Radio channel display

[Guest]

The radio channel display on my 85 LTD is so cloudy that I can only read the station at night. I thought it might be dirt and film on the inside but upon dismantling the radio I found the display window to be completly clear on the inside. Is there a way to clean or polish this display window?
Thanks

[admin]

Using a very fine abrasive polish you can make that window clear again. Try a smokers toothpaste as the polish otherwise you'll have to pay $40. for a bottle of 3M polish like I use for polishing paint jobs on cars and bikes. If the window is in really bad shape you can sand it with 2000 grit wet sandpaper first.

[scty_p]

I'm thinking a toohpaste may be too abrasive??? You could also try a couple of Meguiar's products. I would first try ScratchX and polish and polish some more using a terrycloth or 100% cotton cloth. The other product to try would be PlastX and do the same thing. The PlastX may be the way to go if the window is plastic as that is what this product is made for. Sould be available at your local Wally World or Canadian Tire. I have had great success with both of these products. Good luck

[Guest]

Thanks for your replies.
I tried an Arm & Hammer whitening toothpaste and it worked very well. If anything it was on the overly abrasive side. A great improvement over the way it was.
Thanks again and just gotta say what a great resource this site is.

[Dave-85-LTD]

I used a product called, Wenol, on my radio display
It's a very fine polishing compound for plastics and metal. Some auto stores carry it, but the quickest is Ebay.

Worked great, but mask off the lettering if it is still on the radio.

[admin]

Thanks for your replies.
I tried an Arm & Hammer whitening toothpaste and it worked very well. If anything it was on the overly abrasive side. A great improvement over the way it was.
Thanks again and just gotta say what a great resource this site is.

A lot depends on what type of cloth you use to polish with, cotton is like sandpaper and fleece allows a more finer polish without the scratching because the toothpaste can settle into it and allow the abrasive particles somewhere to go. Ideally loose knit natural wool will give you best results but it's hard to find and don't forget to back off on the hand pressure in the final polish so you don't leave scratches.

[garyft]

Vic, I've never used a the wool cloth you speak of but I've found the new microfiber type cloths to be excellent for polishing/cleaning purposes. Have you tried any of them?

[admin]

I've got some of the new microfiber type cloths but I've never tried them for polishing, just for cleaning eyeglasses. I'll have to keep that in mind and try it sometime. Normally, for polishing, I use a lambswool wheel on a variable speed electric polisher which does an incredible job.