Well, I had a few friends tell me that I had a really dim right side light on my 69, so I checked grounds and such to no avail and just blew it off. Well, after my recent chassis dyno session, while the gentleman driving my car out the back of the shop, he hit the brakes and I really saw it that time...sure enough, hardly visible from about 200 feet away. So I take it apart only to find a bunch of overspray on the backside of my brand new lenses. Looks like someone used it and then returned it.....I had all my paintowrk done long before any lenses came close to my car.

Now, these lenses were bought more than 18 months ago....I "think" from Firewheel, but I can't find a receipt....it very well could be from someone on e-bay as I bought loads of parts from all over the planet.

So, what I am asking.....is there a way possible to take overspray off of the backside of an RS lense? If so, it would save me about 50 bucks for a new one. I just don't know what to try that won't mess up the clear finish on the inside of the lense and make it look like the other "new" one.

Any thoughts?

Thanks a bunch guys,

~Joe

I'm just thinking out loud here. Maybe rubbing compound? Or the finest of steel wool you can find?

Take the lense.
Put it in a plastic bag.
Spray it with oven cleaner.
Take it out the next day.
Clean it in water.
You're done.
NEW LENSE!!

Take the lense.
Put it in a plastic bag.
Spray it with oven cleaner.
Take it out the next day.
Clean it in water.
You're done.
NEW LENSE!!

I'll give it a go!!! Whats the worst that could happen.

Park...man I think I'm gonna stray away from abrasives. :yes:

Thanks guys!!!

~Joe

I have always had good luck with plain old toothpaste....

I don't know that I'd try oven cleaner. Won't it melt the plastic? I generally use some type of solvent. My favorite is Blue Shower which is a tech spray or electronic or electronic cleaner type of spray. Might even try paint thinner.It needs to be something that evaporates fairly quick. HOWEVER, the harder the plastic the easier for some reason it melts upon too much contact. Put the solvent of choice on a rag and wipe in an inconspicuous area to see what reaction you get from the solvent to plastic contact.Some plastics are not bothered at all. Don't saturate the rag,lightly wipe away the paint overspray and you should be good to go. I use this method for cleaning plastics a lot. The rubbing compound is an excellent idea also. Toothpaste with its mild grit is acting as a light rubbing compound. Should have a bright smile when finished. : )

I would try clay bar or laquer thinner 1st trying the laquer thinner where if it discolors the plastic it won't show.

Maybe Dale will elaborate on using oven cleaner, it sounds like he's done it but I would want more info and assurance it wouldn't leave the part a pile of goo the next day. Maybe there is a special brand that is less caustic than the cleaners I have used in the past.

Well, here is the thing about using any kind of abrasive.....the backside of the lense is not flat like the front....it has something that resembles diamonds to dispurse the ligh evenly across the lense. It's a very course texture and I don't want to leave myself a bunch of work trying to polish out any kind of abrasive scratches....if thats the case, I'll spend the 50 or so on a new one.

I was told today by a buddy that a good soaking in simple green overnight and a good stiff toothbrush might to the trick.....also was reccommended that mineral spirits may work....again with the stiff toothbrush.

Whatever it is, I will come back and update this thread......just give me a bit as I don't drive this car at night very often.

Stay tuned......

~Joe

I would test the oven cleaner first as I have never used it on a tailight lense. I have used Easy Off in the yellow can on plastic (styrene?) model cars with excellent results. It doesn't take off every paint but the ones in takes off it removes completely. If you are worried about scratches I would keep the toothbrush in your mouth and off the lense.

Jeff

What about WD-40 and an old toothbrush?

i know this one is old but it stuck out to me just get brake clean and a water bottle.
spray the hell out of it then pour the water to rinse away and stop any chem reaction if there is one (there shouldnt be). ive done this about 6 times but it was to remove tail light tint which is just clear with black.

Try some brake fluid, it works. Let us know which system works best. Good luck!

Had some overspray on the tail light lens on our motor home and it took my less than 15 minutes per lens to remove using Meguires #7 plastic cleaner and polish. The cleaned lenses looked so good I had to remove the other 6 and clean them. Now they all look like new.

Guys, I am soooo sorry for not following up on this. I swear I thought I did update it but I must have been dreaming. Dunno.


Ok, I pulled the lense back out and did some tests on a few products in a small little area BEFORE going with it. The very first thing I used was...you guessed it, B-12. As soon as it hit the lense, it fogged the surface....not good. Then I tried some brake cleaner....thought it would work, but it didn't budge the paint. Next was some mineral spirits.....I thought for sure it would work, but it had no effect, even after soaking for a while.

So the next thing was to try pretty much everything in the cabinet. That's when I came across some PB Blaster on a soft towel. It didn't take it off real easy at first, but after it soaked for a bit, it came off a little easier. I used a soft rag only on the flat part of the lens. Then after that, I noticed some fine scratches from the rag/paint debris on the surface, so I used some of the Mcguires plastic polish and a microfiber applicator on it and made it shine like new.

for the center part of the lens that was textured, I soaked it in the BP Blaster for about 30 min, then came back with a super stiff toothbrush and worked it till my arm was sore. From there, I used hot soapy water to get all the oil off of the lens. Put it all back together.....and guess what....it was still dimmer on that side.

So I decided to compare it to the other side and thats when I noticed my problem. The inside of the housing on the dim side was natural plastic gray and the brighter side was painted in the chrome paint, so I painted the insides of both of the housings white. Put it all back together and I now have some of the brightest taillights around.....and both are dead equal on each side.

Hope this helps someone out down the road.

Thanks again for all the suggestions gentlemen.

~Joe

Very cool. Don't forget to tell the Mrs. how much you saved by "cleaning" the lenses so you can buy more parts down the road. My wife is on to this trick but maybe it'll work for you.

That's when I came across some PB Blaster on a soft towel. It didn't take it off real easy at first, but after it soaked for a bit, it came off a little easier. I used a soft rag only on the flat part of the lens. Then after that, I noticed some fine scratches from the rag/paint debris on the surface, so I used some of the Mcguires plastic polish and a microfiber applicator on it and made it shine like new.
for the center part of the lens that was textured, I soaked it in the BP Blaster for about 30 min, then came back with a super stiff toothbrush and worked it till my arm was sore. From there, I used hot soapy water to get all the oil off of the lens.

That's how I ended up cleaning mine last year. :)
Had gunked on plastic polish and wax that I couldn't get off.