OEM vs Reproduction Windshield

[DickLewis]

I need to replace the windshield on my 250SL as it has scratches from the windshield wipers.  My question is what frankly is the difference in terms of both durability and collector value between OEM and reproduction glass.  Bud's Benz has the prices for both and they are dramatically different.  Since I am doing a fairly high end restoration I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks as always,

Dick in Pittsburgh

[66andBlue]

Hello Dick,
Buy it from this company and you'll have spare $$ to get some other needy part!  
http://www.prosourceglassintl.com/.  Call them and discuss your needs, that is, completely clear glass, clear with a tinted stripe on top, or all tinted.
They usually have replacement windshields from St. Gobain which is/was the OEM for Daimler.
http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=20247.0

[Flyair]

Dick,
same in Europe. MB offers them at a very high price (in excess of 330$), while you can source it from resellers at about 120$ produced by St Gobain (they are made in Finland), which is exactly the same.
Anyhow, if you have AC installed in your car, and you want to be super close to originality, you will have to source and stick the AC sticker yourself.

[stickandrudderman]

Or you could have the screen professionally polished if it is only scratched and not chipped.

[mdsalemi]

Or you could have the screen professionally polished if it is only scratched and not chipped.

Tell me more about polishing glass.

[mmizesko]

Dick,

I bought the glass from Prosource at Alfred's recommendation, and was thrilled with the product.  The guy who runs it is busy, but very nice and ethical.

Highly recommend it.  They have both green band, and clear.  Make sure you specify what you want in writing.

Mike Mizesko
Columbus, OH

[garymand]

It is nearly impossible to rub out scratches on a windshield and end up with something you can be happy with. 

Imagine a ½ inch wide by maybe a 1/16 deep polished rainbow shaped groove across your line-of-sight in your living room window.   It is still a groove.  Its just polished and light travels through it like through a lense.  Images are distorted through it.  The deeper the scratching the deeper and broader the groove will be.  You need to grind down the glass around the groove to a little deeper than the deepest scratch and broaden it out AMAP.  You can't grind down the whole surface, so you end up with some small area on either side of the gouge, and the gouge, getting drawn down and then polished.  It ends up looking like a water glass that has a cut and polished groove rainbow around it.  You would have to make the trough very wide to minimize lensing.

[DickLewis]

THanks much.  I will start in this direction and see how it plays out.  What is the sticker someone talks about that designates A/C?

[DickLewis]

Thanks for the support of this dealer.

[stickandrudderman]

There is a process for successfully polishing windscreens. You will notice that I use the term "professional" in my post.
This is because it is a tricky, messy and time-consuming job. I bought the equipment a few years ago and had a go myself because I watched a professional do it and I thought, "that looks like a piece of cake!". I was wrong and the equipment has lain in the bottom of a cupboard ever since.
Be assured though, it can be done and without distortion. There are some very valuable cars out there whose owners want to keep the original screen for whatever reason and this process facilitates it.

[garymand]

OK, in that case: a highly experienced craftsman....

[jpinet]

I need to replace the windshield on my 250SL as it has scratches from the windshield wipers.  My question is what frankly is the difference in terms of both durability and collector value between OEM and reproduction glass.  Bud's Benz has the prices for both and they are dramatically different.  Since I am doing a fairly high end restoration I would appreciate your thoughts.

Thanks as always,

Dick in Pittsburgh

I've bought a windshield from Prosource and am very happy with it. If you're looking for originality though, do know that it will not carry the same markings as you original MB glass.

[mdsalemi]

Imagine a ½ inch wide by maybe a 1/16 deep

Anything that big, I would guess anyone in their right mind would agree that it is beyond "repair" and into the replacement category. On a car windshield, anything 1/16" thick, .0625", or nearly 1.6mm is probably a serious compromise in windscreen integrity. Remember an auto windshield/windscreen is comprised of two layers of glass, each about .125" laminated with a vinyl interlayer.

The reason I asked the question is my daily driver. The glass seems to be incredibly soft; I've got very minor scratches on it here and there, some of my own doing inadvertently as I used a fine painter's razor to remove some incredibly stuck on bugs and related that even solvents and bug remover didn't budge. Sure the razor got it off, but in the right light now I see some annoying scratches, despite my gentle use. Last week, the metal reinforcement must have popped out of the passenger wiper while I had lent the car to a friend, and in a rainstorm that metal running across the windshield has left an arc needing polishing.

So, I think a good polishing is in order, but based on Stick's experience might be hard to find…or expensive, or both.

[wwheeler]

I had a guy come out from http://www.glassrenu.com/

They have franchises throughout the US. He came out to look at a light vertical scratch on the W111 door glass. He said it was fixable, but because was on the door, wasn't stable enough and would need to remove. Reason being is that they bear down pretty hard with the polishers. So windshields might be OK in place. If the scratches are near any chrome surfaces, they might not want to do because of the potential for contact.

Might give them a shout. I never used them but they seemed knowledgeable. I liked the fact that they were cautious and didn't want to damage any of the chrome trim.

[mdsalemi]

I had a guy come out from http://www.glassrenu.com/

None around here.

[scoot]

The reason I asked the question is my daily driver. The glass seems to be incredibly soft; I've got very minor scratches...

This depends on the cost of replacing the windshield of your daily driver...  And all replacement glass is not created equal, or so my glass shop tells me...   Example:  I had a windshield replaced with new aftermarket glass in a Chevy Astro van.  $100.  Installed.  I don't remember the cost of windshield replacement for the Prius (when someone threw something huge like an alternator over the fence at a junkyard to try to steal it and it landed in the windshield of my car) but it was quite a bit more.  And I think the replacement cost for a Fintail windshield from MB is in the neighborhood of $1000.

[DickLewis]

Alfred,

I spoke with the owner at ProSource and he was a wonderful gentleman.  We had a great talk and I ordered the tinted windshield from him.  THanks for the suggestion.  I am sure it will be perfect and it saves a ton of money.  Appreciate the help.

Dick