Windscreen bullseye repairs?

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StuartR
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Windscreen bullseye repairs?

Post by StuartR »

jsut a general question -
I've got a couple of bullseye chips on my windscreen which should be repairable (not in drivers view zone, hope MOT people agree!)
I just wondered if anyone had successfully used one of the kits you can get. The best one looks like the halfords one for £25 but thats quite alot if it doesn't work.
If its done by a pro is about £40ish I think, they use a dremmel type drill to make a hole in the centre of the bullseye. I've got a dremmel but I'm not to keen on drilling into a windscreen.
Has any body done this? any particular size drill bit, rev speed, or anything to watch for?
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Post by JohnD »

Hi Stuart - My daughter recently got a bullseye in the windscreen of her Pug205, and although I considered it was below the driver's view zone, I took it along to my local MOT shop for an opinion. The MOT has two months to run and I didn't want a fail for that reason. He measured the damage with a ruler which contained a cutout of about 10mm circumferance. It seems that if the damage is within the cutout and outside the view zone, the windscreen is acceptable. Trouble is, the chip is likely to spread.
StuartR
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Post by StuartR »

cheers john, i've read about the zones and damage sizes and it does seem to be ok but its the risk of cracks spreeding from the chip that concerns me.
??Has no-one tried to fix them themselves?? still thinking about it.
I'll probably ask an MOT'er before it's mot though. Rather fix it before, than fail and do it anyway!
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Post by JohnD »

Hi Stuart - I see Halfords have repair kits for windscreen damage, but they certainly ain't cheap. What you pay would go a long way towards your excess.
Grant Withington
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Post by Grant Withington »

Before you buy the kit from Halfords, double check your car insurance. Some insurers now provide free glass repairs,rather than replacement, without you having to pay the excess.
Grant
StuartR
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Post by StuartR »

no chance of insurance doing it
3rd party f/t ..... on a budget and thats why I'm tring to save where I can.
Still no one who's tried it?
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MW
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Post by MW »

Doesn't sound like such a great idea to me. I had my screen repaired professionally at Autoglass a couple of years ago, and it involved a lot of processes that you really couldn't do yourself.
Such as applying a suction appliance to both sides of the screen, to make sure (i) there was no dirt, water or other nasties to get in the way of the solvent and (ii) using the suction again to literally suck the glue into every corner of the crack.
Imagine how fed up you'd be if you did the gluing yourself but left a big dark crack in the middle of the repair where the glue hadn't quite reached. Could be an MOT fail. Worth the £40 to get it done properly, I reckon.
Mike
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Post by jonnyboy »

Help on both counts !
As long as the damage is smaller than 10cm & not in the swept area directly in front of the steering wheel , a repair is acceptable for MOT purposes.
Have used Halfords kit successfully on my own car, without drilling.
Cleanliness, & extreme patience in not rushing anything is the key to a good job, Make sure you have a Razor blade handy before you start as from recollection the instructions didn't mention it until the very end.
Jon
(Vehicle Inspectorate Authorised Examiner)
StuartR
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Post by StuartR »

thanks for the replies, much appreciate it. Just passed the mot so thats not a problem now, phew, but it isn't in the 290mm cenral zone so it should have.
Haynes body work manual explains the professional process and also found an aussie car website which explained the prof process to with lots of detail.
Both of these used a small drill to make sure the resin flowed through to the deepest damage. Just wondered if those halfords 25 quid kits have proved good or bad to others.
Also these kits are reusable and do 7 repairs if anyone has one they've finished with (must be enough for 2 repairs, and complete) I'd give a fair price for it. It seems pointless paying for 7 repairs this way you can share the price.
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alan s
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Post by alan s »

Stuart,
Hailing from Kangaroo country, I can tell you that the reason they recommend drilling over here is two fold.
Firstly the cracks which are around the bullseye hole are usually on the move. Now it has to be remembered that our temperature variances are probably greater than yours in that in winter we can have a zero degree morning which will rise to say 25 deg C by around 10 am.
Get into a car with a frosty screen & drive down the road and Keeerrrack!!!!!!!! a six inch split which will grow to the bottom of the screen by the end of the week. Just basic expansion causing the crack to grow.
Secondly we also have some pretty rugged roads. After rain (I think I can still remember what it looks like) potholes 3 inches deep are not uncommon also the subsoil in the road base can get very pliable in wet & hot periods causing corrugations. These will cause cars to shake & vibrate and again the movement in the body will cause them to grow.
I don't know how different that is to your set of circumstances but with the benefit of hindsight, I have every crack regardless of size drilled as it has proven to be a very short lived experience not doing so - I don't think that out here I have ever seen one that wasn't drilled that didn't split.
Alan S
StuartR
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Post by StuartR »

Cheers for the responce alan,
very interesting see your point about aussie heat problems,
I'm on look for a very thin drill bit, just need the guts to try then.
saga continues...
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grahamw
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Post by grahamw »

Stuartr Re; windscreen repair listen to an expert
I would first suggest you look for a company that only does repair this this is because they will only earn their wages by repairing and not replacing your screen.I am yet to find a good repair and replacement conpany combined mainly due to lack of training and insetive.
I have been in the business of screen repair for over 15 years and will answer honestly any question you would care to ask.
The average cost of a screen repair by a repair only company is in the region of £25 to £30 per screen regardless of amount of damages tell me where you are and I will try to give you a contact address for someone in your area.
The kits sold by accessory shops are of very poor quality quite often you will notice that the resin in the packs is almost yellow how will this give a invisible repair to quote their adverts.
Any other question out there on smart repair drop a line
graham
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Post by NiSk »

Hi Stuart!
I got a bullseye roughly in the middle of the screen about 4 years ago. I live in Sweden and the insurance companies will replace a screen if the damage is within the drivers view zone, if it's a small bullseye they'll have it repaired free within the drivers view zone, otherwise there's £80 execess!
So it tried one of these bulleye - repair kits - I think it was made by one of Loctite's companies. And yes it uses a suction principle. The job was a bit fiddly, but I managed and the damage hasn't increased over 4 years.
I'm desperately hoping to get a proper crack in the screen before the sand-blasting effect of long distance means I have to pay for a new screen myself!
It seems that the screen on the XM is angled so that stones just bounce off! The cars done 450 000km with the original screen.
//NiSk
StuartR
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Post by StuartR »

Thanks for latest reply's ,GrahamW I'll will get back to you about that. Cheers
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