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Scratched windscreen.... MOT fail?
tegwin - 9/1/09 at 02:07 PM

The front window in the TVR has quite a few large shallow scratches across the front of it from years of being badly stored by its previous owner...

The scratches wouldnt bother me when driving.... And the thought of replacing the screen is not good.... thats around £450 if I can find one!


Is it an MOT fail if there are surface scratches?

Is there any way of polishing them out?

[Edited on 9/1/09 by tegwin]

Mr Whippy - 9/1/09 at 02:19 PM

I have a heap of glass polish I bought from a car windscreen place. It’s so incredibly fast working that the last stars in the universe will have burnt out long before the scratch has been removed. Fortunately I never failed an MOT on scratches even when the wiper blade flew off and the arm scraped the Grand Canyon into the glass.

you know it is like that powder smokers use on their yellow teeth

[Edited on 9/1/09 by Mr Whippy]

02GF74 - 9/1/09 at 02:24 PM

quote:
Originally posted by tegwin

Is it an MOT fail if there are surface scratches?

Is there any way of polishing them out?



you'd need to check the MOT guide - I know if there are cracks inb certain area of screen then it is fail.

re: ploshing them - many years ago, before I owned any electric tools, I used jewellers rouge and a wooden stick to it press firmly but now I owuld use a pad and a dremel. It took a fair bit of time and then you end up with a band of clear and clean screen as the rest of the screen's surface tends to discolour over age.

speedyxjs - 9/1/09 at 02:30 PM

My jag has loads of pretty deep scratches in the screen and has passed 3 MOT's all of wich i was hope she would fail as i cant afford a new screen without claiming on the insurance

andkilde - 9/1/09 at 02:34 PM

My autobody guy swears by Colgate toothpaste (the old "normal" stuff, not gel) and a foam pad on the car buffer. It does a nice job taking out windscreen wiper lines and light pitting, doubt it would have much effect on a deep scratch.

t

jollygreengiant - 9/1/09 at 02:48 PM

Excessive scratches could be a failure IF in the opinion of the tester they obscured the view through the swept area enough. About the only time I came across a windscreen scratched badly enough was when it had been wiped by a lady owner who when she collected the car it was noticed that she had several rings on her right hand with exceedingly large jewelry clusters on them. She used to clear the internal mist with the back of her hand, (doh) rather than use a cloth or the demister.

Humbug - 9/1/09 at 02:49 PM

For MOT I think it depends if they are in the line of sight

AR-CoolC - 9/1/09 at 02:56 PM

It's one of those "at the descression of the tester" pass/fails. But what I can say, is that in 15 years of working in the automotive glazing trade I've never replaced a screen that has failed due to scratches. I'm not saying it never happens, but the instances must be few and far between.

[Edited on 9/1/09 by AR-CoolC]

donn006 - 9/1/09 at 06:16 PM

hi it depends on ware they are and how bad .ie if in zone a which is the area the width of the steering wheel then testers tent to become more stricked and if in zone b with covers the rest then they are more leniant ask the tester before you put a screen in as we are not all that bad lol some off us are human lol

Steve P - 9/1/09 at 07:22 PM

http://auto.frost.co.uk/search?w=windscreen+polish

never used it but maybe...

BenB - 9/1/09 at 07:24 PM

That's wot I was just about to recommend. They tested the Frost kit in Practical Classics recently and it got a good write-up.........