Scratches in "glass"

[MrBuick]

I picked up this '64 GTO at a garage sale a while back...it's a clean kit aside from a few small issues with the "glass." Is there anything I can do about this?

[Snake45]

Go get the Trim brand 3-board nail care set at Walmart ($2), and you can polish that out in less than 2 minutes. No muss, no fuss. I do it all the time.

[dragstk]

You could try  doing a polish, just like on a paint job. I've had good luck doing it this way

[Ace-Garageguy]

Really depends on how deep it is. If it's just surface abrasions from rubbing on something else, it WILL polish out relatively easily, as Snake and drgstk say.

If it's "tire burn" from the old vinyl tires melting into it, it will STILL polish out, but you'll have to do some pretty aggressive sanding to get down to the bottom of the pit, and you'll need to use a sanding board or stick to avoid getting a wavy low spot in your window.

[High octane]

Would you use the same grit polishing cloths as when you polish out a paint job, or no? I use 4,000 - 6,000 - 8,000 & 12,000 grits.

[Greg Wann]

http://www.koalaproducts.net/polish.htm

 

Yes, you might need to sand it down a bit.  I found plastic polish and I highly recommend it.  I have spent lots of money on plastic polish.  Most I don't like.  This is a great product but a bit pricey too.  This stuff is good for polishing pant too.  The product was developed by the companies owners.

[CometMan]

There is some stuff they sell at coin shops, can't remember the name off-hand, that is specially made to polish scratches out of hard plastic proof set cases.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Really depends on how deep it is. If it's just surface abrasions from rubbing on something else, it WILL polish out relatively easily, as Snake and drgstk say.

If it's "tire burn" from the old vinyl tires melting into it, it will STILL polish out, but you'll have to do some pretty aggressive sanding to get down to the bottom of the pit, and you'll need to use a sanding board or stick to avoid getting a wavy low spot in your window.

Ditto!

When you restore old annuals, you have to do this all of the time.

 

Would you use the same grit polishing cloths as when you polish out a paint job, or no? I use 4,000 - 6,000 - 8,000 & 12,000 grits.

If it's just minor abrasions, that's exactly how I do it.

 

Steve

[Harry Joy]

I'm building an old kit right now where the glass sat loose in the box for probably 40 years. All scratched up. My usual method is a dip in Future, then if that doesn't work I wash the Future off, polish, then Future again. For the kit I'm currently building, as bad as the scratches were a simple Future dip was all it took.

[Miatatom]

I'm building an old kit right now where the glass sat loose in the box for probably 40 years. All scratched up. My usual method is a dip in Future, then if that doesn't work I wash the Future off, polish, then Future again. For the kit I'm currently building, as bad as the scratches were a simple Future dip was all it took.

+1

[High octane]

Ditto!

When you restore old annuals, you have to do this all of the time.

 

If it's just minor abrasions, that's exactly how I do it.

 

Steve

Hmmm, so I'm not too old to learn new things. I mostly work with "virgin" plastic so some of this is new to me. Thanks for your help.

[MrBuick]

Thanks guys, I'll give these tips a shot and let you know if it doesn't work...sounds like I shouldn't have any issues, as they're just light surface scratches and nothing too deep.

[Ace-Garageguy]

Do it right, it WILL work. Sand with progressively finer and finer grits. By the time you get to 3000, it should be almost completely gone.

I usually go all the way to 12,000, then polish...NOT wax. Again, do it right, the repaired area will be as clear as the rest of the window. If it's still foggy, you just haven't polished enough.

[Snake45]

Do it right, it WILL work. Sand with progressively finer and finer grits. By the time you get to 3000, it should be almost completely gone.

I usually go all the way to 12,000, then polish...NOT wax. Again, do it right, the repaired area will be as clear as the rest of the window. If it's still foggy, you just haven't polished enough.

I'm telling you, those Trim nail sticks will do just as good a job, and a lot faster and with less mess. I wouldn't believe it either, if someone told me that, but I'm here to tell you that I've done it. And continue to do it all the time.

[Ace-Garageguy]

I'm telling you, those Trim nail sticks will do just as good a job, and a lot faster and with less mess. I wouldn't believe it either, if someone told me that, but I'm here to tell you that I've done it. And continue to do it all the time.

I'll have to try it. Anything that works well AND saves time and mess is a wonderful thing. Thanks. 

[unclescott58]

Here's an old one I read about in an old Car Model magazine back in the early 70's, that works pretty well. Colgate toothpaste. And for some reason Colgate only. Polish the glass with it. I had very good luck clearing up minor glass problems with Colgate.

[Miatatom]

I bet Colgate toothpaste lobbyists funded that research.

[Mike Chernecki]

Do we have 4 out of 5 dentists here to recommend Colgate? I remember trying this about 20 years ago, the white toothpaste seemed to dull the finish, but the clear green? gel toothpaste worked good.

[Harry P.]

Another alternative: Save all that time and effort sanding and polishing, and just make new "glass" out of clear acetate sheet. If the "glass" has a compound curve, that won't work... but with the glass like in your case, which has no pronounced compound curve, the clear acetate will work.

[MrObsessive]

Another alternative: Save all that time and effort sanding and polishing, and just make new "glass" out of clear acetate sheet.

I second what Harry said. I do this all the time------not so much because of scratches, but because of the terrible distortion that too many kits have. Clear acetate gives you that nice "glass" appearance more like the 1:1's IMO. 

[MrBuick]

I'm building an old kit right now where the glass sat loose in the box for probably 40 years. All scratched up. My usual method is a dip in Future, then if that doesn't work I wash the Future off, polish, then Future again. For the kit I'm currently building, as bad as the scratches were a simple Future dip was all it took.

I think I'll try a Future dip first as it sounds like it has the least chance of damaging anything further...just to clarify, you're talking about Future floor polish, correct?

Go get the Trim brand 3-board nail care set at Walmart ($2), and you can polish that out in less than 2 minutes. No muss, no fuss. I do it all the time.

If the Future dip alone doesn't fix it this will be my next step...I'll probably look for a set of these next time I'm at Wal-Mart regardless...since it's a 3-board "system," I assume you start with the rough and work your way to the fine, or do you just use the fine?

[Harry Joy]

Correct, or as you often find it on store shelves today, Pledge with Future Shine.

 

[MrBuick]

Thanks!

[astroracer]

Another option is to sand it out to 800 or a 1000 grit and hit it with clear paint. I do this a lot on old headlights. The plastic will go completely clear once you paint it.

[StevenGuthmiller]

Another option is to sand it out to 800 or a 1000 grit and hit it with clear paint. I do this a lot on old headlights. The plastic will go completely clear once you paint it.

I do something very similar.

Being as I usually like to tint my glass anyway, I polish out the plastic & then shoot a light coat of Testors #2949 "Transparent Black Window Tint" lacquer on the inside.

Adds a light tint & shines it up very nicely.

 

Steve