Help with c5 c6 corvette glass top

[Billand]

I have a customer that asked if I can polish out some swirls on his c5 and c 6 corvettes. I have a flex 3401 and pc with lake country ccs pads and Meg's 105 205 the tops are smoked color.


Thanks

[Mike Phillips]

If those are the Lexan tops I would let someone else have the blessing...


Lexan is popular because it's hard as diamonds, it's this same hardness factor that makes it difficult to polish with the end results looking clear and new.

I've worked on a lot of plastics in my life, old school, old technology plastics like Plexiglas are easy to work on because the plastic is soft.

I have yet to see liquid abrasive product that will restore a crystal clear, brand new appearance to Lexan.

I've seen and personally taken true Lexan from a HORRIBLE scratched up condition and made it less horrible. But if the standard and expectation is for an appearance that is defect free and as clear as when it was new I have not seen a plastic polish that will do this.

The best product I've seen to date for working on Lexan has been M105. I have not seen some of the new abrasive products tested however so maybe someone else can chime in with their experience?

Products like,


Optimum Hyper-Compound or Hyper-Polish
Menzerna FG 400 or any of their polishes
Meguiar's M105, M86, M100 or M101
SONAX polishes
Anything that uses some type of new abrasive technology


It's going to come down to the abrasive technology....


My guess is that it will also require a rotary buffer to do any correction work and polishing work.


Did you ask the customer how the tops got into the condition they're currently in?



:)

[Billand]

Hi mike thanks for the quick reply. How can I tell the differance between the materials. The tops became scratched from regular washing and a car cover

[Mike Phillips]

Hi mike thanks for the quick reply. How can I tell the difference between the materials. The tops became scratched from regular washing and a car cover


I think they only come in Lexan for late models and new cars...

Plexiglas has gone the way of the Dodo Bird from what I can tell. Too bad because the "average guy" can work on Plexiglas, the "average guy" cannot work on Lexan. The "average guy" can go to the GM dealership and order new tops.


If they were real glass they would not scratch as easily as Lexan and would probably still look new today.


Anytime a person uses a car cover they have to use the right technique to place it on the car and just as important they have to have a clean place to store it or it gets dirty and that defeats the purpose of using the car cover.

Most of my life I see expensive car covers, once removed from the car, wadded up and set on the garage floor.


As for washing, I cover that in my chapter on how to carefully wash a car instead of scrubbing. Most people that wash their car scrub it.


I'll send a PM to killrwheels, he's a Corvette guy, he might be able to shed some light...




:dunno:

[Mike Phillips]

PM sent...


:xyxthumbs:

[Y2KSVT]

I'd start with some Google searches. Here's something that I found rather quickly about the C6 glass tops:

... On painted roofs, inspect the panel beneath the headliner. If the material is light gray in color, then the roof is Sheet Molded Compound (SMC) and is not in need of the recall. If the panel is charcoal in color, then the roof is Acrylonitrile/Butadiene-Styrene (ABS) and should have been involved with the recall. Follow the procedure outlined in the recall.

C6 Factory Service Bulletins | CC Tech - Corvette Performance, Restoration and Repair (http://tech.corvettecentral.com/2011/05/c6-factory-service-bulletins/)

You could also call the dealership to see if they can provide any information on the material.

[Billand]

Thanks for the help I am going to the customers house today to get some pics and the vin to check with gm.

[Setec Astronomy]

Yeah, but Mike...Lexan = polycarbonate = what headlights are made out of...most of us seem to be able to polish headlights ok?

[Andr3wilson]

My Subaru rally car has lexan all round. The front gets horribly scratched due to the wipers.

I know exactly what mike is saying, it takes a lot of practice to get this right.

I have tried different products on it, never megs. I found Menz IP1500 on an orange pad, then SF4000 on a white pad gives the best optical clarity. I then seal with Exo.

A rotary is really necessary because the heat builds up and cuts. My recommendation is:
-Cut with your compound on a rotary
-Let the lexan completely cool
-Then wipe off the residue - sometimes wiping on the hot plastic can mar it
-Polish with Flex DA
-Let it cool again
-Wipe off residue
-Then seal

I dont have any pictures of the polishing steps. I have only raced the car a few times in the fall to step it up. Come spring I will have some pics up.

Once again I really want to reiterate, lexan is super hard and strong, but finishing it to a clear, swirl and hologram free finish can be a real undertaking. A clean microfibre and swirl it if used incorrectly.

If you dont feel comfortable with this, I really would pass this part of the job to someone else.

[Mike Phillips]

Yeah, but Mike...Lexan = polycarbonate = what headlights are made out of...most of us seem to be able to polish headlights ok?


I think there's various types of polycarbonate...


Here's what I know, I used to have a back window out of a Ferrari, not sure the model but the owner had a couple of these cars including an F40 and he replaced the back window in one of his cars because it became so scratched it was hard to see out of and he could not buff the scratches out of it.

I took it and this was when M105 first came out and tried everything in my arsenal including PlastX, which works really well on most plastics.

I could improve the Lexan Ferrari window, that is take it from really horrible deep scratches to a dull finish but couldn't get it to go clear like you can a headlight cover.


I've worked on other Lexan surfaces in the past too but nothing that stick out in my memory. I'm always looking for products that can buff scratches and scuffs out of Lexan so the Lexan LOOK BRAND NEW, not pretty good.


I do think there are a lot of different types of plastic though and Lexan is just one variety. We need a plastics engineer to help in this area.



:)

[Mike Phillips]

My Subaru rally car has lexan all round. The front gets horribly scratched due to the wipers.





I'm still going to take a guess that there are different varieties of plastics even inside the Lexan family.

It could also be the Lexan tops on Corvettes have some type of coating.


Any plastic engineers in the house?



:)

[bigdriver4u]

Mike, Is Lexan the material that the glass tops of the Mercedes SL550's are made of? It's the one with the panaramic roof. I was approached by a customer to clean up water spots off and was alittle hesitant to put a pad on it.

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, Is Lexan the material that the glass tops of the Mercedes SL550's are made of? It's the one with the panaramic roof. I was approached by a customer to clean up water spots off and was alittle hesitant to put a pad on it.


I don't know off hand.

Glass tops are either Lexan or real glass. It can be hard to tell.

At one of my Detailing Boot Camp Classes we had a Corvette with a Lexan top and it had scratches and cracks in it. We didn't try to work on it because I was worried pushing on the Lexan could cause the cracks to grow larger.


:)

[Setec Astronomy]

I do think there are a lot of different types of plastic though and Lexan is just one variety. We need a plastics engineer to help in this area.

Well, Lexan is just a brand name for polycarbonate, and there are doubtless different grades used for different things, including bullet-proof glass. If that F40 window was flat, I'm sure that was made out of sheet and likely a lot different than the molded sculpted headlights on a production car.

[Vegas Transplant]

If those are the Lexan tops I would let someone else have the blessing...


Lexan is popular because it's hard as diamonds, it's this same hardness factor that makes it difficult to polish with the end results looking clear and new.

I've worked on a lot of plastics in my life, old school, old technology plastics like Plexiglas are easy to work on because the plastic is soft.

I have yet to see liquid abrasive product that will restore a crystal clear, brand new appearance to Lexan.

I've seen and personally taken true Lexan from a HORRIBLE scratched up condition and made it less horrible. But if the standard and expectation is for an appearance that is defect free and as clear as when it was new I have not seen a plastic polish that will do this.



It's going to come down to the abrasive technology....


My guess is that it will also require a rotary buffer to do any correction work and polishing work.


Did you ask the customer how the tops got into the condition they're currently in?



:)

I agree with Mike...with the exception of products and tools used in the metal finishing industry. Visit their forum.

However, the only paste that comes to mind is Peek, and automotive pads will leave micro scratches behind.

My two cents anyway.

EDIT: The 3401 won't get it IMHO.