Double Bull

[2hipp4u]

Hey Guys

Did a job today on a 69 el'camino it had two bulls one about the size of a dime and the other was a combo about the size of a quarter. The windshield was very old, I could just tell by how many surface pits it had. Anyway both pits looked to be very contaminated (very milky looking) and I was just going to pack up but since I am new to this I thought what the heck it will be good practice.

It was about 35 degrees out and I probed and drilled both chips, I put a drop or two of resin on each and flexed each one for about 30 seconds but couldn't get a bit of resin to flow? so I redrilled each as far as I could without going all the way to the laminate and then put on the Delta bridge and still couldn't get a drop of resin to flow. I then heated the inside of the shield just a little bit because I was afraid this old of a shield would crack out. still couldn't get any resin to flow?

As a last resort I Hooked up my GT Maxum and took the pressure up to 70 PSI and still had no luck.

I told the guy that the repairs probably wouldn't turn out real good because they were contaminated, but wanted the practice. The weather is supposed to be back up to 65 or 70 degress tuesday and I told him I would come back.

Any suggestions or ideas?

Do I go back or chalk it up as something that I shouldn't of messed with to begin with? it is a $55.00 cash job.

2hipp4u

[sydfloyd44]

One tip would be to NOT drill so deep!! Bullseyes do not require much if any drilling. When you drill so deep, you actually go past the point (the surface) where the resin needs to go to get into the break.

[glassdoctor]

It's very likely that these have been repaired before, no matter what they look like. I have seen "repairs" that looked basicly untouched without a close examination. Ask the guy how long they have been there... and then ask if he is sure...

The reason I suggest this is because bullseyes and combos accept resin VERY easily. If you can't get any resin to flow at all, even after cleaning and drilling the pit, somethings very wrong.

[mafsu]

I agree with glassdoctor, something is the bullseye resin or some other foreign matter. It's extremely odd that these wouldn't accept resin. While drilling should not be necessary on this type of repair it certainly wouldn't hinder resin from flowing into the damage.

[Dave M]

I agree with Glassdoc and Mafsu, sounds like maybe they had been repaired before.

When you started to drill the impact point did it look like plastic or glass that you were drilling. There is a noticable difference which would show you if it had been repaired before.

[Pat]

What if he drilled into the non filled area instead of the impact point and pop and other bull's-eye and re field that would that work

[mafsu]

Conceivably that would work. The problem being that you may not be able to see what is filled if it is an old repair. Also with old milky damage as was described it's doubtful it will get any better looking. This would leave the only reason for repairing to keep it from cracking out. If the damage (repaired or not) has been there for ten years or better. As I would suspect from the description along with the age of the car it's probably best to let sleeping dogs lie.

[2hipp4u]

Thanks for the replies guys

I do believe this windshield is the original factory one, which would make it about 35 years old, as far as how long the damage has been there the owner didn't know. I would guess years by the way it looked. It could of been repaired before I guess, but when I drilled it, it felt like a normal drill job.

The whole thing is just pretty strange to me, I have did almost three hundred repairs so far and never ran into anything like this. Bullseyes are the eaisiest thing I have found to repair so far and most I have done are nearly impossible to find after I am finished.

I am going to go back in the morning to mess around with it again just to satisfy my own curiosity.

2hipp4u

[desertstars]

Good description of your procedure, 2hipp.

Good replies because of that, also, in my opinion.

If that is the original w/s, you bet it's contaminated.

From your description of the drilling (and I assume you thoroughly cleaned and scraped the entrance pit and it was UV covered when you applied resin before bridge setup), I would drill into another point and try to backfill.

As most so far have suggested, something is REALLY awry here if you can't introduce resin into a bullseye regardless of how old it is.

You are sure, of course, that the damage does not extend through the second layer of glass, right?

Might sound stupid of me to ask but I haven't seen it and 70 psi on a 35 degree day without spreading damage sounds suspicious other than the fact that the mine entrance is blocked.

By all means, let us know what happens.

[glassdoctor]

If youare going back to it, try to drill out a crater on the surface, like a ring around the first drill "hole". Keep it shallow, like 1/16" and maybe 1/4" diameter. This will create a "super" easy path for resin flow. Keep in mind the shape of a bullseye break and you will see what I mean...

If it appears that the center of the break is completely plugged, you can drill off to the side and deep enough to reach the damage, but you might have the same trouble by the sounds of things.

I would first lightly tap around the impact area to see if it just needs a little coaxing to open up...