| Author | Topic |
|---|
Location:
Land of Oz
Registered:
June 2004
|
|
Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Fri, 08 October 2004 11:42
|
 |
Hi,
I checked thru these forums and found a couple of topics on this, but need more info.
The suggestion was to polish the lens with car polish, though jewelers rouge may be better, and then to paint the inside of the lens with some "special" paint.
What is this "special" paint? Has it got a name or a brand? And, can I get it from any reputable autoparts shop?
seeyuzz
river
|
|
|
Location:
NSW, East Coast
Registered:
July 2003
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 08:00
|
|
|
I use Auto Glym always works for me, or you could use a metal polish, thats workes for me too.
|
|
|
Location:
Liverpool, Sydney
Registered:
September 2004
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 08:03
|
|
|
This may sound dumb - but do you mean the black part, or the actual lens?
|
|
|
Location:
Land of Oz
Registered:
June 2004
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 08:10
|
|
Hi,
I mean the actual lens - the orange indicator ones and the red stop ones. The UV from the sun, over years, makes it fade a little bit and gets that milky, cloudy colour to it. I want to rejuvinate them back to nice bright oranges and reds.
Autoglyn! I've heard of that before. It's supposed to be excellent for sprucing up dashboard facia's also. I'm gonna have to get me some.
seeyuzz
river
|
|
|
Location:
Liverpool, Sydney
Registered:
September 2004
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 08:25
|
|
Have you thought about knocking them back with some 800 - 1000 wet and dry, then re-clearing them?
Neko.
|
|
|
Toymods Social Secretary
Location:
Sydney
Registered:
July 2002
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 09:50
|
|
a bit o' the ol' cut n polish works well for me 
|
|
|
Location:
Land of Oz
Registered:
June 2004
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 10:14
|
|
Hi,
Okay. So it seems a bit of cut-back polish or something like that is the go. Ergo, you don't bother with any special paint on the inside of the lens? If not, cool - less work for me, other than a bit of elbow grease.
I haven't tried wet/dry sandpaper. Dunno if it would be too harsh and scratch up the lens.
seeyuzz
river
|
|
|
Location:
adelaide
Registered:
April 2003
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 11:03
|
|
my experiences :
if they are only very slightly milky and dull a bit of cutting compound on the buffing wheel should clean them up to a respectable level
if they are really milky put them in a bin and either look for better 2nd hand ones or go get newies from toyota
you cannot 'un-milky' a lens, it is just the natural deterioration of the plastics from being out in the weather etc... kind of like trying to 'buff out' rust, if its very minor you can clean it up easily but if you have mega rust you shoudl start again... makes sense??
|
|
|
Location:
Land of Oz
Registered:
June 2004
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 11:13
|
|
Hi,
I can't get spare lens (specifically tail light lens) for my car, unless I know some Jap wrecking/importer who can dig up a set for me. They don't look too bad so hopefully the scrub-up will be all I need to do.
seeyuzz
river
|
|
|
Location:
Baulko Hillo
Registered:
April 2004
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 11:52
|
|
River,
After using some cut and polish on my lights and grille recently, I went to Auto1 and bought this Meguiars stuff that is for clear plastics and it works a treat!
As for the painting of the lens, I guess you could use a clear-orange or red paint. I use this stuff on my plastic models and if you only have to paint a small area, it would work very well methinks. Only problem is if you have to paint a large area as the bottles are really small..... I guess you could buy a lot of them!
Cheers,
Jeremy.
|
|
|
Location:
Land of Oz
Registered:
June 2004
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 12:01
|
|
Hi,
Cool. Thanks for that. While were on the subject, have you guys and gals got any idea of how to rejuvinate the dashboard fascia?
Like, I mean, the black plastic console and other stuff - not the vinyl dashpad. I can use shoe-polish stuff - the type that you put on and don't need to buff - has the applicator on the bottle - not the greay stuff in the can. But that's good for a nice touch before shows and stuff. I need something to clean and brighten it up before I use the bott-polish stuff.
Slut... new avator, eh?
seeyuzz
river
|
|
|
Location:
Baulko Hillo
Registered:
April 2004
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 12:06
|
|
Hey,
I used the same stuff on some of my interior and it worked well, but I would recommend you speak to someone who really knows their shit.... Especially when doing this stuff on a rarity like yours. Not worth the risk of stuffing it up man!
And yeah, the avatar is basically how my car will look (except in hatch form of course!) hopefully within a couple of months.
|
|
|
Location:
NSW, East Coast
Registered:
July 2003
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 12:09
|
|
| FKN16V wrote on Sat, 09 October 2004 18:00 |
I use Auto Glym always works for me, or you could use a metal polish, thats workes for me too.
|
Like i said, AutoGlym, its the best ive seen so far, even my old plastic bits on the interior came up a treat, take a few coats.
Its not as effective on harder plastics like lights etc, but it will brighten them up.
As said before a cutting compound and buffer wheel will work wonders on your harder plastics.
Auto Glym would be excellent just before car shows, paint it on with a brush leave it for 10mins, then wipe off, easy as that.
Hope it works out for you.
Cheers
Steve
|
|
|
Location:
Land of Oz
Registered:
June 2004
|
|
Re: Rejuvinating Plastic Tail/Indicator Lens
|
Sat, 09 October 2004 12:35
|
|
Hi,
Again, thanks people. I got a few things to try out and see how it goes. I'll try not to stuff up anything, I promise.
I did contact a few restoration places - I'm talking about Concourse Restoration places that do Rollers, Jags, Ferraris and other exotics. None of them had an idea on rejuvinating hard plastic such as consoles. Crikey, I thought, if you guys don't know, then how do you get a car to concourse condition?
Ha! The answer, as usual, comes from forums here. If I get this console looking new, I'm gonna photo and document what I done for others to do, or, better still, keep the knowledge and form me a company that can do this type of restoration. Naturally, I'd be a sponsor of Toymods and give you a bit of a discount
That's 'cos I'm a hellaciously nice guy 
Well, I'm off to bed now 'cos the naked news isn't on 2nite.
seeyuzz
river
|
|
|
