# How can I repair a bent windshield post?



## plymouth71 (Dec 14, 2009)

I have a few cars I just got from a chap, But a few of them need repairs. I don't think any are broken, but severly bent and soft. Any help please?


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## bobwoodly (Aug 25, 2008)

I follow the Mike Vitale method of hot water and gentle pressure. Sometimes this will cause a stress mark (which can be cured by flame - but I have not had the guts to try that yet), or the post will crack or break. Sometimes I'll use Testors as a pre straightening softening agent to try to prevent cracks and breaks - but give it some time to dry - it's just used to make the plastic more supple. Hopefully Bill Hall will weigh in as he is the expert on all sorts of fixes.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Got pix?


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## plymouth71 (Dec 14, 2009)

yeah, no problem


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## sidewinder (Jan 29, 2008)

If nothing else works you could cut out the posts and replace them with styrene with a little careful work you could etch those lines back in. I'm guessing that this might be the way to go; with the way the posts are bot bent it looks like the roof is down in front so you'd have to bend it back up too. That might not be easy.


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

*Heat of another sort*

Looks like you can get away with the softening technique here. I never advocate heat/fire around the a-pillars unless you're prepared to fix them. Most times I find the hot water trick to be wishful thinking, EXCEPT FOR slightly bowed pillars...no more than a waggle. Those skinny AFX pillars, and most all pillars generally break when you try heat and move them with hot water. Not sayin' it cant be done that way; I just prefer a higher success rate and better control of the "heat".

What you have there is a seriously buckled pillar (pass) and a kinked one (driver). The Testors softening technique requires PATIENCE, but rarely fails. Ordinarily I prefer to use a set of tweezers to spring the roof up like a porta power. This takes the load off of the pillars as they begin to soften up. You have a full glass car so you might want to yank the window insert. 

In a nut shell, the pillars are gradually softened over a period of time until they can carefully pushed back into shape. Testors 3502 is carefully applied to the pillar until the pillar become saturated and softens up. THIS takes time! Repete applications over a period of days (2 er 3) maybe longer. I personally prefer to apply the 3502 to the backside of the pillar. Another reason to yank the glass.  This allows me to push on the outside with out maring the "lookee" side. It also limits the amount of total damage to buff up after the straightening is completed; or should it break and you have to resort to other measures you'll have less to sculpt and more of the original factory line to follow.

Both sides are done at the same time. Ordinarily if you didnt have stress marks to start with...you wont have them after ...unless you get impatient and install them yourself. It is important to remember that the pillar doesnt just move back all at once like abracadabra. The trick is to keep it saturated to make it pliable, but not so much that it turns to goop. Start moving it incrementally (it'll let you know when it's ready). When it STOPS...YOU STOP, then resaturate it until it's ready to move again. As many times as it takes. 

It's really not hard...justs takes time. No reason ya cant take a piece of scrap, bow it, straighten it back and aquire a feel for it. I recommend a practice run. Good luck!


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## plymouth71 (Dec 14, 2009)

Thanks, I'll give it a shot when I have some time to give it the patience it needs.


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## [email protected] (Jan 31, 2010)

Thanks for the detailed instructions Bill Hall. I'm going to try this.


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## plymouth71 (Dec 14, 2009)

*not too bad*

well it's much better than before...


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## Bill Hall (Jan 6, 2007)

Good job! If you want more. Slide some foil behind the glass to protect it and keep at it.


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