75ZT Community

Cleaning the old chap today, was dismayed to encounter a scratch on the drivers door glass, definitely a 'roller injury'.

I live near the beach and we get a lot of sand round here. It' probably occurred on window operation by a build up of grit on the internal roller, scratching the surface.

I put rubber gel on the glass over the scratch run and then took the windows up and down a few times. There was no sound suggesting the roller was off track etc and the mark had not increased. However it's not really possible to tell without taking the door card off I would think?

As a remedy I applied some fine body scratch repair paste to the mark, (small and vertical around 7cms in length), with partial success. However conscious of 'novice damage', and leaving a 'bloom' on the surface, I went no further.

On the net tonight it seems best to try a resin/filler first, before elevating action to a harsher level? Has anyone tried these and if so what were your results please?

Resin
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

Drill assisted Kit
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT

My side windows are scratched too, so would be interested in any feedback on these too.

Ive used Cerium Oxide to polish my side windows

It does take a long time as glass is very hard , you can remove the finer scratches fairly easily but the deeper ones are nearly impossible due to the amount of glass you have to polish away (if that makes sense) , you do have to be carefull not to allow that glass to become too hot and work the pad methodically around.

I would allow a couple of hours at least for each window , i was using a fairly fine grade of oxide ,you can get harsher grades but you may well "haze" the glass

http://www.planetpolish.com/index.php?m ... ducts_id=4 seems to get good reviews over on Detailing World

How about people like Autoglass etc? They might offer a similar filling/repair service of that which they do to windscreens. It will be understandable that they may charge for the service but bearing in mind some types of scratches need filling rather than polishing out then they may be worth a try?

the main cause is dirt of grit getting into the rubber seal. so every time the window goes up and down, it scratches the glass a little more.
i posted this question up a couple of months back, and the general answer by members who work with car glass was:

due to the hardness of the glass, deep scratches will be impossible to remove. lighter scratches can be removed with products such as jewlers rouge, but must be literally a fine scratch to the surface to have any luck removing it. scratches deep enough to catch your fingernails in are pointless trying to remove. youd have to get a cutting paste to revove the surface, and by doing so will remove the harder surface of the glass, therefore making it even easier to scratch. best thing to do is simple replace the pane. it would probably be cheaper in the long run if you can find a scratch free one. but its unlikley as even one pass (down and up) will probably scratch the glass anyway

Thanks everyone,

Cerium Oxide certainly seems worth a try, and may well get rid of the lesser ingrained damage did you use a drill powered buffer to polish?

I have a 'deep and a shallow' end to the scratch, the above will I feel sure satisfy the latter, but as I can 'feel' the deep end I cant help thinking it may be worth having the door card off and see whats happening from the inside?

I've heard that Autoglass 'fill the 'deep end' with a resin and then polish it off, avoiding having to replace the entire piece. I must admit they were my first thought solution, but they may want £80 + I don't know but most franchises seem to gravitate around that number it seems?

RRobson wrote:the main cause is dirt of grit getting into the rubber seal. so every time the window goes up and down, it scratches the glass a little more...

Thank you for your reply, I'd presumed the roller was the instigator? Thinking about it though, it seems logical that grit would enter between the rubber seal along the length of the opening and the glass and grind away with each window cycle, after all it never happens on the inside? Also I'm sure this hasn't 'suddenly' occurred as your post suggests, it's been an attritional occurrence, I'm now sure?

Prevention would therefore suggest taking the window right down and ensuring the 'rubbers boundary' is clean before operation?

I'd thought about getting a few pieces of glass anyway, whilst their still available at breakers? Worse case scenario would be a write off, driven by a glass breakage. I'm sure underwriters will soon catch up with this facet, to charge us ever exponential premiums in the future anyway!

Chartermark wrote:Prevention would therefore suggest taking the window right down and ensuring the 'rubbers boundary' is clean before operation?

that is the only form of prevention, but you will find when you clean it your self there are two problems

1. the window doesnt go down far enough to get all the seal.
2. the inside of the seal is such a material that it clings onto fine particles of grit and can be veery difiicult to clean.

the only way to properly prevent it is to do one of two things

1. never open your window again (granted, this is an impossibility )
2. have a seal that doesnt touch the window, therefore defeating the object of a seal (much like my last car, never had a problem just the inside of the door used to get wet )

Chartermark wrote:I'd thought about getting a few pieces of glass anyway, whilst their still available at breakers? Worse case scenario would be a write off, driven by a glass breakage. I'm sure underwriters will soon catch up with this facet, to charge us ever exponential premiums in the future anyway!

as for getting a good piece from the scrappies, i fear there may be more chance of finding £10000 in the boot of a car than finding a good piece, simply because this affects all 75/zt's. but by all means have a look, you may be lucky
i wouldnt worry about write-offs either, side windows arent very important in tests such as the MOT, and its a case of if you can see through, your ok.

HTH

Maybe a good dose of silicone spray now and again would help prevent the scratching.

And:- It should not matter too much if the seal does leak, as long as the drain holes at the botton of the doors are kept clear. After all, that is what the holes are for...
...

If polishing you can also use Auto Glym glass polish with a dual action polisher, and as said Ceramide Oxide mixed to a paste can be bought from e bay.

Work small area and watch the heat as glass can crack if heat on one part and not another, there is a high failure rate ( I in 3 )when polishing glass by machine, normally at the owners risk and maybe last option before replacement new glass considered ( imagine if you owned a very expensive car then the cost of the glass to be replaced would make it worth taking the risk of polishing the scratches out in the first instance )

Actually the car doesnt have to be that expensive a model to make the windscreen expensive with todays screens having acoustic glass and rain sensors which drive the price up -eg new screen for an Audi A4 around £800, no wonder insurance companies welcome Autoglass repairs before stumping up for a new one
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Maybe a daft question:

Are replacement windows available from China? Are the Chinese windows the same as the original windows?

I have just used orange fast with Punic and rubbing compound, 75% to 25% rubbing compound, it's taking time but it's getting better

Lry24 wrote:I have just used orange fast with Punic and rubbing compound, 75% to 25% rubbing compound, it's taking time but it's getting better

Please take some photos and let us know the outcome, i used to do glass polishing years ago, to get marks and scratches out of crystal glass, tried the compound and wheels on the car glass did nowt.

had to stop as each time i lowered the window it scratched the surface, also very messy process, i think its time to order a new drivers window

Lry24 wrote:had to stop as each time i lowered the window it scratched the surface, also very messy process, i think its time to order a new drivers window

Only way to go with the drivers window i try not to lower mine, the channel needs cleaning out as it holds dirt and grit, channels need cleaning out.

1

2

plastic door card remover or spatula
3

Also use a damp rag.
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5

Hopefully you get the general idea window will go up and smoother and you will have no scratching effect.