Old Glass - New Thread

So I did my research a while ago, decided on Autoglym polish, Invisible Glass cleaner, Griots sealant. I'm giving the trio it's first test run on my new-to-me 2001 911 Carrera 4. And I'm at a stop and needing advice after just the polish. I've waxed it on, scrubbed and waxed it off a couple of times now and I see improvement. But I'm not sure how much improvement is possible, if I should be using an orbital or something, where I should give up and just seal it. Because the polish is white, I can clearly see the tiny specs trapped in minute pock marks on the glass, so I'm not getting all the imperfections out yet by a long shot. And in the right reflection, the swirls from the wipers are still very, very much there. Anyone have any idea whether it's possible or a fool's errand to try to get all of it out before sealing the glass? And should I even seal the glass with the griots if it isn't perfect?

Thanks...

 

Excellent post with excellent questions. I look forward to the responses from the pros.

Mike


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

These guys make a glass polisher that does a good job. https://www.gtglass.com/ The problem is you get distortion if the scratches are too deep. Have you priced a new windshield? I don't think that they are too costly for 911s. Not sure what the benefit of sealing glass is.

 

Thanks. These are definitely "the" guys. And I definitely need more than elbow grease. I had a nice chat with them. Two pearls of wisdom, the pock marks are deeper than I think and likely are a fools errand, but the swirls from the windshield wipers may or may not be removable. And the rule of thumb is that if you can feel the groove with a fingernail, it's not coming out safely. Digging in too far, 4/1000ths or greater, begins to cause distortion, lensing, which they obviously don't recommend.

Otherwise, they have a nice beginner package that will adapt to a regular drill chuck. But they've recommended I look at an Eastwood buffer if I plan on multiple and various jobs, which I do. So shopping again. And now going to run my nail across my glass. I'll still polish it one way or the other to take out what I can.

Oh, answering the question on the sealant, this is more for the wife's mercedes than my 911, I'm just testing on the 911 before I mess with her glass. She's very picky and easily annoyed by dust or drops on her glass. I'm hoping to slick it up to where more particles and droplets skate off rather than sticking.

 

Have you tried magic eraser?
There's also a possibility that the clear laminate in the middle of the glass is what you're seeing.

 

It's most definitely the arcs of the windshield wipers. And they're not too deep, so I'm hopeful.

Since last post, I've picked up my first real orbital, correcting and waxing pads, wax, sealant, and a glass polishing kit with compound.

This is going to be fun.

 

What gear did you settle on?
I've been considering making the plunge as well

 

I started with the excellent recommendation above, spoke to the experts at gtglass.com for a few. They recommended an Eastwood buffer as a solid DIY solution. Log into Eastwood and they offer a 10% coupon if you give them your email addr. Did that, bought the list below. Also bought the specific glass polishing kit from gtglass.com. I can't swear it's the perfect shopping list. Wouldn't know just yet but I think I'm on the right track.

Item Sku Qty Subtotal
Eastwood Buffer Polisher 30247 1 $89.97
Griot's Red Foam Waxing Pad 6.5 IN Single 10618 30607 1 $13.99
Griot's Orange Foam Correcting Pad 6.5 IN 10615 30604 1 $13.99
Chemical Guys VSS Scratch and Swirl Remover 16 oz COM_129_16 16224 1 $17.99
Griots Best of Show Wax 10871 16134 1 $24.99
Chemical Guys JET Seal Sealant and Paint Protectant 16 oz WAC_118_16 16225 1 $38.99
Griots 3 Micro Fiber Polish Removal Cloths 11115 30601 1 $16.99

 

Many thanks for the detailed shopping list

Let us know how it all works out

 

More than likely.
As mentioned previously, more grinding, sanding or polishing will just add more distortion. Only (theoretical?) way to avoid such would be to block sand & polish the entire glass surface evenly until all imperfections are removed, kind of like to achieve "glass-/mirror-like" finish on a paint job, just more time consuming with harder material to work with.
Not saying it can't be done, but....

 

Disclosure: I might be perceived a bit biased since I produce curved glass (i.e. Windshields, rear & side windows, etc) for custom/exotic/obsolete/vintage applications, but having been at it over 20 years I've also seen more than enough wasted efforts afforded to attempts to remove chips or scratches from automotive glass. In many, if not in most cases, dozens upon dozens of (or more) hours have been spent and yet the results have often ended up looking worse than the initial problems.

 

Yeah. They know their stuff. I bought the $2000 kit to remove some scratches in a vandalized storefront of one of my buildings. Saved me $30k that was bid to replace it.

 

You have a PM.

 

Any progress or results ?

 

Indeed. Took a while to get everything in and then find the time, but my goal of removing the marks from the wipers was easily accomplished. The biggest challenge was keeping the compound wet while buffing, needed almost constant spritzing. Also lack of experience, I washed off a couple of times wondering if I was going to far when I was in fact far from done. The process left the glass with an unusual finish, water formed a perfect sheet on the area polished, no beading at all. Weird and a little disconcerting but it's a really old car and I'm not worried about it. I finished by sealing with Griot's glass sealant as directed. This stuff needs low humidity to dry and it's the wrong season in VA, so this didn't go so well. I had to move the car several times to keep the glass in the sun, trying to get the coating to dry to a haze as indicated. I'll likely clean and repeat in the fall when the humidity is under 100%. Glass looks great now. Highly recommend if your goals are modest as mine were. I don't notice the tiny pits unless I look very closely for them. I just didn't want to see the wiper swirls. Mission accomplished.

Full disclosure, I did **** up one of the headlights a little trying to polish it out. I think it was more plexiglass than glass glass. I'll be able to buff the damage out by hand eventually, but it'll take some work. Moral of the story, power tools require skill, skill I don't have. I did at one time 30 years ago, but will have to be super careful when I start working on the paint next. But the paint pads are MUCH larger which will make it much easier to go gently.

 

Thanks for detailed update.