Yogii

Not sure what happened to the PO. Looks like he was caught in a sand storm. Plus, it kind of bugs me!!
I have heard some people recommend a buffing of toothpaste and baking soda. My brother recommends using a clay bar.
Or should I just bite the bullet and get a new Porsche windshield? I will check my insurance, but I'm afraid they would only support a cheap aftermarket part.

Suggests, advice please.

-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice

JimmyB

Looks like fairly significant damage - not sure if buffing will fix it? But I'm no expert.

With apologies for the thread hijack, I'm in a similar quandary at the moment. The car came to me with a cracked windshield, factored into the purchase price, so going through insurance is a no-no.

Cheap aftermarket parts don't seem to exist, or if they do I've been unsuccessful in locating them. Best price I can find for OE is $694.08 from Delaware Porsche Parts. And they're close enough that I could drive there and get them to install it, so this would be the simplest solution. I need to explore whether the closer dealerships will offer any kind of PCA discount though. I'm also talking by email with the folks at racingshields.com but ultimately I'm still concerned about the scratch resistance of polycarbonate.

royalschwarz

Do not try and buff out the windshield. Speaking from experience, it will scratch the coating on the glass and make the glare so bad that you will have difficulty seeing out of it, especially at night with oncoming headlights.

My 87 NA has a replacement Safelite windshield from 2012 with 12K miles on it and it's just like yours. Pitted, scratched, looks like it went through a sandstorm. Haven't tried cleaning it after destroying a newer Safelite windshield in my Camry trying to buff it out. My 92 has an original windshield with 90K+ miles and is nearly perfect even though it sat outside in the sun for a decade exposed to the elements. I don't know what they do to new glass but it is not as hard as old glass. It pits terribly, scratches easily and does not last. Maybe it's the coatings they use on it. I don't know. However, the softer (if it can be that?) glass seems to deflect rocks better and not chip nearly as easy as the old glass. If it were me and I didn't have 2 spare OEM windshields in my garage from parts cars I'd get an OEM one from Porsche. It's worth the extra expense. Not that Safelight offers replacement windshields for our cars anymore but I would not use them again if they did.

H.F.B.

Yes, I second this, "Do not try and buff out the windshield. Speaking from experience,..."
I tried several methods to buff out the windshield to no avail. It's too big and you will never get it smooth and without waves.
Bite the bullet and get a new windshield. You will be surprised how much better the sight is with a new one, especially at night.
Here I posted my Windshield DIY change --> https://rennlist.com/forums/968-foru...l#post18065886
It's a Pilkington Windshield --> https://rennlist.com/forums/968-foru...l#post18092225
I only had some success with buffing my fog-lights. But it took hours to get this result shown below.


First try, not fully finished

Final result after many hours...

oz968

Great result on the foglights however

Yogii

Yeah, those fog lights look brand new.
FWIW-One of my fog lights is not coming on. I'm hoping it is just a loose connection.
Are they sealed units or can you change bulbs?

-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice

H.F.B.

yes you can change bulbs. It's a halogen bulb to change.

Tom Pultz

Or, new lights are available, but are around $244 each for the lens assembly.

Yogii

I went to Marin Porsche Classic Parts and got what I think is a fair price for a new windshield, only takes 2-3 days for delivery.
Then I went to the Service Department, and was told they do not work on old cars, WTF?
Anyway, upon close examination my passenger headlight has a 2 inch wide divot in the glass. It appearers to be about half way through the glass. UGH!
So I am now looking for a replacement of that too. Are the left and right side headlight glass the same?

I have a road trip planned for next month, so will wait till after that to address these issues.

-Yogii
AKA 968 Novice

royalschwarz

Probably told you they don't work on old cars because they farm glass work out to someone else. More than likely they have Safelite come in to do windshields for them. You'd get a better deal cutting out their markup anyway.

And yes, headlight lenses are the same for both sides.

Yogii

Thanks!
I just wanted to get a "ballpark" for installation. I have heard anything from a couple of hundred to almost a thousand dollars just for the install.
I will also order the surround piece for the windshield.

-Y

Tom Pultz

Hi Yogii, glad you got a fair price on a new windshield. Installation cost for mine in August '21 was $300 sublet to the "glass specialist" at the time the shop was doing other things to my S2. Safelight wouldn't touch it, so the trick will be getting it installed as few shops want to tackle the job.

L/R headlights are the same. If your 968 uses standard 7" type headlights I have a new spare pair of 7" Cibie E-Code 82440 headlights. Looks like these were recently discontinued by Valeo/Cibie due to the tooling wearing out and not being attended to. You can still get them on Amazon for about $137 EACH, or on eBay from Classic Garage for $69 each. My price: $85 plus shipping for the pair if interested. These were made in Belgium in 2015. They accept any H4 Halogen or LED.

Karrera Coupe

@Yogii does your new windshield have an ‘inbuilt’ antenna? My coupe’s windshield has the antenna/aerial. I think that the presence of the inbuilt antenna indicates that it is the wrong windshield for a coupe, i.e. that it has a windshield intended for a cabriolet. Coupes have the little antenna/aerial on the back of the roof so no need for an antenna. I am also wondering whether the coupe’s windshield and that of a cabriolet are similarly shaped. Whoever installed my coupe’s windscreen used an awful amount of adhesive around the bottom edge of the glass. I wonder whether it was necessary to use that much adhesive because the curve of a cab’s windshield is slightly more pronounced than that of a coupe?
Can anybody shed some light on this?
Thanks

Yogii

I have a big road trip planed for the middle of July. I plan on buying and having installed the windshield after my trip. So, I have not have my new windshield installed yet.
I have had two windshield installers "pass" on my job. I assume that it is not super easy. I understand that a new trip piece is pretty much required. I also understand that 3M makes much better sealant/adhesives than wee available 25 years ago.
Sorry, I can not be more helpful...
My current windshield does not have the built in antenna, neither will my new windshield.

-Yogii

PS I also have found a 2 inch divot on my passenger headlight. So more glass to have changed.