polishing tail light lenses

[35chevcoupe]

Wondering what everyone is using to restore /polish there tail light lenses ?  I see theres a few different kits on the market and a product called Wenol that seems to be pretty popular .   Anyone willing to give up thier secret formula ?    Are they being hand rubbed or small buffing wheel ?

[Mark Ascher]

John,

I used Novus. Bought some off Amazon if I recall. Just used the polish and clean rags.
Had to scrub them all with hot soapy water and a toothbrush first.

Mark

[nut465gs]

John,

I bought Novus Plastic Polish No.2 at an auto paint supply store. Most auto paint supply stores should carry it or a similar product.

John Egel

[cwmcobra]

My painter/restorer simply recommends the 3M rubbing compound that he uses to rub out the paint after wet sanding.  I haven't tried it yet on mine, but don't see why it won't work well.

Of course, plastic polish should work as well!

Chuck

[elagache]

Dear John, Mark, John, Chuck, and mid-60s "love shiny stuff" types,

Wondering what everyone is using to restore /polish there tail light lenses ?  I see theres a few different kits on the market and a product called Wenol that seems to be pretty popular .   Anyone willing to give up thier secret formula ?    Are they being hand rubbed or small buffing wheel ?

Sorry I can't help you directly because I've got NOS lenses!    Once in a while having a wagon is an advantage!

However, I am aware of a similar situation were I got some advice that might apply.  Modern car plastic headlights have a problem with getting yellow or hazy.  Daniel Stein, who sell high-performance headlights for classic cars, recommended against simply using one of those polishing restoration kits.  His point was simple.  When you remove some of the surface, you remove some of the compounds that protect the plastic from the Ultra-Violet.  After you have done this, the plastic is vulnerable to the sun and the process sadly repeats.

Griot's Garage as a kit for restoring modern headlights that includes some sort of a UV protection coating:

https://www.griotsgarage.com/product/headlight+restoration+kit.do

It isn't intended for classic plastic lenses, but perhaps it could be used to protect the surface once the polishing is done.  Alternatively, perhaps there is a product that effectively acts as sun-screen for plastic.  I assume that our classics spend most of the time in the shady garage.  Even so, it would be sad if a nicely polished lens would start fading because the sun exposure you get from car shows and cruising around.

Cheers, Edouard

[campfamily]

I use plastic polish followed by a coating of 303 UV protection on the headlights of my 180,000+ mile Nissan. I've also heard toothpaste works pretty good.

[Buick_65]

Novus is great stuff.  They have several coarseness options, and you can use it on your dash cluster lens as well.