful about cleaning the blades. Haven't driven in the rain on purpose for years but you never know when it finds you first.