Morris Minor Owners Club

Hi,
Whilst restoring Sally I've had cause to take the screens out and have found some curious pitting to the inner surface of the rear screen....
I say pitting, however when you ran your hand over it the feel was more of sandpaper, so raised grains rather than pitting really.
I did wonder whether it might be old paint overspray or the like, although they felt more part of the construction of the screen rather than something splashed on later.
I tried all the usual cleaners, from warm soapy water to 'T' cut, to remove it. Standard thinners did nothing either.
In the end I treated it like the marble hearth I cut and reshaped when I was reinstating my bedroom fireplace a few years back and polished the screen with the same marble polish and polisher attached to my drill. In effect treating the glass like stone.
It has polished out the rough surface, so the inner face is now smooth to touch (and seems to have acquired a pleasing greenish tint) but it is still (lightly compared to how it was) marked, see pictures below.
Strange how I didn't really notice when I was driving the car home.....
Perhaps because it didn't effect my rearward vision, as it is around the two corners more than in the middle.
Also the edges of the screen appear 'nibbled', is this how the screens were shaped?
I've noticed this to an extent on my original (split) front screens and in pictures of screens for sale as well.
Thanks and best wishes,
Mike.

Strange you should discover this.
I found the same problem about 18 months back with Basil's rear glass, exactly as you described, a raised 'grittiness'. I used a paint scrapper, the sort where you have a 'Stanly Knife' blade in the end, designed for scrapping paint from household windows etc. It all came off easily enough. I then used a little scratch removing Plastic Polish to finish it off.
Mine wasn't nearly as bad as yours though.
I too wondered if it were paint overspray, but to my knowledge, Basil has never had the glass out for a full spray and the interior black looks original, much duller than the exterior.
I then considered if it was the little 'puke marks' that flies leave behind on surfaces.
The reasoning that when Basil has been off road for a few years, and I know he was about 20 odd years ago, whoever got him back on the road might have neglected to properly clean the inside of the rear screen....

I then considered if it was the little 'puke marks' that flies leave behind on surfaces.

They can be stubborn to remove but not this stubborn....
It's like it was 'cast' in sand....

From your picture and explanation I suspect the marks are from the careless use of an angle grinder or possibly spits from a welder, both will easily leave 1000s of tiny pieces of grinding dust or weld splatter embedded in glass.

Unfortunately both are very hard to remove although a razor blade scraper will help but I doubt you will ever get them all out,

Of course I could be wrong but I've seen this so many times before when some Grinding or welding has been done and the glass or upholstery has not been protected, for the glass all it needs is something like thick card and masking / gaffer tape to protect the glass.

Steve

That sounds very plausible Steve...

I suspect the marks are from the careless use of an angle grinder or possibly spits from a welder

That does sound plausible, Sally has been 'tarted up' in the past.
I'm just glad they didn't damage the headlining.
As you can still see through it I shall put it back in, it's part of her history.....

Does anyone have any thoughts on the 'nibbled' edges of the screens?
Best wishes,
Mike.

Mice

I'd go along with Steve above.

The window in my garage is level with the vice on my bench and any angle grinding sparks go that way. I didn't realise until one day when the tolerant Mrs C remarked that the window was dirtier inside than outside. Cleaning it snagged the cloth but using a Stanley knife blade in one of those holders bought it smooth again. I guess there's still little indentations in the glass but the window is a lot better than it was.

Good luck and be wary of flying sparks is the aim.

Cheers, Colin.

From my experiences Steve is correct.

Someone has used an angle grinder inside the car as some point and the hot sparks flying off the disc have literally melted themselves into the surface of the glass. These particles will never come out of the glass unfortunately.

If only the person responsible had covered the glass with a cardboard sheet to protect it.

Mice