Windshield Repair?

[DirtyMech]

Hey all. I just got a replacement windisheld for my Subaru from the Pick N Pull this weekend. Old one had a two-foot wide crack in it. Unfortunately, while removing the windshield from the junk yard Subaru (very hard by the way!), I managed to put a tiny crack in it on the bottom-center edge. It's only about two or three inches long, but I was told by someone at the yard that the crack would spread when I attempt to press the windshield into the putty while installing.

 

Can this small crack be repaired somehow? Could a shop specializing in auto glass fix this crack somehow, before I install it into the car? If not, is there anything I can do to help prevent the crack from spreading?

 

I imagine if there's nothing I can do, I'll just very delicately install the windshield as-is, because the crack in the old one looks a helluva lot worse than the crack in the replacement one.

[Subarian]

If you can get a glass repair shop that does crack repair to fix it, you may still be able to salvage it. The repair materials used are very good, but they're not designed to be put under the kind of stress installing a windshield puts on the glass. Still, I've repaired cracks like you describe in the past with some success.

[northguy]

You could determine which side of the glass the crack is on (inside or outside) and then cut, with a glass cutter, an arch from the bottom over top of it by an inch or two, all of the way back to the bottom. Break the cut you just made, and then the crack will be contained and not able to run any farther. Otherwise, you have a broken windshield which probably isn't much of an improvement over what you're replacing. Save your money and have a professional replace it next time.

[2alaskasubee]

As a glass tech, any shop that does auto glass should be able to stop drill the crack. This will not make it go away, but should stop it from running. It will look like a small chip (the glass cutter method will leave a fair sized semi circle).

Remember to clean all but about 1 mm of urethane off of the pinch weld, trying to keep it as flat as possible.

Make sure you prime the pinch weld very well, dont prime over your urethane bed, but every where you might have scratched the paint (rust grows unseen here very fast)

I cannot stress how important it is to install the glass properly. It is a safety feature (even in cars w/o airbags).

Also, urethane sticks to every thing it touches before it is cured (wear cheap latex gloves to keep it off of your hands, wear old clothes,and let it dry for a day and clean up the splooge and glass with a razor blade).

 

good luck

 

ross:D

[idosubaru]

my parents tried to have one repaired that was on the car and it didn't work. it still spread on an existing windshield.

 

that's only one experience so doesn't mean much but i'd get another windshield. did you try posting in the parts wanted forum, someone may have a parts car you can pull glass from. if it was an RX and you lived close i'd have one for you for free.