Restoring Plexiglass

[Bill Musarra]

Was surfing the web the other morning and came across an article on restoring plexiglass. The questioned asked was about rear window plexiglas in a convertible, but it should aply to the sheet version as well.

As long as it's not cracked or crazed, Plexiglas can be restored to new condition. All you have to do is sand and polish it as you would a fine paint finish. Start with a very fine grit sandpaper such as 1000 or 1200 and wet sand the Plexiglas with a sanding block if it's flat or sanding sponge if it's curved. When the scratches are almost gone, switch to 1500-grit paper and wet sand until the scratches are entirely gone. Then use 2000-grit paper to eliminate the 1500-grit sanding scratches. Use a slow speed (about 700 rpm) machine polisher fitted with a compounding pad and fine grade compound to "rub out" the Plexiglas.
As with paint, after you have compounded away all sanding scratches, move on to a polishing pad and fine polish. Finish up with a swirl mark remover such as 3M Finesse It II and your Plexiglas should look perfect.

For what it's worth.
Bill

[Bill Bayard]

FWIW, Finesse works very well on runs in new paint, IF you hand rub them out within a day or two of painting the car. It takes some serious grunt work, but it beats sanding, feathering, re-spraying, etc.

Bill

[Stig Svedberg]

It takes a lot of elbow grease to get the job done. It might just be easier to replace it. I was even able to bend the headlight covers without heat. I used some extra thin (3/32?) plexiglass. I just had to be careful, don't try it on a cold day.