I hosed my Windshield - need advice

[Dilbertian]

I must have got too close to that truck that sprays the white lines on the road and as I passed him, it oversprayed my nose cone and my windshield. I tried a bunch of things to get it off but GoofOff was about the only thing that was working but when I got to the Windshield, it turned it all cloudy as if someone had hit it with a sanding wheel or something. I am guessing that BIG warning label was referring to this product as one of those they recommend not to use but I had no idea what they were referring to as I am not a chemist - or a rocket scientist obviously.

This was my Touring windshield (which is pretty much useless anyway) and my first thought was to just paint it all black but then I stuck my stock windshield on and put about 150 miles on it today and damn if it's not better in some respects then the touring shield - maybe it's that little lip on the top, not sure.

I'm guessing there's no way to fix those cloudy spots from the GoofOff and that I am stuck with it but just wanted to see if there was an expert out there that could tell me for sure.

Thanks,

-Tim

[jeuchler]

Hey, Tim

I'm not a chemist either (my wife was a chem teacher, so I guess I get partial credit) but I've used something like this (not specifically Janvil) on scratched plastic eyeglasses:

http://www.janvil.com/plastic_polish.htm

Now I don't know if the $13 would be worth the gamble for your shield, but it can't make it too much worse, right?

I think the polish has the same index of refraction as the solid plastic (that's why there's a different one for glass--different index) so laid up together it's (almost) as if you're looking through one material.

Good luck!

[Dilbertian]

Thanks for the advice, I will think about that! You make a good point about the cost of whatever I do to try to fix it. Maybe I should just cut my losses since it kind of sucked anyway.

-Tim

[jeuchler]

Tim

I just read Marcel's post on the Evo III shield, and he had a note about cleaning it--and I realize he was writing about routine cleaning--with "NuFinish" .

http://www.f1windshields.com/www.spyderwindshields_006.com

Had you tried that?

[NancysToy]

I would try the special plastic polishes first. Novus is one, Mequiars makes another. Some have three different grits. It takes a very long time. If that doesn't work, you can polish the acrylics with a slow buffing wheel. Use 1,750 rpm at the most, slower is even better. Use a loose buff, or better yet a string buff, very light pressure, and special buffing compound for plastics. Go slow, move around, and don't apply any heavy pressure, or stop in one place. You can burn the plastic in a heartbeat. Some of these shields have hardened outer layers, so any damage removes this, and it will need polishing more often. In a desperate pinch, either clear acrylic floor wax (Future), or a product called Plastic Renew, can coat the surface and make it shiny again...for a while.
-Scotty

[ld271]

it all amounts to how much are you in love with your windshield??? as suggusted plastic cleaner or paint it black add a logo before you paint or see if some one has one for sale that replaced theres with something else :bigthumbsup: