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Repairing plexiglas scratches

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64Elan

64Elan

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Hardtop plexiglas rear window has scatches. Not deep but but not on the surface either. A new window is out of question unless I make it myself since this isn't a factory item. Who has had luck fixing this problem and how did you do it? Window also has a 1/2 inch crack on the edge that is covered by the seal. Is there a way to stop this crack from spreading?
 
64Elan said:
Hardtop plexiglas rear window has scatches. Not deep but but not on the surface either....
Click to expand...
Aren't scratches on the surface by definition?

Do you mean they're subsurface, like cracks and crazing, or just that they're very deep scratches?

Sub-surface cracks and crazing cannot be repaired.

Technically, scratches of any depth aren't actually removable. What you really do is level out the surface surrounding them.

Shallow scratches don't require the removal of too much surrounding material to smooth them out.

Very deep ones shouldn't be fixed because you'd need to remove too much material. At best you'd "round them off," smoothing them out a bit without leveling them entirely.

Either way the basic approach is the same, some sequence of abrading what needs to go and polishing out the previous step's marks.


pc.
 
<span style="font-weight: bold">"Who has had luck fixing this problem and how did you do it?"</span>
 
Have not addressed this problem specifically, but, I'd suggest you drill a small hole at the end of the crack to stop it spreading. Then, depending on the location, either take it to a glass repair place and have them fill the hole like a stone chip, or, put a tiny bit of clear silicone in it.

I just redid the headlight covers on my wife's Beetle with a 3M repair kit. I would suggest that or some kind of buffing compound to remove the scratches.

As I type this, I do recall some other conversations about this problem, you might want to search the forum a bit.
 
Most auto stores have a kit for restoring Plexiglas headlight lens. Might be worth a try. PJ
 
The other thing you might want to try is go to your local airfield, find an aircraft mechanic and ask what they use on all the aircraft windscreens.
By the way I see your near Lake Tahoe there used to be a yearly sea plane fly-in there, does that still happen?
 
You need Micro-Mesh. I've used it. The Smithsonian uses (or at least used to) it on aircraft window restorations. There's a good amount of effort involved, but if you take your time and follow their instructions the glass will look like new.
 
Oh - PS... if you want a cheap sample of what this stuff is capable of, go to your local drugstore and look for a Revlon "File-n-Smooth" nail file - I think that's the one, it has a rough side and a smooth side (there's a bigger one with four different surfaces too). Take the smooth side and use it for a minute on a fingernail. That's pretty much one of the last steps in the Micro-Mesh kit, in fact Micro-Mesh used to toss those files out by the hundreds to people as a demo at shows.
 
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