Lotus Elan Central

by **paza1** » Tue 19.07.2005, 00:01

Has anyone suffered with plastic 'corrosion' i.e. rough, opaque surface on their rear screen :?:

Is there a cure :?:

I have been told that Hindsight would do it, with plenty of elbow grease. Anyone had experience of this product, or others, for this problem rather than just the usual milky, cloudy appearance problem :?:

(Picture attached, I hope)

by **Doug** » Tue 19.07.2005, 00:26

definitely worth a shot of restoring it -- can't tell how bad it is on the picture, but there's loads of products to help it. You need a plastic polish and tons of elbow grease.

someone will come along with specific product info soon enough . . .

Nitro, any experience with this?

I just keep mine clean and polished so never have to think about it getting like that . . .

by **mark** » Tue 19.07.2005, 04:40

i tried one of those restorative rubs on my rear screen. Now it is completely ruined - can't see a damn thing out of it. So i use my mirrors alot - just like the old days of driving a delivery truck.

by **Doug** » Tue 19.07.2005, 07:35

you can definitely restore the window, Mark. Contact a detailer or find some products to try out. Try http://www.Griots.com and see what they have.

by **timmo** » Tue 19.07.2005, 08:49

I tried cerium oxide in a water suspension.....worked for me.

by **Nige** » Tue 19.07.2005, 20:00

Renovo plastic window polish sold seperately or as part of their soft top restoration kit works pretty well.

by **Rambo** » Tue 19.07.2005, 21:13

Paza,

Renovo (www.renovointernational.com) also did the business for me although immediately after I had done the job, there was an article in the May 2005 Classic and Sports Cars (the one featuring the Fellatio Purple S2 article) on the subject of plastic window restorers. The Renovo product only got 14/20 in the marking.

Top product was Mothers plastic polish (www.crystalclean.ltd.uk) with 18/20. It costs £11.99 for 236 mls - easy application and optical clarity was superb.

Budget choice was Novus No 2 (www.moss-europe.co.uk) with 17/20 - £5.95 for 237 mls

You'll need a liberal dose of elbow polish with them all but hope this helps ?

Mark

by **paza1** » Wed 20.07.2005, 00:45

Thanks to everyone for the advice.
I contacted a detailer, as advised, and was told that Hindsight would probably get rid of 90% of the damage. For close on 40 sterling, I thought it a bit expensive (better than 250 sterling for a new window though). I will try the Mothers polish as advised and let you know how I get on.
Thanks again to everyone for taking the time to reply.

by **Fubar1764** » Wed 20.07.2005, 16:37

Mark,
Thanks to your avatar, I'm having visuals (pleasant visuals, mind you) about how you might have applied the product. Time will tell if that's going to be seared into one of my two brain cells.
Oh, and do tell me that wasn't intended! Fellatio Purple and all! :lol:

Cheers!
Jack

by **mark** » Thu 21.07.2005, 06:19

ok, that was an ugly visual. my rear screen is in slightly better condition than the elan's - the problem isn't the rubbing tho - its sitting on my butt in a chair all day...

by **paza1** » Sun 24.07.2005, 18:35

Hi everyone. Just to let you know that I tried the Mothers Plastic Polish. I found it an excellent cleaner that left the plastic nice and clear. However, I didn't see much improvement in existing scratches or the "corrosion". I spent about an hour rubbing the screen, phew :!:

I will now try the Novus product previously mentioned by Rambo.
I am not sure how good the picture is that I posted but has anyone specifically suffered with the pitting / "corrosion" shown :?:

by **Doug** » Sun 24.07.2005, 19:03

sounds like you really need an orbital polishing device to get to work on te damage

by **clemo** » Sun 24.07.2005, 20:17

i had a milky/cloudy rear screen that looked similar to yours..
the renovview is no magic wand and unfortunatly it didn't work on that particular car.. it did leave a whitness in the pitted areas of the roof..
it was an improvement but the roof was still too far gone...

on another roof that was far less cloudy a good buff with reno worked well.. use a clean cotton t shirt .(rather than trade style cloth). one for on and few for off .. this gives a much better result ...

worst case stitch a new rear window in?
they cost £30 from car trimmers and a lot of time to fit ...
have done it ... fingers like a sive afterwards but what a difference..

or trim technologys have a roof including rubbers on ebay everynow and again circa £500.. think there is one on at the moment.

good luck
clemo

by **paza1** » Tue 26.07.2005, 23:32

Clemof1 - did you remove the roof material from the frame to do the screen or did you do it in situ :?:

AV8NDOC - Is the idea with the sander to get through the pitting/corrosion and down to good plastic :?:

If so, is there a danger of going too deep and ruining the window :?:

Have you or anyone else had experience of doing this :?:

Before and after pics would be great if poss.

by **Doug** » Wed 27.07.2005, 00:59

No experience.

I do know there are a lot of aviation products for restoring plastic, and lots of buffing compounds for plastic as well.

Airplane windows are almost always plastic and there are people and companies making livings selling products and doing the labor to buff them out periodically!

yes I know the rear window is SOFTER plastic, but it is still plastic . . . .

by **Ashaman** » Wed 27.07.2005, 04:15

My opinion is that it can get to a point where UV damage has gone all the way through the vinyl (as was the case with mine). As Doug said, usually with plexiglass etc you can sand & buff to a like new finish, unfortunately it isn't always the case with a rear (vinyl) window. Vinyl is also suceptible to discoloration due to absorbing gases, acids, etc. unlike plastic.

In my case, I had to remove the top from the car, though you can leave the header in place. They then will cut the old out with a razor knife, & stitch a new window (they have the stuff on rolls) in place from the inside.

You might find another place that will do a more thorough job, but in the places that I contacted this was the proceedure. Honestly, I can't imagine anyone doing it another way and having it work out economically better than buying a whole new top. The labor to completely remove the old window, cut a new one perfectly to shape, remove alll the old stitching, work the new one in & stitch would be quite a lot!

by **Doc Fizzix** » Wed 27.07.2005, 07:36

paza1, as strange as this sounds, I had a top on an old Fiat that looked like your photo. I used three gritts of polish and rubbed them all by hand, I started with some 3M fine cut rubbing compound, then moved onto a swirl remover, and finally ended with a hand polish. Not only did it remove a ton of scratches but the top was as clear as new. I had a few scratches on my Elan and used my old method and the top looks great!

by **Scott J** » Wed 27.07.2005, 16:02

I use HINDSIGHT. It works well in the main part of the screen.

Where the screen is very milky round the edges it wasn't much use.

First time took at lot of elbow grease, now I do it 3-4 times a year just to keep it polished.

(yes, I am waiting on a lot of double entendres from all you Finbar Saunders out there :lol:

)

by **paza1** » Thu 28.07.2005, 22:25

Anyone tried T Cut :?:

by **PaulN** » Tue 02.08.2005, 15:08

Hindsight is the stuff you need, managed to get a nasty scratch caused by a football with sand on it!

Take your time, it will take a few goes but dont rush it.

PaulN
Elan S2

Lotus Elan Central

Rear Screen

Rear Screen

Rear Screen

Rear Screen

Rear Screen

Who is online