69/70 Deluxe Interior Cluster Refurb and lens polishing questions

[68stang289]

I know a while back someone had posted about how to polish the instrument cluster lenses and for the life of me, I can't seem to find it. Does anyone happen to either have the link or a how-to on polishing instrument cluster lenses?

I am also trying to go the cheaper route to refurb my instrument and clock panel cluster. I saw DougG69's great post about how he did his but has anyone found anything that simulates the chrome better? I recall seeing a chrome spray paint the last time I was in the auto parts store, but I don't know how well it would work. I also would be concerned with difficulty of masking such a small circular area. Anyone have any ideas/input on a good chrome trim alternative?

 

[RyanG85]

I did mine the same way Doug did. Depending on the condition of your lens, it might be easier to replace them. I dont recall them being too expensive. As far as the chrome, you're not going to get the real chrome look without spending money and sending it out. Mine are just silver and looks much better than the worn look. Doug took it a step farther in the do it yourself method with the silver leafing pen. Chrome spray paint is anything but chrome.

 

[Midlife]

A long time ago, I heard using tooth paste for lens polishing worked fairly well.

 

[68stang289]

I pretty much figured the chrome spray paint was junk considering it was in the ricer section of the store, haha.

As far as lens polishing I thought about maybe trying that flitz or something else. New Lenses are around $40 which isn't terrible, but if I can pocket the $40 for a little elbow grease, I would certainly prefer that.

 

[buening]

Are your lens scratched up pretty bad or just faded? I'd try the flitz, or get a headlight restore kit from the local parts store.

As far as the chrome, there was a post on the VMF many years ago about how someone took a sheet of chrome decal from a hobby store and then cut out the oval shapes of the cluster openings. He used an exacto knife and cut it from a sheet rather than using chrome pinstriping tape, as the pinstriping tape making a circle will introduce wrinkles in a few spots. Cutting it from a sheet eliminates the wrinkles. Unfortunately I lost the link to that thread in a past VMF software change. It may still be on there though somewhere

 

[68stang289]

The lenses are not rough or badly scratched, just could use a freshening. I have some of that Meguiar's Plastic-X and I was considering trying that as well.

I ended up picking up one of those silver leafing pens and will be trying that. Anything is better than the way it looks right now.

 

[68stang289]

Well I just finished up the instrument cluster and the passenger side clock cluster and all I can say is wow. I would highly recommend the silver leafing pen. It is easy to use and from a few feet away looks pretty darn close to chrome. I will post up some before and after pictures in a little while when I can download them from the camera.

As far as the lenses go, I think I will end up having to replace the clock lens. It has some pretty deep scratches in it. The instrument cluster lenses are in great shape other than having yellowed some over the years. Anyone have any thoughts on how to get the yellowing to go away? I have tried multiple layers of both flitz and Meguiar's Plastic-X and they both have polished away the tiny scratches, but it did nothing to get rid of the yellowing.

Unfortunately the clusters came out so good that I'm tempted to just buy the new lens set because it looks so good! It is a well worthwhile $12 and a few hours time investment.

 

[DougG69]

Glad to hear things turned out well. That's a pretty big return on a low $$$ investment.

I can't help with the yellowing. I just bit the bullet & bought new lenses. Well worth it, IMO.

Did you paint the inside of the gauge housings too? Might as well if you haven't, it can only help.

Re: the chrome on these dash clusters... it looks like the reproduction deluxe bezels are available:

eBay link

Looks great at half the cost to rechrome the originals. Only issue I've heard of is the inner rings are all chrome, whereas - if I'm not mistaken, which I very well could be - the originals were argent with a chrome 'ridge'.

 

[blu67]

When I polished out my lenses, I used sandpaper. I used modeling sandpaper that was on cloth backing. The finest was 20,000 grit, I think. Basically no grit. They turned out awesome. I'll see if I can't find the name of the place I ordered the sandpaper from.