delbene@homxa.UUCP (K.DELBENE) (08/19/85)
I used to work as a car jockey for Budget Rent-A-Car where the practice of repairing windshields was commonplace. It is not only for small chips as someone mentioned, although it is best intended for stars of around 1" or less. When I saw it done, no drilling was done either. A small high pressure cup was placed over the area and the arylic was injected. A small 'cap' of glass was then placed over the point of impact, and that's it. The results were not noticable on the cars that I saw it done on, but again I must stress that its area of application is limited (as the previous article mentioned). As far as whether its worth it, that's tough to say. If the damage area is small and your deductable is high, it may be the best alternative. Kurt D. Del Bene Bell Labs - WLB ...!homxa!delbene
jay@allegra.UUCP (Jay Hyman) (08/19/85)
...
I've been meaning to raise this topic myself. My father's
windshield has developed a crack which starts at the top and is slowly
growing right down the center. The crack is already about 8 inches
long. I gather from the two replies I've seen here that there is no
good fix for this. Is there any fix? I.e. something that will stop
the crack at its current size and prevent it from growing further?
Also, how dangerous is it to be driving around behind a cracked pane
of glass like that? Thanx,
Jay Hyman allegra!jaylevy@ttrdc.UUCP (Daniel R. Levy) (08/20/85)
In article <4964@allegra.UUCP>, jay@allegra.UUCP (Jay Hyman) writes: >... > I've been meaning to raise this topic myself. My father's >windshield has developed a crack which starts at the top and is slowly >growing right down the center. The crack is already about 8 inches >long. I gather from the two replies I've seen here that there is no >good fix for this. Is there any fix? I.e. something that will stop >the crack at its current size and prevent it from growing further? >Also, how dangerous is it to be driving around behind a cracked pane >of glass like that? Thanx, > >Jay Hyman allegra!jay To stop the crack it is conceivably possible to drill a fairly large dia- meter hole through the glass at the end of the crack, thus stopping the stress which propagates the fissure. But then you have a hole to fill. I don't know about the safety afterward. Even if it split in two I can't imagine what danger that would pose if the top, bottom, and sides were securely supported, but I don't know everything. I've heard of weird things happening in high winds like windshields popping out (wind was from the rear of a parked car). The crack could make this propensity worse. -- ------------------------------- Disclaimer: The views contained herein are | dan levy | yvel nad | my own and are not at all those of my em- | an engihacker @ | ployer, my pets, my plants, my boss, or the | at&t computer systems division | s.a. of any computer upon which I may hack. | skokie, illinois | | "go for it" | Path: ..!ihnp4!ttrdc!levy -------------------------------- or: ..!ihnp4!iheds!ttbcad!levy
chim@ncsu.UUCP (Bill Chimiak) (08/21/85)
One way to stop a crack from continuing is the use of a
"crackstopper". This is a technique I know works on steel. A
hole is drilled at the base of the crack. This stops the crack.
The next task is to try and fill in the hole and the crack. I
have seen (on a news show) a technique for filling in small
cracks on car windows that the state government here uses. It is
cheaper than buying a new windshield. The technique involves the
use of injecting clear plastic into the windhshield fault.
I hope this has been of some help.