Instrument panel lenses very yellow

[Steve McMahan]

Is there a solution other than replacement? Thanks, Steve

 

[MikeGriese]

Interesting - I've never seen yellowed lenses on any Mustang. Has the entire lens discolored or just where it is exposed to the interior? If the whole lens is discolored, there may not be much you can do. If just the exposed portion is discolored, you may be able to polish off whatever got on it.

 

[Steve McMahan]

Here’s a pic of it:

 

[Sheriff41]

Search "how to remove yellowing from clear plastic" and check out the use of hydrogen peroxide. I've been meaning to try this on some parts, also.

 

[Steve McMahan]

Thanks for the tip

 

[sicndhed]

The clock lens on my '69 yellowed. Like yours, where it was was protected around the edges it still looked clear. I soaked it for a week in something recommended on the web (it was years ago and I can't remeber what I soaked it in) without much change. I tried sanding and polishing. It reduced it but I could not get it "good enough". I gave up and replaced it

 

[Tnfastbk]

I have used this product before with good luck.

https://www.amazon.com/NOVUS-PK1-8-Plastic-Scratch-Remover-Bottles/dp/B002UCYRZU

 

[Steve McMahan]

Thanks for the idea

 

[basstrix]

I wonder if someone applied some sort of treatment product, like armorall, or maybe something to clean the lens? Can you tell if it's on the surface vs soaked into the plastic? If only on surface, I'd think polishing might save it.

 

[Steve McMahan]

It’s only on the outside. I tried putting a vinegar soaked paper towel on it for a while with no noticeable change. I’m going to try the hydrogen peroxide in a bag approach today. I’ll post the results with an outside lit before and after Photo.

 

[7173Mustang]

I've heard of toothpaste working on headlight plastic that is fogged. Maybe worth a try on a corner of those.

 

[Steve McMahan]

Well, 4 hours of peroxide in the sun produced no noticeable change. Gonna try the bleach.

 

[INPete]

I've used the Meguiars Plastic Polish "PlastX" on headlight lenses and made a big difference. Seemed to work well on those. I'm sure it'll help on the cluster lenses, but can't say it'll remove all of the yellowing.

 

[BigBlue]

I had an old pair of lens and tried everything I could to get the yellowing out, but nothing worked. Taking a closer look I realized that no superficial chemical or polish treatment would remove the haze because the plastic itself had yellowed internally. Ended up buying a repro lens. I suspect you have the same situation going on.

 

[basstrix]

Mine had scratches and an area with a milky opaque appearance...I assume it was oxidation from where the sun was able to shine for the years it sat beside the house. I used a 3 step process and got it looking like new. First step is wet sand with progressively finer paper up to 3000 grit, then hand polish with a foam pad with a polish I used on gelcoat. Last step was another hand polish on foam pad using meguires plastic polish. I can get you specifics if you're interested in either of the polish products. I got the sandpaper from amazon. Just last weekend I did this for the 3 center gauge lenses.

Just FYI, I did this to a set of headlights some time back, and I had purchases a Turtle Wax brand kit for just this purpose....the process I outlined above is what I came up with to get satisfactory results...my point being that I don't recommend the turtle wax kit.

 

[Steve McMahan]

The bleach didn’t work either. It’s hard to determine which side the yellowing is on. I think I will opt for the replacement. Thank you all for the recommendations.

 

[Bentworker]

Is there a replacement available? That looks like you have a clock.

Might try a headlight polishing kit.

 

[Steve McMahan]

I decided to ditch the clock and get my clock retrofitted with a tach, courtesy of Rocketman. I found a nice replacement lenses, with no trip reset hole, that will work well with the new Tach.

 

[AaronFord]

Mine is dusty on the inside but I have no idea how to remove it from the dash. I was able to replace the cluster bulbs by removing the dash pad but the cluster eludes me.

I cannot speak for yellowing. I have fought this on motorcycles but have yet to find a viable solution.

 

[INPete]

Getting it removed was a little tricky for me. Removed the steering wheel which I was replacing anyways. Then I had to remove the lower column cover where it meets the lower dash. Removed the four lower steering column nuts underneath the dash so I could pull the column down slightly. Removed the instrument cluster cover screws and allowed it to drop forward so that I could get to the cluster housing bolts. Once those were removed, I was able to pull the cover and cluster housing out together. It looked simple at first, but just couldn't get the cluster cover out without the additional work. A little extra work, but worth it in the end when I could polish the lense fully on the inside and out. Much clearer picture of the gauges and the new rcc tach upgrade with hipo led's.