Just wondering if there is a product out there to use to buff out scratches and small chips in tail light lenses? Thanks! Bob
Amazon.com: Cerium Oxide Glass Polishing Kit, Glass and Windshield Scratch Removal Kit, 8 Oz of Gordon Glass Cerium Oxide Polishing Powder, 3 inch Felt Polishing Buffing Wheel : Automotive The main problem with these is you can optically distort a windshield where they can be hard to see through. Shouldn't be a problem with a lens.
How about a coat of quality clear boat laquer that would flow into the scratches and smooth out on the good surface. Quick dry with a hair dryer underneath.
First of all; I would NOT recommend to heat a glass lens quickly by any heater. The glass lenses are uneven by thickness, thus sudden temperature change can cause them crack due to difference in heat expansion. Then, Even if the laquer would succeed, it will be a temporary solution. Paint or clear coat will not grip to clear glass, only to the scratches. Give time, it will peel off partially. Glass parts are difficult or impossible to repair/restore when damaged. On the other hand, glass lenses do not bleach by UV, they are very hard surface, thus not easily scratched. Tail light lenses on my 1948 are as new, also NOS parts are still available for many US-makes.
You can buff and polish glass but it's hard (pun intended) and might be difficult if access due to the shape of your lenses is odd. You could try most of these suggestions without screwing it up. What about a local jeweler? https://www.homedepot.com/c/ab/how-to-remove-scratches-from-glass/9ba683603be9fa5395fab901e84da08d
wonder if the windshield repair products can work several video on youtube we used to use a special glass buffing compound to remove scrartches many moons ago
I don't know about jewelers, but there is likely a glass beveling business somewhere in the area. I.e. a business that bevels the edges of glass for use in leaded glass windows. This is a hand made process using equipment that grinds the glass down for the bevel, then polishes it back out. Polishing lenses is not in their usual wheelhouse, but it would be worth asking them. They could bring it back to as new condition.
For glass taillight lenses there's 2 decent options: First scrub clean with solvent based cleaner, acetone...etc. You can use CA glue or a clear drying epoxy dripped in to the damaged area - make your repair as small as possible to minimize the cleanup surface, then polish the repair spots with fine sandpaper and polish but try not to go too far beyond the crack, chip repair. I've used clearcoat paint on the repaired surface and feathered it out using ultra fine modeling sanding tools. This has worked for both glass and plastic lenses for me and they've held up for 10 years plus... If you could cut and polish lenses, the size of the buffing wheels dictates the repair surface size and it could possibly create a large distortion area, plus the depth of repair is very limited - if you can hook your finger nail in the scratch then likely the best that could be done would be to minimize the scratch but it won't make it completely disappear. chips won't go away, so the above mentioned repair is (in my opinion) the best option.
I haven't done a taillight lense, but I smoothed a chip on a glass cooking pot. I used an air grinder with some 80 grit to smooth the rough edge, then sanded that with my electric palm sander in continuously finer grits. I don't remember what I stopped at (probably around 1,000), but eventually I used my buffing wheel with the same compounds I use on aluminum to put a shine on it.
I've done a fair amount of glass polishing in my other hobby. Cerium oxide is the go-to for heavy scratches, but is difficult to work with without getting distortion. Best if it can be used in a tumbling operation. For general polishing, I use Spot-X . It's basically comprised of powdered oyster shells. Add some water to make a paste and use a white Scotch Brite pad for buffing. It will buff glass nicely without the problem of creating distortion. Good luck!
In the optical business, cerium oxide is used to polish, but this is only one step in the process. What ever you do before the cerium oxide should be done with water. Usually a slurry of cerium is pumped through and squirted on the lens while it’s moving in a circular motion or a figure 8 motion if it’s a lens which corrects astigmatism, over a steel ‘tool’ which matches the inside curve. Sorry, couldn’t help myself m, been doing it for 40 something years
Hello, There a number of quality parts that will do the same thing in any glass restoration use. But, as always, caution is to be used for all products. The headlight covers can be made a little brighter. The same would apply to plastic tail light lenses, just in a smaller proportion and you might have to use a Dremel tool for buffing intricate areas. Plastic does scratch easier than other surfaces, so caution is necessary. Google search shows plenty of choices of products and actual films. Before You Tube was around, older cars with those plastic lenses faded in all different environments. There are quite a few short films that show what can be done to faded lenses, headlights or taillights. It could have been natural exposure to the elements, but sometimes, it was a bad batch of plastic formation that could have been the cause. It the lens itself is too far gone, it might be better to just get a new or NOS version of the lens needed. Jnaki Sometimes those compounds are good and sometimes the lens is too far gone. That will be your choice.
if you discolor the lens in the process try a little "dy-chem" red on them... i have converted orange to red marker lights...
Some good info in this thread, I hope to polish the windshield for my '29 roadster one day, it has some faint marks left from a windshield wiper.
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