Old Windshield: Steel Wool, Rain-X, Anything other tips or tricks?

[M3 Mitch]

Originally Posted by tramp

I agree with another poster - clay bar. I used it on my windshield than used invisible glass cleaner and the water spots are gone.

He already successfully got rid of the water spots, he's still got some fine stone and sand pits he wants to remove. This can be done primarily by some sort of fine abrasive. In principle the pits could be filled in, but I don't know of any product to do this that will work on a windshield, not streak terribly when you apply the windshield wipers.

[corolla5speed]

Originally Posted by blktoptrvl

My windshield and side mirrors (in fact all my glass) are 32 years old.

For the longest time I have suffered through the agony of rain spots outside the wiper sweep area. No matter how well I thought I cleaned the windshield, they would not go away. I even tried to razor blade the whole glass.

Today I watched the "steel wool" method for cleaning the glass (You tube) and tried it... The result is that it has removed the majority of the water spots that I could never get rid of in the past. But, looking closely at the glass, there are still very small spots that can be seen.

Overall, looking through the windshield while driving is excellent, but when driving directly into the sun, the thousands of stone pits from over the years can be seen and can be distracting and annoying.

Can anyone recommend any other tricks (short of replacing the glass) to hide or reduce the visual effect of the pitting?

Don't try this at home. This is not a recommendation this is how I fixed mine. Going back 4 years ago on my now 16 1/2 year old car I had a windshield replaced via insurance. My car which was 12 years old at the time. The windshield was never right from the time of the install and I never pursued getting it replaced again.

Six months went by using all the cleaning techniques I knew to remove this film that would obstruct vision for any one sitting in the car (none worked). Internet windshield cleaning techniques from car sites I tried were of no help either. Out of desperation I used acetone (nail polish remover). The stuff worked cutting and removing whatever was on this windshield and made it new.

Again I am not recommending the use of this stuff just talking about what worked on my cars windshield. Also made a nickel size rock crack repair on the same windshield 2 years ago. Fast forward to today and the windshield is still in excellent condition. You can't see the rock crack repair I made with a $5.00 repair kit purchased on Ebay under close examination either.
Good luck.

[tickyul]

New wiper-blades.

[kapikap]

I had the same issue. The best solution is to replace the glass. For me,it was $200 installed. Acura sedan.