Glass Polishing -- Need help/recommendation!

[Thom77]

Hi everyone -- I've lurked these forums for a while as an enthusiast, and need a little bit of help.

I'm working on restoring a 1995 Mercedes SL that I rescued from being parted out about eight months ago. I'm actually almost done with the project entirely, just a few small things on the list need attention. One of them, unfortunately, is proving to be a bigger pain that almost everything else -- getting the windshield polished.

The windshield doesn't have any deep scratches, it just has wiper swipes across it that aren't going away. The problem is that apparently nobody in the local NYC area has any interest in polishing glass. I've called several high-end detailers, including Larry from AMMO, and they either turned me down outright or referred me to someone else, who then told me they weren't interested in the work (Larry was very nice, he just didn't have the time for something like this and referred me to an associate of his, who never returned my emails). I've called dedicated glass specialists as well, but they only do commercial jobs and not automotive glass.

The two detailers that did seem interested clearly didn't understand that regular polishes weren't going to work on the glass. I personally tried to use Griots glass polish with a DA machine and rayon pad, and it did basically nothing. It's going to require a cerium oxide polish, and I have almost no interest in doing a DIY on this. I've seen videos of detailers correcting windshield issues just like mine, but there's seemingly nobody who does the work here.

So, is anyone here interested in this work or can recommend someone in the area who can do the job? Sorry for the long post, any help would be appreciated.

[Mike Hoekstra]

Bottom line - I polish glass and it's a patience game and an endurance race. If you can catch your nail on the scratch, buy a new windshield and have it installed. You can probably purchase a new windshield for close to the same price you can pay a specialist/detailer to tackle it if it's that bad. Particularly if you have to go to the extreme of wet-sanding out deep scratches and polishing.

[The Guz]

Mike goes over glass polishing in this video

[Rsurfer]

I wonder why no one wants to polish glass.

[Thom77]

Yeah, I know it's a tedious process, that's why I really don't want to do it myself lol. Also I don't trust my skill level to get it right.

There are no deep scratches, nothing you can feel with your fingernail. And I'd rather not replace the windshield; even though its an option I'd rather leave it as a last resort as it's now a specialist item and the installation will cost me close to $1000 for OEM glass.

I don't need it to be 100% perfect, but I'd like to find someone to at least try.

[Rsurfer]

Yeah, I know it's a tedious process, that's why I really don't want to do it myself lol. Also I don't trust my skill level to get it right.

There are no deep scratches, nothing you can feel with your fingernail. And I'd rather not replace the windshield; even though its an option I'd rather leave it as a last resort as it's now a specialist item and the installation will cost me close to $1000 for OEM glass.

I don't need it to be 100% perfect, but I'd like to find someone to at least try.

You have a DA and rayon pads..get some Car Pro Ceriglass and give it another go around.

Do small sections (12X12) a lot of passes and keep it damp. You should be able to remove wiper marks and fine scratches using the above method.

[dgage]

You have a DA and rayon pads..get some Car Pro Ceriglass and give it another go around.

Do small sections (12X12) a lot of passes and keep it damp. You should be able to remove wiper marks and fine scratches using the above method.

I was going to do just that but when I really inspected the glass, I had a bunch of tiny pits so new glass it is.

One interesting thing I read is where Mike Phillips often polishes his glass before he washes the car to get the glass clean and so any glass polishing residue gets washed off in the wash. I plan to add that to my cleaning regiment.

[Thom77]

You have a DA and rayon pads..get some Car Pro Ceriglass and give it another go around.

Do small sections (12X12) a lot of passes and keep it damp. You should be able to remove wiper marks and fine scratches using the above method.

Yeah, that's probably going to be what I do if I can't find anyone locally who's interested in taking it on in the next couple of weeks (before it gets too cold out and I really get lazy lol).

Like I said, I don't need it to be absolutely new-car perfect, but I think that the Ceriglass will probably get it to where I'm happy. I'm just dreading having to do it myself.

[Coatingsarecrack]

I personally tried to use Griots glass polish with a DA machine and rayon pad, and it did basically nothing. It's going to require a cerium oxide polish,.

Griots glass polish has cerium oxide

I believe the rare earth oxcide on ingredients list is it. 2nd thing Griots Jr says on the video on products page



I have both and ceriglass isn’t much tougher. Just takes alot of time to basically polish down glass.


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[The Guz]

Yeah, that's probably going to be what I do if I can't find anyone locally who's interested in taking it on in the next couple of weeks (before it gets too cold out and I really get lazy lol).

Like I said, I don't need it to be absolutely new-car perfect, but I think that the Ceriglass will probably get it to where I'm happy. I'm just dreading having to do it myself.

Watch Mike’s video. I linked it for a reason in my previous comment.