windshield replacement

[michael lang]

Yesterday I had the windshield replaced in my Carrera. Sometime ago the windshield got scraped up by a broken wiper blade so I had some scratch marks in the glass that just would not buff out. I was alittle apprehensive because I was afraid of the original seal being broken. Banner Glass on Woodmont Ave in Bethesda did a phenominal job in replacing the glass. They ordered it from Porsche, dealt with Hagerty for the insurance claim, it looks fantastic, and is even quieter than before when @ highway speeds. I was lucky enough to get caught in the down pour in last night's rush hour and there wasn't any signs of leaking or seapage. I would highly recommend these folks to replace any glass panel in a car. They really know what they are doing.

Mike

[Doug E]

That's a good omen to hear ... mine is being replaced by Safelite this Thursday due to a rock chip / crack from the March DE.

[Jase007]

mine is being replaced by Safelite this Thursday

Doug:

How did this go? Were you pleased with their work ... quality of materials, etc...? Did they inspect, fix / correct any missing paint, bubbling, etc, in window frame channel?

Looking to do the Targa and .... if really motivated ... the 356. :shock:

Richard C posted this on another thread:

Cherrydale Glass on Old Lee Highway in Merrifield, Va. They've done several windshields for me over the past 20+ years. And they were familiar with Porsches. Even knew to touch up any scratches in windshield channel to prevent future rust (and reported that there was no rust there then; said the scratches were from the original install; said they had seen that several times before).

Thought their attention to detail was worth noting.

Will not be running this through insurance.

Jase

[Doug E]

Jase - I dropped the car off at their location (less then 5 minutes from me) and they kept it most of the day so I'm not sure how long it actually took them. Since I didn't see the work I don't know what the channel looked like but they said everything was fine and it appeared to be the original glass (which I knew was the case).

The only problem I had was that they re-mounted the rear view mirror in the wrong spot for me so I took it back the next day, they bumped me to the front of the line and promptly fixed it.

They claimed to have Porsche experience and from what I saw nothing lead me to believe otherwise. Only cost me $100 via my insurance deductible but the paperwork they gave me showed glass & gasket cost of over $400.

Only call-out I'd make is whoever you go with to ensure they order the right metal stripping. Even though we went over this twice they somehow were shipped a chrome piece instead of black but I saw on the paperwork where they indicated black so I'm not sure how/where it got messed up. Since I didn't want to delay the install I told them just to put the original back so they were very careful when removing it and were able to re-use it.

BTW, the glass they used was PPG.

Hope this helps ...

[Rick Lee]

So how do these places keep your inspection and county decals? Or can they issue replacements? Also, can they get the newer windshields with the radio antennae that's encased in the center of the glass? My 993's windshield looks horrible.

[Vicegrip]

A sharp wide razorblade will shave the stickers right off in good shape. Thery go back on no problem as long as you don't let ther stick parts fold over and touch.
don't do like a guy I know did, he heated the glass with a torch to get them off so he could move them to another (unregestered) car and broke the good glass doing it.

[Richard Curtis]

Rick: yes, they remove and replace the decals and they also replace windshields with embedded antennae.

[Vicegrip]

they also replace windshields with embedded antennae.

Damn, that bug hit hard! ;)

[}{arlequin]

maybe we need a separate thread for puns?

[GoThingNC]

Some glass shops use a hand hel propane torch to heat up the sticker and they just peel off.

John

[GM2006]

A pebble hit my windshield and put a "moon" marking in it -- no chipping or cracking. Can't even feel the mark since it's pretty much inside the glass. Can anyone recommend a shop that repairs that sort of damage? One concern I have is that the tinting is lightened around the mark and may never be the same after a repair.

[matt de maria]

You can take it to Rockville Porsche; they normally sub it out to Jim Marks (Glass by Marks). It is a glue-in windshield and you need the plastic templates (he has) to align the glass upon installation. It is a bitch to do.

[GM2006]

Mike from Wise-Cracks Windshield Repair (703-314-1382) stopped by my house this morning and repaired the "bullseye" crack in my windshield. He did a fine job. $70 well spent.