Windscreen glasswork.... LACQUERED?!

[WillyChang]

Acquired this windscreen many years ago... never had time to check out why it looked all cloudy. Until xmas day just past, that is.

Turned out somebody had lacquered the whole thing. (Not only that, the lacquering must have been done in a fluffy felt factory, by the amount of dust and fluffy dust stuck to it. [] )

Soaked it in metho for a few minutes... and the lacquer melted off. [Y]

Leaving the plastic... UHOH... somebody's been SANDING it!! [:@]

 

[WillyChang]

No choice about it then... started attacking it with 2000 then 3000 grit paper.

The "fog" started clearing, this is after about 20 mins sanding...

[WillyChang]

Just wet-sanding with 3000 grit is not enough, still need to do a lot more work with Polishing Compound to get it to look 'clear' again.

Items used:-

Tamiya Finishing Abrasives (comes in 1200, 2000, 3000 etc)... can probably buy 3000grit 3M sandpaper from an auto paint suppliers

Tamiya Polishing Compound... some say Brasso also works

a damp cotton cloth (must be damp to avoid 'burning', ordinary papertowel is bad for polishing as it scratches and leaves fluff everywhere)

lots of elbow grease...

You'll also need to avoid putting too much stress on the plastic, especially NOT to mount it on something hard like a tabletop or vice - you'll defnitely CRACK the item! All the sanding and polishing was done whilst holding the item by hand inside another wad of soft dry cloth.

 

After about 4 hours rubbing away...

 

 

[jozza]

Nice work WillyChang, you are certainly blessed with patience! I had a similar thing with my Monster Beetle glass; it had been covered in a tinted paint having previously been sanded. I managed to get it nice and clear by using toothpaste and TCut Scratch Remover.

[DeeMiller]

Willy, why not spray a clear coat of glossy transparent varnish again?

That way you can fill up the deeper scratches which I'm sure are there...[]

After several layers with 3000 sanding in between, the surface will be smooth like a mirror.

Final layer should be without dust though...

Anyway, still a very good job!

 

Grtz Dee 

[WillyChang]

Willy, why not spray a clear coat of glossy transparent varnish again? That way you can fill up the deeper scratches which I'm sure are there...[]

After several layers with 3000 sanding in between, the surface will be smooth like a mirror. 

I have done the lacquer trick before... on "lesser" models. But its a very tricky job as I'd be spraying on a thick gloopy layer to make it flow well, and on a curved surface there's a huge risk of paint runs.

After all the sanding & polishing there are no scratches left, all the damage was from previous owners refinishing efforts... there is no running damage (its came with an otherwise-unused bodyset). I really have no idea why he even painted it!!

The old lacquer did go yellow though.

Who knows what happens to modern lacquer after another 25 yrs? []

[DeeMiller]

Who knows what happens to modern lacquer after another 25 yrs? []

Modern acrylic lacquers don't yellow in time.

I mean the ones in the automotive store, very durable.

On a curved surface, apply several thin layers: "wet-in-wet spraying".

Be sure you got good lightning and take some time between layers.

Practice, practice, practice...[]

 

Grtz Dee

 

[jacolouw]

Nice work !!  Good to get ideas how to restore Glass without the need to try it yourself.

Hmmm how much do you charge to do a Hilux windscreen??[]

JAkes

[WillyChang]

Nice work !!  Good to get ideas how to restore Glass without the need to try it yourself.

Hmmm how much do you charge to do a Hilux windscreen??[]

If I knew how long it took before I started, I'd be half-tempted to fork out the US$250 for a NIB one... []