Acrylic windshield polishing

dhutton01

dhutton01

Backyard Hack
I’m working on a 61 Corvette and the owner asked me if I would paint and replace the seals on his hardtop. Aside from the fact that tearing this thing down was a project in itself I am interested what guys have used to polish acrylic windshields. There are no deep scratches, just want to polish it up with my rotary polisher.

I now understand why it costs $5k to have one of these hardtops restored… :)

Thanks,
Don

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I have used the Micro-Mesh kit on the acrylic windows of small aircraft. It does work well, was all done by hand and has to be done evenly so there is no distortion when looking through it. I think they do make a kit that can be used with an orbital as well.
www.aircraftspruce.com

Micro-Mesh Acrylic Restoral Kit - 30 Square Feet | Aircraft Spruce

Micro-Mesh Acrylic Restoral Kit - 30 Square Feet Use this kit by hand to restore up to 30 square feet of acrylic. NSN#5350 01 290 4002. A favorite window restore kit with military customers.
www.aircraftspruce.com www.aircraftspruce.com
 
You should be able to use what you have on hand Don. The process is pretty much the same as paint. I've done it 2X and used regular sandpaper and buffing compounds. 1000-1500-2000 by hand then 3000 Trizact, 5000 Trizact. Then foam pad and compound, foam polishing pad and polish. Easier than paint because the scratches don't cut as deep.
 
The first time I did it was on the rear window of a C1 Corvette like Don is working on. Owner came into the Shop as I was in the middle of sanding. Started screaming that we ruined the window. :eek: I told him come back in a couple of hours, everything is going to be OK. When he came back he swore we put another window in the hardtop. We all laughed and said how did you know? Of course we didn't but we didn't tell him that. He left happy.
At this same Shop many years ago, we had another plexiglass window. Can't remember what it was out of. My mentor, a crusty old guy getting ready to retire, said he wasn't "going to go through all the hassle of sanding and buffing this POS". He took out his DA and some 320 and buzzed the window for a few minutes, then took it into the booth taped off the inside, and shot 2 coats of PPG 2001 clear on it. Looked great when he finished.
 
While waiting for some gray epoxy to be delivered I went at it with Assilex 1500, Buflex 2500, Trizact 8000, ACA 510 on a wool pad and ACA 520 on a foam pad. It cleaned up pretty good for an hour and a half of labor. It had one big deep scratch and the 1500 removed it.

It’s the original window as near as I can tell. A new one is $375 plus I’m sure a hefty shipping charge. They charged $80 to ship the seals and fasteners in a small box.

Had all the stainless moldings polished. So once it’s painted it’s ready for assembly. I want to get it done soon before I forget how it came apart. :D

Thanks for the tips,
Don
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