On occasion I've had someone ask about using nail polish either to repair a windshield or to seal it off until a permanent repair can be made.

Aggravating this misconception is highlighted in the latest National Windshield Repair Association, news letter that reports Family Circle Magazine has published an ad by The National Pork Board that indicates nail polish can be used to repair a windshield. Or in a quote from the ad that compares nail polish to duct tape, "fix just about everything - a run in my stockings, a chip in my windshield".

Wrong! To begin with nail polish isn't an adhesive. When I've seen it used in a windshield it yellows badly. It apparently doesn't have any uv stabilizers in it. Secondly by putting nail polish on a windshield chip you aren't hydraulically injecting it into the chip and as such the chip wouldn't be completely filled. So besides using a product not designed for windshield repair you would also have a chip that wasn't completely filled; even if the proper resin was used, you would have an increase risk of failure.

Finally by using nail polish on a windshield chip you make it where the chip can't be properly filled with resin. Simply put by using nail polish you will be replacing your windshield.

The other day I took a call from Michael, he had recently finished restoring a 1972 Beetle, a birthday gift for his girl friend and while he was out on the road the windshield caught a rock. When I got out there the windshield had a small bullseye chip on it.

As you can see by the above photo this is a very clean bug. It has already 2 first place car show wins and will be going for a third win in Tulsa this weekend. This should be a good test of the quality my windshield repair.

Michael both restores and modifies cars as a hobby, besides racing them. To date he has worked on a dozen or more Mustangs. His work also includes a Camaro and a 1970 Oldsmobile Cutlass. This was his first time working on a Volkswagen and I think he did a fantastic job, particularly when you consider this car was wrecked when he started. Anyway here are a few more pictures.

Right & Front View

Interior Of The 1972 Volkswagen Beetle

The Engine Of The 1972 Volkswagen Beetle

Frequently I'll get a call asking about how much it costs to repair a windshield. That is followed by how long can I go before I've got to repair my windshield or it cracks out. The answer is unknown as there are too many variables; but waiting just increases the risk of having a cracked windshield. Likewise waiting lets more contamination get into the chip which can affect the strength and the appearance.

Now you don't need to be like the guy who called to tell me had just gotten a chip on his windshield and "had been lucky that it hadn't cracked out as he eased it off the side of I-40 near a street called Sooner". He expected us out their right away as if he couldn't move the vehicle like a blown tire.

On the other hand you don't want to be like the individual that called during one of the last rain storms to inform me that he needed his windshield repaired ASAP. It seems he had gotten a chip on his windshield 3 to 4 weeks earlier about the size of a quarter. In their words it had already grown 2 inches more and they could actually see it moving. As I've stated many times before, rain or snow and windshield repairs don't mix.

So what can cause a windshield chip to crack out.

Invisible Flaws - Which has been found to be a reason for the chips to begin with, could lead to cracking at anytime.

Stress - That can happen when the windshield is installed or while the auto is being driven.

Driving - Where you drive, how rough the roads are ( train tracks, potholes, wash board surfaces, etc.), and even the way you drive ( hard acceleration, hard braking, fast through the curves, etc.).

Vibrations - From either the road or slamming doors, hoods and trunk lids.

Weather - Extreme high or low temperatures, fluctuating temperatures; water that can penetrate the chip and then freezes.

These are just a few of the situations that can lead to a chip cracking your windshield. Your best bet is to have the windshield repaired within a few days when time and conditions permit it.

I guess it's been a couple of years since I began hearing that if you need to take a driving test for an Oklahoma driving license that the auto you use better not have a cracked windshield. A while back I had called The Oklahoma Department Of Public Safety, and asked about this policy. It seems if the driving tester deems the vehicle being used unsafe they can and will reject the test until the person being tested provides a safe vehicle. A car with a windshield crack is consider unsafe by the state.

Not a big surprise as under the old Oklahoma State, vehicle inspection program any auto or truck with a cracked windshield was a cause for it to fail the inspection. Current law on the books can cause a driver caught driving a vehicle with a cracked windshield to be ticketed.

It appears things have changed and become more strict as I did a windshield repair on a customer's auto because their daughter had been rejected from their driving test due to a chip. Now we aren't talking big chip or one in the direct driver's vision. The star on the windshield had just 3 legs and could be covered with a nickel. Location wise it was just below the center of the windshield (top to bottom) and under the driver's side of the rear view mirror.

Most likely the reason for rejecting the auto was that a chip on the windshield can crack out at anytime. While having the car rejected is an inconvenience it can take an unsafe vehicle off the road by making the owner fix the problem. In the case of a windshield chip it forces the owner to repair the windshield; saving them money over replacement and eliminating the risk of an unsafe windshield replacement.