"Oxidized" gauges?

S

SROL

New member
I bought a preowned car about a year ago. Apparently the previous owner was a heavy smoker. I've been gradually removing tar build up over the months by taking the interior apart piece by piece to clean it.



I've finally gotten around to removing my gauge cluster to clean that up a bit. I've seen this problem before on a friends car. The clear facing over the gauges (Speedometer etc) has a coating of white stuff. I can't tell if it's a coating or if the plastic was melted very slightly to cause a haze. I would post a picture to help you understand what I'm talking about but the haze isn't showing up. I've tried to wash it with Windex, 409, and water. Then tried to polish it out. Used a compound. Then just waxed it to maybe fill in any Grooves. But nothing helped.



Any suggestions?
 
Nicotine will normally show up as brown stains when you clean. My guess would be someone used a vinyl dressing on them and thats what you are seeing.
 
3Dog said:
Nicotine will normally show up as brown stains when you clean. My guess would be someone used a vinyl dressing on them and thats what you are seeing.
Click to expand...





It's not actually the nicotine that's staining anything. I had a friend who smoked heavily and everytime I sat in his car, he would complain about how his gauges were foggy. I'll take another picture in some different lighting to see what you guys think.



As far as the plastic polish goes, I'll pick some of that up next time I run to town and try it out. If anything, I could use it on some scratched cds. :)



Edit: They're pretty big pictures...

http://www.binaryfetish.com/srol/autopia/DSCF0059.JPG

http://www.binaryfetish.com/srol/autopia/DSCF0060.JPG

http://www.binaryfetish.com/srol/autopia/DSCF0061.JPG

http://www.binaryfetish.com/srol/autopia/DSCF0062.JPG

http://www.binaryfetish.com/srol/autopia/DSCF0063.JPG
 
SROL said:
It's not actually the nicotine that's staining anything. I had a friend who smoked heavily and everytime I sat in his car, he would complain about how his gauges were foggy. I'll take another picture in some different lighting to see what you guys think.



As far as the plastic polish goes, I'll pick some of that up next time I run to town and try it out. If anything, I could use it on some scratched cds. :)



Edit: They're pretty big pictures...

http://www.binaryfetish.com/srol/autopia/DSCF0059.JPG

http://www.binaryfetish.com/srol/autopia/DSCF0060.JPG

http://www.binaryfetish.com/srol/autopia/DSCF0061.JPG

http://www.binaryfetish.com/srol/autopia/DSCF0062.JPG

http://www.binaryfetish.com/srol/autopia/DSCF0063.JPG
Click to expand...







Meguiar's has a clear plastic polish. I used it on my polycarbonate head and tail lights and it worked out wonders. After that I applied carnauba on them and the result was far better than satisfactory. Worth a try I guess.
 
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