amateur windshield repairs

[Sean]

OK, since Jim dragged me into this    here's my write-up (which also appeared in the magazine as a feature article a few months ago):

http://ourodyssey.blogspot.com/2007/09/arkansas-2-odyssey-0.html
(scroll down to find the bit about the repairs)

The brand of kit I use, simply because I can get them at any overnight stop Wal-Mart, is the "Fix-a_Windshield" brand from the makers of Fix-a-Flat tire repair.

My windshield is actually reverse-raked.  I try to park facing uphill if at all possible and then drop my rear bags and fully extend the fronts to try to get a bit better angle, and I end up using several times as much resin as ought to be needed just because so much runs out of the tool.

This tool is positioned with suction cups and so you get more than one chance to get it right, and you can do more than one chip with a single kit.  The kits are around $10 apiece, and we always carry at least two.

The no-repairs-on-drivers-side argument is one of the reasons we carry the kit and do it ourselves.  The one time we had it done professionally they wanted to sell me a whole windshield and I basically told them to be my guest, but they'd need to get one in a day.  They had no clue you couldn't just order one from Safe-Lite.

I can't speak to drilling because I have not yet had to learn that trick.  I probably should find a donor windshield someplace to practice on.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[PP]

I was able to do a decent job on a rock chip in the little window above the driver's window on my Prevost, but ended up having the windscreen replaced on the Liberty when I couldn't stop it from spidering no matter what I did. I used the kit that Wally sells with the suction cups for around 10 bucks. If you're frugile with it, you should be able to fix several rock chips easily, just don't let the resin cure once you've opened the package. Will