cleaning plastic lenses EASY!

[wvhillbilly]

Just a quickie to all SS. The amber and red lenses on my M35A2 were in good shape but dingy. Found a quick fix instead of buying new lenses. Go to your local parts store and buy 3M Plastic Cleaner(#39017) and Plastic Polish(#39010). Use as directed and clean all those turn and brake light lenses to a shiny finish in about an hour total time! Total purchase price...about 16 bucks. It works great...I know...I run a auto parts store....

 

[littlebob]

I'll have to check it out. I've seen a couple of places by the house that polish the lights. I have a couple that use some work.

 

[frodobaggins]

toothpaste

 

[Jakob]

toothpaste

I've heard of people using this too. The 3M product works amazing though. You won't be disappointed.

 

[phataux]

before and after

 

[wvhillbilly]

Toothpaste is cheap, but it yields cheap results....been there, done that...no offense intended....
Also pictures are not necessary, BECAUSE IT WORKS!! Trust me...

 

[BillIdaho]

I found an even better use. I polished all my gauges to look like new. No more foggy gauges.
One minor detail though...be careful on either the gauges or the lenses if you are using any type of powered rotary device (such as a cordless drill) to speed things up..... the most minute amount of heat will etch, rather than polish. That's a bad thing. Take your time and they will look like new.

 

[KsM715]

I was doing a search on cleaning the lenses, will this stuff remove carc over spray? or what can I use to remove the over spray then polish the lens?

 

[KI4GSN]

Another GREAT kit is made by Meguiars (spelling). It comes with some Plast-X (which in and of itself is great), a microfiber towel, and a buffer attachment for a drill. Made a world of difference on my Vic, and it's only $20. I got mine at wallieworld, but auto parts stores should have it.

 

[Keith_J]

I was doing a search on cleaning the lenses, will this stuff remove carc over spray? or what can I use to remove the over spray then polish the lens?

Only abrasives. CARC is a highly chemically resistant polyurethane...Chemical Agent Resistant Coating. Try scrubbing with a plastic scraper, then polish with the 3M products listed above.

That is a product of the 1980s camo craze and typical of an organization paint job. Yes, I was commanded to paint the unit's recovery vehicle, an M543 5 ton. Without proper protective gear (airline respirator, paint suit, gloves). And while I did my best to mask all the lights, they didn't prep the unit so some CARC was applied over dirt/grease.

I've seen worse. Damn unit paint jobs. Even back then, TOUCH UP ONLY! Not mixing 5 gallons of paint and catalysts (containing methylene/toluene diisocyanate) over the course of a friday night, ending saturday morning about 0930. I had CARC on my hands for a week.

 

[Bill W]

Also
Novus #2 plastic scratch remover and a drill mounted buffing wheel, I've also used jeweler rouge. NAPA and most Marine supply stores carry the Novus., And as mentioned plain ole white toothpaste works good to

 

[KsM715]

Im thinking since it looks like Ill have to scrape the carc off Id be just as well off buying new lenses. Im still gonna scrape and polish just to see how it turns out.

 

[Nonotagain]

Dot 3 brake fluid and a piece of terry cloth to polish works well on composite head lamps as well as plastic turn signal lenses.

If you have CARC on plastic, wet sand with 320-400 grit sand paper then polish with the brake fluid. It works.

 

[Tanner]

Happich Simichrome polish works well on plastic, and don't use Brasso!

'Tanner'

 

[gringeltaube]

As mentioned above wet sanding is the way to remove paint or mayor scratches. Best to go from 400 grit up to 2500. Then a bit paint polishing compound on a buffer wheel and it will shine again like the first day! (Doesn't take longer than 15min in total!)

Since nobody posted pics of the end result..... I will.

G.