Hey guys, this has been driving me nuts since I bought this car... The windshield somehow accumulates an odd substance on it, that I can't seem to figure out where the heck it's coming from... It seems to be kinda like oil, but it comes back all the time... I can leave the car sitting and it comes back... It's just this wierd film that I NEED TO GET RID OF!! lol Anybody have any idea what it is, or how to get rid of it?

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'68 Camaro IN PROGRESS
(383 is being built)
Totalled '74 LT
(Parting out)

Is it on the inside or outside of the windshield? On the inside, it may be your
heater core going bad causing a film of
antifreeze on your windshield.....

WOW!! You know what, that's gotta be it, because now that I think of it, the heater core is TRASH in this car... So the only thing to do now is replace the heater core... Thanx!! (and yes, it is on the inside)

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'68 Camaro IN PROGRESS
(383 is being built)
Totalled '74 LT
(Parting out)

Many of the newer windshields do this due to the UV additives in the glass. They leach out and form a greasy "fog" on the inside of the windshield. Just have to clean it from time to time....

Steve

lol "From time to time" has meant EVERY TIME I get into the thing... hehe but thanx, guys

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'68 Camaro IN PROGRESS
(383 is being built)
Totalled '74 LT
(Parting out)

I've also heard that vinyl will outgas and cause a film on the window. Not a lot you can do about that but you might try putting a sheet of painters plastic over the dash to see if that helps. Maybe I'll try that!

I wonder if you use a product such as Armor All if that would have an effect. I don't use the stuff.

I have to clean the inside of the front and rear glass if I leave the car parked for more than a week. It's real hard to get all the streaks out. The "show inspection" products work pretty well.

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Click here to see see my car and hear 5-speeds. http://www.geocities.com/casanoc

I had the same problem in another vehicle when the heater core went south. Nasty anti-freeze vapor all over..........mmmmmm - breath deeply!

This reminds me of my old 76' Gran Prix.It had a vinyl roof.I could never figure out why the outside of the windows were so hard to clean.They always had a light fog to them,real bad after washing the car(and top).It took me I think a whole year to figure out it was the vinyl top conditioner I was usuing on it.DUH!

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67 RS RAGTOP # matching
4X4 Chevy truck
4X4 Suburban

lol Yeah, we had the same problem with my mom's '87 Regal! Simple fix... lol But in my case, the film is on the inside of the window, and I'm almost POSITIVE it's the heater core because that thing is THRASHED... Needs replaced BAD... Anybody know how involved that swap is?

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'68 Camaro IN PROGRESS
(383 is being built)
Totalled '74 LT
(Parting out)

Bad heater core. You need to bypass your heater immediately or replace it. What you don't see is the occasional drips of antifreeze dribbling down behind the carpet into the passenger floorboards. If you have the original carpet sound deadener underlayment, then it also has a thin layer of fiberglass insulation matting under it that adheres to the sheet metal over time. This stuff holds moisture forever because it is under the tar paper/roofing felt underlayment. I know antifreeze has rust inhibitor in it, but you don't want the moisture to sit in the matting directly against the body sheet metal for too long. I'd give you about 3 months worth of wetness before mother rust goes to town.

Whoa... now that's something I DIDN'T KNOW... I guess I'll be buying a new heater core REAL SOON... (like tomorrow)... How would I go about bypassing it?

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'68 Camaro IN PROGRESS
(383 is being built)
Totalled '74 LT
(Parting out)

Drain about a 2 gallons of coolant out of your system. Take the small upper hose from the intake and disconnect this hose from the firewall and connect it to the bigger fitting on the water pump. Hopefully your hose is not too brittle and it can stretch over the bigger fittings without splitting. Tighten the hose clamps and tada you have bypassed the heater. Refill the coolant.

The way the inside heater cabinet sits, if any coolant is draining down the inside of your firewall, it would be at the point where two sheet metal rib indentations go up and down where your left foot would be on the passenger side. Peel back your carpet at this spot and reach down behind the underlayment and see if it is wet. You should be able to do this without totally pulling the carpet out from under the right kick panel. If it is wet on the slanted verticle floor panel, then it is surely wet at the horizontal heel spot. If it is wet pull the carpet up from under the kick panel and peel it back far enough to raise and peel back the horizontal underlayment. Then use a trusty blow dryer on the mat insulation. I seriously doubt you could dry the fiberglass mat without lifting up the tar paper underlayment. This is assuming that the underlayment is original. The aftermarket underlayment doesn't come with the fiberglass mat backing so it should be easier to dry out that area in that case.

On a non-air car, on front of the metal heater box is a long black plastic dispurser. It has one screw on the right and two on the left (one on the left is hard to see as it goes in from the bottom). The main heater box has 5 nuts on the firewall (2 on top, 3 on the bottom). Also there is a plastic dispurser on the left end of the metal heater box. The easiest way is to leave it attached to the heater box and remove its one screw that connects its flat wire bracket from the firewall, then take the whole thing out together. You will need to disconnect the three cables that are on the top side of the box. The one in the middle has a strange wire clip on it, where the two cables at either end just have a pushnut. Each of these three cables also have a housing retainer bracket that has a screw with the same long head as used on the headlight dimmer switch to attach it to the floorboard.

Lemme just start by saying "duh"... The heater core was bypassed when I picked this car up!! Hmm... Now the only thing I'm thinking is that maybe, much like Carl and Drake said, it's either the vinyl itself or something I'm using on it. Well, I'll gets to looking, but thanx anyways guys!! lol

Frank

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'68 Camaro IN PROGRESS
(383 is being built)
Totalled '74 LT
(Parting out)

It could be that the heater was bypassed because it was leaking and may have left enough anti-freeze in the heater box to continue messing up your windshield for a while. You didn't say how long you've had the car but it sounds like you've only had it a short time so you might check this out.

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Scott
'69 400SB, Richmond 5-speed; '99 HD Road King Classic
www.geocities.com/sdenning1 (http://www.geocities.com/sdenning1)

How much Armor-All / Son of a Gun is on the dash? Out in the sun, this stuff evaporates into a greasy film. FYI

You must be using Armor-All. Almost all of those vinyl "protectants" will create that greasy fog.

I read somewhere to use Pledge furniture polish on vinyl instead, as it won't evaporate like AA.

Alright, thanx guys... Thanx Ken... But now when I go to start using Pledge, how do I get rid of the stuff that's on there right now??

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'68 Camaro IN PROGRESS
(383 is being built)
Totalled '74 LT
(Parting out)

"You must be using Armor-All. Almost all of those vinyl "protectants" will create that greasy fog.
I read somewhere to use Pledge furniture polish on vinyl instead, as it won't evaporate like AA"

I just tried Pledge on an interior part,not very shiny,maybe the part is too dirty!!


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'67 RS/SS 427,4 Speed
Disc brakes,console, fold down rear seat,heater,
Radio Delete, Cowl hood,front,rear spoilers,
Black/black white bumblebee stripe

Chances are you have one or both of the more
common culprits- new vinyl somewhere in the
car, or some sort of vinyl protectant that has been recently applied. Both problems
are more obvious during the warmer weather.
A little time, some WINDEX, and a few months
(yes, months!) of scrubbing whenever the
problem gets annoying enough should solve
your problem.

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1969 SS 350 Clone
"I'd rather have a bottle in front of me than a frontal lobotomy!"