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Hi all,
I have a really bad case of scratching on the panel over the tachometer. They are smooth to the touch, but very noticeable and ugly.
I have absolutely no idea how it got this bad, nor what to do about it. This came to me from the last owner, car only has 41.5k miles. I have heard that buying a new gauge cluster and then removing the glass from that is the only option, since the OEM replacement part has been discontinued.
I saw a few of the glass replacements on ebay a few months ago, but they were for an ap2 and seem to be gone now.
It looks extra ugly at night when the light shines through the cracks, pics attatched.
Have you tried a product like Meguiars PlastiX? You may want to wait for more replies since I am not sure if there is a coating that any polish will destroy. I have used it on mine but just for a light buff and not to repair any scratches like that. I used it successfully on clear binnacle plastic in other cars but not extensively on an AP1 S2000.
It looks like its not salvageable with polishing products.
Your best bet is to buy a used cluster and swap the lens off of that to yours.
This.
You're screwed and are going to need to buy a used cluster and nab the glass from that. The panel itself is actually laminated...I went through this entire dilemma using the 3-step Novus polish....It did absolutely nothing because when the surface gets scratched it not only scratches the laminate film but also the plastic under it; so essentially you'll never be able to get the scratch out unless you somehow find a way to get the laminate off the front.
Here's some pics from when I was doing it. You can clearly see where the laminate separated from the actual plastic.
Check this thread, I went into more detail there, as well as more pictures of the process. Really sucks....
I think I got lucky yesterday and found a brand new lens on eBay. I ordered the last one so I hope the order doesn’t bounce.
In your thread you mentioned something about experimenting with ceramic coating to protect the plastic. Have you tried this yet? I have also been thinking about a cut-to-fit screen protector. I’d just hate for this to happen again.
Do you know how the piece looks like when you take it off? If it's one piece that's flat, you could probably just bring it to a place like tap plastics and they can trace and cut it out for you
01-26-2019, 08:44 PM
Mangled dash glass
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