"Shaving" plastic lenses -- any suggestions?

[lwatson]

I hope this belongs in the "detailing" category. . .



Does anyone have any experience or knowledge on "shaving" the plastic light lenses on your car -- in other words, removing the raised lettering that is typically found on plastic lenses, and which tend to collect dirt and old wax. I have seen the results of shaving lenses a couple times and, although you wouldn`t think it would make a big difference, I was very impressed -- VERY SMOOOOTH LOOKING!



Can anyone outline the procedure along with the materials/tools needed?



Thanks,

[blackntan]

Actually, there`s an incredibly good write-up about this at www.miata.net



Check it out!



clickie (http://www.miata.net/hakuna/polished%20lenses.html)





G`uck!

[lwatson]

Beautiful! Just what I was looking for.



Thank you, Blackntan. I can`t believe I didn`t find it there. . . I`m a miata.net forum member, also. `93 LE (Black and red). :xyxthumbs

[blackntan]

really?? wow! beautiful car!!!!!



I have a 96 PEP Black and Tan...



any pics??

[BoxsterCharlie]

Very cool and totally unique tip! Tomorrow I`m going to take a close look at my cars and see what needs shaving! I don`t think the Boxster has any raised lettering--but is it wrong if I wished it did just so I could try this? :rolleyes:

[C. Charles Hahn]

I`d be willing to bet your car does have some if its a USA approved (DOT) version of the car..... All DOT approved vehicles are required to have markings on them from the factory.



And besides, I thought you entered your car in concours events?? If you did a !Rasedletters mod, it would deduct points from your car`s authenticity. :p

[BoxsterCharlie]

Actually you`re right--I checked and my lenses do have the DOT markings. And they are pretty annoying...I just never even thought about doing anything about it until I read this post.



Yes you`re technically right about concours. But you know what? I`d take the risk that they wouldn`t notice except on a subliminal "wow that looks real clean" feeling about the car. :D

[imported_doug]

What a cool trick. I`m going to be lookin` at my lenses too!



I am not patient enough to get the highest spots off with sand paper. I will use another means, most likely scraping with a fresh x-acto blade.



As a word of caution let me re-emphasize something the guy said - (I have done a good bit of plastic polishing - but not these lenses.) if you use a machine (dremel or bench ginder-style buffer) you can get a lot done, but it is very, very easy to go a little too hard and then you get instant melt. The scar is much worse than whatever you were trying to repair, and sometimes ruins the piece. So if you use a machine, be VERY patient - keep the work moving at all times, NEVER use much pressure - and use a proper plastic polishing compound. You can`t use liquids like Meguiar`s with buffing wheels - they just fly right off. You have to use compounds formulated for buffing wheels. These contain the abrasive in a carrier than only melts at fairly high temps - so you apply them by rubbing a stick of the stuff onto the wheel. It melts onto the fibers and stays there for a while.

[blackntan]

Nice! I`m glad you guys found the link useful. I can`t take any credit for anything, however, and you should check out the rest of his site! Mostly Miata specific stuff, but he does have some incredible ideas!



I actually haven`t done this to my car, as I`m afraid of messing the lens up..



Carguy, can you give us some tips on how to polish plastic by hand correctly? Specifically in this situation? I would sand the lens down, then what? Any chemicals you recommend for this??



I`d love to hear your take on the complete process by hand, if you wouldnt mind...



Thanks!! :xyxthumbs



Jared

[lwatson]

Blackntan -- believe it or not, I don`t have any digital photos at the moment, but I hope to remedy that soon. I`ll let you know. Because of her limited production, I`ve kept her pretty much stock. Any modifications I make in the future will be reversible. Although, I believe I am going to have to shave the lenses after seeing the examples.



Do you have any pictures of Black and Tan?

[imported_doug]

I think the guy`s web site has reasonable instructions for hand polishing. Meguiar`s plastic cleaner and polish are good products. If you can`t find them at an auto parts store, check at just about any private airport. Pilots use them all the time on their windows.



If I were to do it all by hand I would start with more aggressive grit paper, being careful to minimize scratches from it anywhere but directly over the raised letters. hen up through a few grades to 600, and maybe 1200 before 2000.

[928Rob]

One of my other hobbies is building scale models. Occasionally an item that is used in one hobby can help in another hobby. One of items is the MicroMesh polishing system. It incorporates several different girts of polishing cloths (range from 2,400 to 12,000) that you use with an included rubber sanding block. After you go through the entire range of cloths, you use the included polish and buff it out using the included polishing (suede-like) cloth. It makes plastic look sparkling clear. Most modelers use it on airplane canopies or underneath metallic paint schems and car modelers use it to create really beautiful overall paint schemes. I hear from some friends who own real aircraft that they use it on their windscreens and then finish it up using Plexus. It works very well. I have attached the URL. I have used it on my cars tailights and it worked great.



Rob



http://www.dxmarket.com/micromark/products/80939.html

[imported_doug]

I happened to have the original orange side markers from the Porsche, which I have replaced with clear ones. I thought they would make great test pieces. I was also interested in seeing if I could speed up the process a bit. I was successful.



I am also a modeler, so I have some tools you may or may not have. I started with a dremel with an 80 grit "flapper wheel" style sanding drum - this one is about 1.25 inch diameter.I used this to get about 95% of the lettering off. I`m sure this saved a LOT of time - however you still cannot go fast. You must keep the tool moving constantly to let the section you just touched cool. So I kept roaming back from section to section, always using very light pressure. I tried to "work up" to a level where I just started seeing melt damage - in this fashion it is slight and not hard to get rid of. In this way I could determine what I could reasonably get away with. Probably spent 5 minutes on this step. I then switched to a 180 grit flapper wheel to polish out the 80 grit scratches, and this probably only took a minute or so. Now I started wet sanding. I laid a piece of 320 grit paper on an unfolded terry towel on top of a flat wood workbench. I find it is often easier to control the workpiece than the sandpaper - and this provides a built-in cushioned block. At each stopping point, inpect carefully under a bright light and view at low angles. You must dry the piece completely so see the current state, so a mmicrofiber towel (what else?) is very handy. From 320 I went to 600, then 1500, and then finally a piece of 4000 - although I seriously doubt this was neccessary. Finally, I used a buffing wheel on my bench grinder, together with some Duco plastic polish "dpc" - this is the stuff I described above that comes in a stick which you apply to the buffing wheel while it is spinning.



A few passes with the piece, once again using very light pressure to let the abrasive do its work but to minimize heat - and the piece is done. I doubt I spent more than 15 minutes on it.



What a cool trick!