Ideas For Getting Scratches Out Of Windshield "Glass"?

[AlanA]

My last flight had me flying directly west into the sun for almost 3 hours.  I noticed on this flight some minor scratches in the windshield glass that I hadn't noticed before.  Are there any plastic polishing compounds that can be used to improve this?  Recently I restored the old hazy, plastic headlights on my old truck to a brilliantly new-like clear headlights again with a kit I bought at the auto store.  Has anyone ever tried a kit like this, or other solution on their windshield to remove minor scratches?

[N201MKTurbo]

Great idea should work great.

The headlight lenses are made of polycarbonate which is a bit harder then PMMA. So it should work a bit faster. Looking forward to hearing a report from someone.

I would try it on a side window first before going at the windshield.

[kerry]

micro mesh

[triple8s]

I watched a video on this. It takes many steps to go from beginning to end and after watching the video I can see lots of wrong ways to do it. They did use micro mesh in some of the steps. I'll see if I can find the video.

[Mooneymite]

.... I restored the old hazy, plastic headlights on my old truck to a brilliantly new-like clear headlights again with a kit I bought at the auto store. .... 

A tiny dab of toothpaste and a soft cloth work almost as well. :-)

[pinerunner]

I use the Novus system along with polishing cloths designed for the purpose. Easiest place to get it is at a Harley dealer. Novus comes in three grades, 1 for final fine polish, 2 for getting out fine scratches, and 3 for getting out coarser scratches. The Harley place only sold me the first two. I also bought a bug remover from them which is good at getting off the the bits of dried on bug bodies that we're all familiar with. I've been pretty happy with it and with a little elbow grease you can get it back to like new. Of course flying into the sun is basicly the most demanding test. You have to be picky about the cloth you use and throw it away if any chance of coarser grit (or a bit of dust) gets into it; otherwise you can make things worse instead of better.  

[flyboy]

_{I have had excellent results with the micro mesh kits. You also need a  small can of elbow grease.}

[tony]

Will micro mesh or this novus system take out the haze in an older window?

[AlanA]

I found both the Novus system and the micromesh pad online on Amazon.  The micromesh comes in many grits.  What grits are needed?

[carusoam]

Test your skills in an out of the way area like a side window, and a small area at first...

The acrylic sheets are initially a casting (polymer reaction between two pieces of glass followed by oven time to complete curing and relax any residual stress). Smoothly finished by the glass surface. Basic shape comes from thermoforming. Maintaining the finish comes from specialized process as defined above...

I would think a fair number of Harley guys would share our perfectionist preferances.

Experience that can be purchased is worth considering. A new windshield is awfully expensive.

This is from old experience working for a company called Polycast. Makers of fine acrylic sheet for the USAF...(at least the rumor was).

The headlight materials would work, but I would prefer getting the same thing with a statement like used by Cessna or recommended by our favorite windshield company.

Do they sell this product???

How about this?

http://www.glapinc.com/cart/

Great Lakes Aero.....

Best regards,

-a-