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what windshield? I did that to the windshield on my Little Red Wagon pickup. I had put interior sun visors above the windshield and one of them fell off. So I put a little bit of super glue on a toothpick and as I went in to place it on the roof inside so I could then press the visor in place, it was like static electricity or something. The glue literally jumped off the toothpick and made a zig zag pattern across the windshield. I just pulled out the windshield and made a new one from clear plastic sheet. Depending on the windshield shape, you may be better off doing that than trying to save yours.

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It is not impossible to remove glue marks from clear plastic (provided the spot isn't too deeply damaged) but it does require a lot of elbow grease. I like to use a medium sanding stick to smooth the area, followed by a special triple grit stick I got at a beauty supply store. I don't know specifically what grit it is but it has a fine section on one side and the other side is split between a really fine grit and a smooth burnisher. When I finish with the burnisher it is almost shiny. Lastly, I polish the whole piece with Novus plastic polish. A final finish of Future would probably look good but I have never had to use it- the clear parts usually look passable to my eyes after polishing.

You have to be careful not to sand a flat spot on curved pieces.

If the piece is too badly damaged or you just want a new piece you can use the original as a buck and heat form clear acetate over it to make a new piece. That's sort of an old-school solution but one I have used in the past.

Scott

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Carl Slusher and Scott are both right...it can be sanded and polished off if it's not too deep, but it's a lot easier to just replace it.

Plastic model glue is a solvent and eats into the plastic, which means you'll have to remove material from the clear part down to the level of the deepest damage the glue has done, and then polish the gloss back up. If it's not very deep, start with 600 grit sandpaper wet, and progress up to 12,000 grit (just as if you were color-sanding paint). Then polish with a fine abrasive like 3M Perfect-It.

If the damage isn't really deep, you CAN remove every trace of it if you work carefully. Be careful when you're sanding that you don't make the windshield wavy from sanding too aggressively in one area.

Avoid the problem in the future by using one of the PVA glues made specifically for clear parts.

Edited by Ace-Garageguy
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now that it is polished out, give it a coat of Future and it will totally disappear. in fact in some cases you don't even really need all that much polishing, the Future will go a long way toward making glue on a windshield disappear.

now the thing is, what to use to attach the windshield. again I would recommend Future around the edge of the windshield after lightly taping it in place in strategic places. or a drop of clear epoxy in each corner. or even just some white (Elmers) glue if you don't think it will get stressed much. superglue near a windshield give me the willies, just hearing about it is bad enough.

jb

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