tail light cleaning

[Guest mongeonman]

I cleaned the tail light on my 90,it was not so bad but it was foggy,this is what i used,it took about 15 minutes of grease elbow to do the job.

[KDirk]

Looks good. I had not tried the product you show, but Meguiars makes a two-step cleaner/polish product for plastics that I used. I had the unpleasant experience of doing a more involved tail-lamp refurb for my car.

I disassembled the three sections (outer lens, inner lens, reflector cavity) and cleaned all three. Polished the inside and outside of the outer lens with a power buffer using mild machine polish on the outside only. Also had to wet sand with 2500 grit then polish in stages until it was smooth and clear. Note that I removed the BUICK inlay lettering during the polishing process.

Then I repainted the black mask around the top edge (masking the curved contour was a real pain) and reassembled the whole thing with new butyl rubber rope caulk. It looks good, but there is some "crazing" within the clear plastic that will never polish out, so in sunlight from certain angles, it looks a bit foggy. At least it is clean and clear and shines nicely except for that one minor issue.

I finished of by treating with a product called Rejex, used mainly to polish and protect aircraft bodies and glass. The stuff wipes on like a liquid wax, dries to a haze and wipes off. Really puts the shine on paint, polished metal, chrome and even windows (yes it is for use on glass as well), and keeps dirt, bugs and bird droppings from sticking to the treated surface such that they will just wipe off with a damp cloth. I have been quite impressed with the stuff initially, but we will see how long it lasts (says 4 months per treatment on the bottle).

I sure wish there were a possibility of reproductions being made of the tail lamp (even just the outer lens would be great) but I kind of doubt it will ever happen based on the very small demand. The Reatta would have to be a bona fide collectible before we had any chance of that happening, if at all and we aren't quite there yet.

KDirk

[Guest mhuffy]

Mine came out pretty well when I started with a little compound that I lightly worked with a microfiber towel. It is made by McGuires (sp?) and is supposed to be safe for clearcoats, so I figured it wouldn't hurt the plastic. Then I used the McGuires plastic cleaner followed by

plastic polish.

After all was done, I was pretty pleased.

Edited November 24, 2009 by mhuffy
problem uploading pic (see edit history)

[PVRed90]

Need to remind everyone to stay away from the silver BUICK lettering when restoring the taillight lense. I have heard some of these products will take off or dull the surface.

[Bushwack]

I'll chime in and give kudos to Meguire's PlastX. It's a terrific product. Best to apply a thin layer on the lens, let it set for about 10-15 minutes, then gently rub it off then go back again and use a bit more muscle to take off any remaining product. Repeat procedure one more time.

[KDirk]

Absolutely correct (what PVRed90 said ^^^). Please do not do any major buffing or restoration on a tail lamp until you have popped out the lettering. The letters are plastic with the thinnest of chrome plating on them. Any power buffer with a polishing compound applied will quickly turn the letters a dull grey (the color of the plastic under the chrome).

A dental pick works well for removing the letters, as they are only held in by double faced foam tape that has weathered for 18-21 years now. When done polishing the plastic lens, clean out the foam tape residue and reinstall the letters with 3M clear emblem and trim adhesive or similar. Just be sure to use it judiciously, if any bleeds out it will mar the clear plastic requiring more polishing to be done as it is a solvent based glue.

If you are a real sadist, you can cut 3M VHB tape to the exact shape of the letters with an x-acto knife instead of using the glue, but this is an exercise in frustration if ever there was one.

KDirk

Edited November 25, 2009 by KDirk (see edit history)

[Guest Richard D]

I have used blue corral clear plastic polish, it is designed to work on plastic rear windows and clear face shields for motorcycle helmets.

I use it gently with a cotton buffing wheel on a rechargeable drill. The main drawback is in about 6 months ot starts to fog again. Perhaps

It's the Florida sun. Car has to park outside.