cleaning gauges

[MoparDan]

Whats the best type of cleaner to use on M-body gauges? mine have got yellow(ish) even though I don't let anyone smoke in my car

 

[Aspen500]

To be honest, do not touch the gauge faces with anything other than a dry cloth. The numerals are ink, not paint and even glass cleaner can erase them. Ask me how I found that out There may be something that won't dissolve the lettering but I never experimented.

 

[Oldiron440]

Are you talking about the clear lens that covers the gauges?

 

[volare 77]

I polished my clear lens with mothers mag wheel polish. Looks new now. If the gauges are yellow I used alcohol with a q tip.

 

[XfbodyX]

Polishing works great however they still have a polished look. I like to waste money so ive paid as much as $115 shipped for a nos F speedo lens, I think it was vally vintage? and one for $89.

The nos ones look like your not looking through a lens as the reflect nothing. Dull

All markings were screen printed on.

Its not so much smoke that kills them, its sunlight and ozone. Look at the cars that have been garaged there entire life, things look new.

 

[volare 77]

I have a nos one but the polished lens looks so good I stayed with it.

 

[MoparDan]

what kind of alcohol?

 

[Oldiron440]

Jack Daniels

 

[Oldiron440]

Probably rubbing alcohol.

 

[MoparDan]

thanks

 

[Oldiron440]

Your going to need both to get the job done.

 

[4speedjim]

Yes rubbing alcohol, gently with a clean, - Several clean Q tips. It won't dissolve the screen print like cleaners do.

 

[XfbodyX]

I have a nos one but the polished lens looks so good I stayed with it.

I was thinking a bit about your reply today while out working and on a break I used the google machine to look up polished lenses. Anyway done is just a preference and by definition the polished lens is done mostly for aesthetics.

I looked at a few newer cars ive got and they also were not polished, I thought maybe mopar just always cheaped out but none seemed polished. I wonder if there is/was a fed reg on them since the nos package says something about conforming to XXX standards.

I got burned out of "polished" lenses as I bought a couple used ones long ago that had a crazy buffed gloos shine to them, obviously not a oem look to them and I like oem.

Now im gonna pull a old speedo lens off and see if it will polish up nice just to see if i could of saved some money. Although even the nos ones not only have the see through look they are actually a bit flexible unlike ones that have been in service for 40 years or so.

I wonder if the older hi heat cluster bulbs factored in since ive seen semi melted gauge housings and all the more reason to use led-s. I dont mind modern stuff on my cars if its easily hidden or necessary.

 

[Aspen500]

Before I ended up with an NOS lens, I used my original but,,,,,,it needed work to get 30+ years of scratches out. I actually sanded it, starting with 600 and working up to 2,000 and then a sequence of progressively finer polishes and it turned out pretty darn nice and a couple weeks later my fingers and arms recovered as well, lol. If you held it up to the sun, you could see the typical swirly looking micro scratches but installed in the car, it was almost invisible. One downside, it seemed to glare a lot more than an untouched lens. The NOS one is much better in the sun. I wonder if they have some sort of anti-glare coating on them originally(?) sort of like what XfbodyX was mentioning. It's like the difference between plain glass and glass used for framed art which is anti-glare, if that makes any sense.

 

[Oldiron440]

Me being a painter I would have sanded with 1000 grit and given it a cote or two of clear cote.

 

[Silver Bullet]

I've used ScratchX (?) for my lenses. It's a plastic polish found in most auto stores. I does a fantastic job getting light scratches and yellowing out without having to sand or use abrasives.