Sailors: The Roadside Windshield Guy

RACHEL DICKERSON/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Zebby Sailors of Bella Vista, Ark., repairs windshields in McDonald County on the side of U.S. Highway 71.
RACHEL DICKERSON/MCDONALD COUNTY PRESS Zebby Sailors of Bella Vista, Ark., repairs windshields in McDonald County on the side of U.S. Highway 71.

Zebby Sailors of Bella Vista, Ark., can be found most days on the side of U.S. Highway 71 near Pineville offering his mobile windshield repair service.

A native Texan, Sailors moved to northwest Arkansas two years ago and started his own business, Sailors' Mobile Windshield Repair. He had operated a similar business in Pampa, Texas.

"I have many years experience in Texas before I moved up here," he said. He said he has repaired right at least 800 windshields in two years.

"I just do chip repair," he said. "I can save their windshield for a very nominal fee."

There are three steps to chip repair, Sailors said. First, he uses a carbon-tip drill to drill a small hole into the chip. Next, he fills it with resin. Finally, he cures it. The sun does a really good job of curing the resin, or on cloudy days, he can use a UV light that plugs into the cigarette lighter of his car.

Sailors charges $35 to repair a chip -- cash or check. He offers a money-back guarantee if the chips crack after repair. So far he has had to give money back on three out of 800, he said.

"I'm doing it primarily to have something to do," Sailors said. "I'm semi-retired. I'm 79 years old. I don't want to sit down and do nothing. I really enjoy it because I meet so many really, really nice people. I enjoy visiting with the people I do business with. I've done a lot of things in my life, but nothing probably any more enjoyable."

Sailors worked in real estate in Texas and was a minister of a Church of Christ for 35 years. He also taught school for a while but it was not a good fit for him, he said. He grew up in the Texas panhandle, near Amarillo. He has a master's degree in counseling psychology from Adams State College in Alamosa, Colo., where he also earned his bachelor's degree.

He and his wife, Ava, have been married 62 years. They have five children and "oodles of grandchildren." They moved to Bella Vista to be near their youngest daughter, he said.

General News on 01/05/2017