superstar19
Member
Thanks. Time to go through the ads and dig up some of them HF coupons!
Fixing those scratched dust covers..
- Thread starter Punker X
- Start date
Thanks. Time to go through the ads and dig up some of them HF coupons!
Resurrecting this very good thread because I want to be able to find it again in the future. Some really good advice and some bad in this thread. Mostly though, there is a lack of directions as there is the assumption that everyone reading this has done some form of scratch removal or finishing polishing.
I started by trial and error with Meguiars Ultimate Compound by pure good luck, and it does work very well on light scratches and scuffs. Read and follow the directions. I once had a Philips GA-312 with a really nasty dust cover. I couldn't sell it as it was (I did try) so I went to my local Canadian Tire and bought 600, 800, 1200, 2000, and 3000 grit wet dry sand paper. I started with 600 and worked my way up to 3000 and got it all even, using water with it all through these stages. That was easy!
Then the really hard work started. I had to do easily 8 application and rubbing sessions with Ultimate Compound. In the end, it was not perfect, but it was nice enough that I got my selling price.
If I were to do it again, I would start as advised on this thread with the finest grade of wet sandpaper I could get away with. I think I made more work for myself using such a coarse grade to start with.
I have quite a few tables that I need to get ready for the autumn stereo buying spree, and I'm about to stock up on new polishing compound. I've finished my Ultimate Compound. I'm planning on picking up some Meguiars ScratchX trying to avoid going to wet sandpaper, then next stage using Ultimate Compound (it worked well), and finally I'll try finishing with Tech Wax 2.0 as recommended on the Ultimate Compound bottle.
I'm also going to try and find an affordable low speed dual action polisher. I don't thing I need a sander, but my arm will thank me if I find some kind of powered polisher. I looked at Porter-Cable, but they start at $200! I do have enough turntables (8 right now ready to go) to justify the purchase of one, only I am not yet convinced it would be the best choice for turntable dust covers. Stay tuned, and I will post my results here.
Great thread!
I started by trial and error with Meguiars Ultimate Compound by pure good luck, and it does work very well on light scratches and scuffs. Read and follow the directions. I once had a Philips GA-312 with a really nasty dust cover. I couldn't sell it as it was (I did try) so I went to my local Canadian Tire and bought 600, 800, 1200, 2000, and 3000 grit wet dry sand paper. I started with 600 and worked my way up to 3000 and got it all even, using water with it all through these stages. That was easy!
Then the really hard work started. I had to do easily 8 application and rubbing sessions with Ultimate Compound. In the end, it was not perfect, but it was nice enough that I got my selling price.
If I were to do it again, I would start as advised on this thread with the finest grade of wet sandpaper I could get away with. I think I made more work for myself using such a coarse grade to start with.
I have quite a few tables that I need to get ready for the autumn stereo buying spree, and I'm about to stock up on new polishing compound. I've finished my Ultimate Compound. I'm planning on picking up some Meguiars ScratchX trying to avoid going to wet sandpaper, then next stage using Ultimate Compound (it worked well), and finally I'll try finishing with Tech Wax 2.0 as recommended on the Ultimate Compound bottle.
I'm also going to try and find an affordable low speed dual action polisher. I don't thing I need a sander, but my arm will thank me if I find some kind of powered polisher. I looked at Porter-Cable, but they start at $200! I do have enough turntables (8 right now ready to go) to justify the purchase of one, only I am not yet convinced it would be the best choice for turntable dust covers. Stay tuned, and I will post my results here.
Great thread!
MannyE
Exterminate!
Oh man, I could not imagine doing that without at least a power drill to polish.
Since then I have moved to wet sanding as well. But I try to finish with 4000 grit and the next time I do it I'm going to try some 5000 grit before moving to polishing compound. Also, take a look at the Novus 7136 Plastic polish kit, which supposed to be for things like motorcycle windshields and anything acrylic.
Since then I have moved to wet sanding as well. But I try to finish with 4000 grit and the next time I do it I'm going to try some 5000 grit before moving to polishing compound. Also, take a look at the Novus 7136 Plastic polish kit, which supposed to be for things like motorcycle windshields and anything acrylic.
Well, I went to Canadien Tire yesterday. It was kind of funny because I am right now quitting smoking (4th week into it) and my brain isn't always working well, which is why I'm picking something like turntable covers to work on rather than trouble shooting a couple of tables I have and rebuilding some Wharfedale surrounds. So I'm going through the aisles looking at the products they have and bought the stuff in the first picture. I may bring back the black plastic enhancer since I wasn't thinking straight at that point. Then I went to the tool section to look for a polisher. While I'm going through them, I start getting this nagging question that I may already have an orbital sander, so I left with just Meguiars products.
Sure enough, I checked when I got home and found the sander. I picked it up at Value Village for under $10! I do have others, but this time I'll try this one and see how it goes. But only on the JVC. It needs sanding, but I'm hoping I can get away without it on the Technics. Fingers crossed!
Finally, the two turntables I will be working on. The JVC is pretty bad, especially with four rings on the front.
Sure enough, I checked when I got home and found the sander. I picked it up at Value Village for under $10! I do have others, but this time I'll try this one and see how it goes. But only on the JVC. It needs sanding, but I'm hoping I can get away without it on the Technics. Fingers crossed!
Finally, the two turntables I will be working on. The JVC is pretty bad, especially with four rings on the front.
I'm going to head over to an auto specialist store that will probably have a low speed polisher. Hopefully it won't be prohibitively expensive. If it is, I'll try the black and decker with polishing very carefully and see how that works. I want something I can get great results from in 2 to 3 hours. Anything else is just too long.
Chip Chester
Super Member
I did the headlights on the Mini last week, and saw a few under-$50 options of powered polishers while at the auto parts store. At least they looked like they were powered -- small triangle-shaped doo-dad for small painted finish repair. I used Meguiar's Aluminum and Mag polish, though, per a YouTube video. Worked very well, followed by UV spray. Sorry if this has been covered in some of the 13 pages of posts above...
Keep in mind, though, that plastic headlight lenses are made to withstand some heat. TT dust covers, not so much.
Chip
Keep in mind, though, that plastic headlight lenses are made to withstand some heat. TT dust covers, not so much.
Chip
Well, I did find a polisher, but it was more than I wanted to spend. I decided to start with the Technics dustcover and see if I could get away without sanding. That wasn't completely successful, and I will revisit. Next, I took the JVC dustcover off the table and removed the hinges, and started sanding the inside. In the end, I didn't sand it enough, but I'll get it the next time I do it. Flipped over the lid and sanded the top. I used 1000 grit and 3000 grit that the kit contains, and that worked perfectly. Of course, that is the easy part.
The polishing isn't too bad, but if you sanded close to the edge like I did, it will be challenging getting those swirls out from the edges. The polishing doesn't remove it like I would have liked. But I'm happy with how it did work and can recommend Meguiars kit with no hesitation. It does work! But you need to be patient and spend enough time on each step.otherwise, you will spend much more time on each subsequent step trying to unsuccessfully take out what should have been done earlier.
I will be revisiting this. The scratches you see are on the inside. The top looks perfect!
The polishing isn't too bad, but if you sanded close to the edge like I did, it will be challenging getting those swirls out from the edges. The polishing doesn't remove it like I would have liked. But I'm happy with how it did work and can recommend Meguiars kit with no hesitation. It does work! But you need to be patient and spend enough time on each step.otherwise, you will spend much more time on each subsequent step trying to unsuccessfully take out what should have been done earlier.
I will be revisiting this. The scratches you see are on the inside. The top looks perfect!
@ BilboB--What a beautiful job!
My method was to wet sand with 800, 1000, 1500, 2000. Cross hatch.
Then, cutting compound with help of my drill and a foam pad attachment, then polishing compound with help of my drill and pad.
Then, Meguir's Scratch X 2.0 by hand.
Then clean with non ammonia glass cleaner and polish with Nano Spray Wax.
Thank you OP for starting this thread!
My method was to wet sand with 800, 1000, 1500, 2000. Cross hatch.
Then, cutting compound with help of my drill and a foam pad attachment, then polishing compound with help of my drill and pad.
Then, Meguir's Scratch X 2.0 by hand.
Then clean with non ammonia glass cleaner and polish with Nano Spray Wax.
Thank you OP for starting this thread!
suburbanbeat
New Member
Getting ready to restore a Marantz 6300 dustcover using sandpaper of a few different grits (1500-3000) and Meguiar's G12310. This seems to be one of the widely accepted methods of polishing dust covers. I don't have a polisher, so I'll be relying only on elbow grease. Unfortunately, the dust cover has some pretty deep blemishes, I think from cigarette ash, that are deep and I could never hope to remove completely. Both hinge areas have cracks coming from them anyway, so it will never be mint. Oh well!
So, has any tried a headlight restoration kit? it has the buffing wheels and paper needed plus the polishing compound. I plan to pick up a kit today. I've used them before on the headlight covers and they work really well with some careful use of the buffing wheel.
I've used the turtle wax kit and this kit with success on the cars
https://www.amazon.com/Mothers-07251-NuLens-Headlight-Renewal/dp/B00GZLMEPM/
I've used the turtle wax kit and this kit with success on the cars
https://www.amazon.com/Mothers-07251-NuLens-Headlight-Renewal/dp/B00GZLMEPM/
MannyE
Exterminate!
I used the Mothers kit with some success. The trick is to make sure the drill gets up into the higher RPMs. AND... less is more. Go slow.
For very screwed up covers that you're going to throw away you can use the wet sanding method starting with 1000 or even 500 grit if it's really bad. A rubber block and a few hours of wet sanding and polishing can work wonders.
dzkfraser
Super Member
Take your time with wet sanding, make sure you sand thoroughly with each grit, I use a sheet sander, much easier on the elbow. Sand with as high a grit you can find. iI would go as high as 5000 but 3000 and 5000 grits generally aren't available in stores. The highest I find is 2500. Then rubbing compound followed by polishing with the orbital. If you take your time it will come out nice.
I used a sanding block and my cheap car orbital buffer. I had forgotten I had one 
Worked great to buff out the plastic.
Worked great to buff out the plastic.
M-D-Z
Member
I used a sanding block and my cheap car orbital buffer. I had forgotten I had one
Just some thoughts on all this:
I have had some success repairing hazed cloudy & scratched TT dust covers, my approach is to precede the task with an initial careful assessment so as to develop a simple workable plan based upon the many variables.
The idea here is to avoid going in like a bull in a China shop and recklessly making your cover worse and then regretting destroying what was initially a reparable (hopefully not irreplaceable) item.
There are widely different types of clear cover materials (polymer resin chemistry) depending on the makers' design parameters, construction methods and cost constraints.
Blow molding, vacuum forming with heat, injection molding, fabricated with glued edges, etc., and then there is material selection:
Acrylic based
Styrene based
Polycarbonate
Polyolefin family:
(LDPE) low density polyethylene
(LLDPE) linear low
(MDPE) medium
(HDPE) high
(EVA) ethylene vinyl acetate
(PP) polypropylene/ propylene copolymers
Each material has specific engineering properties and surface characteristics.
Some develop top layer surface barrier-like films in their manufacturing or within the mold cavity, which when cut though in polishing can reveal optical boundary separation artifacts.
One should assess how deep the resurfacing needs to go.
No need to polish far below the damage depth range.
Polish/rub too aggressively, and the heat generated can cause deep irreparable hazing/fogging/stress marks/crazing etc.
Many/most (non-glass) auto headlight lenses are Polycarbonate based for resistance to stone impact fracture, as per DOT, and due to the anticipated exposure to high heat, extreme UV radiation, pollution, and harsh chemical contact including exhaust gasses, brake dust and car wash detergents, these covers are factory sprayed with a VERY HARD clear 'paint' and baked for curing. I found this out the hard way polishing the plastic headlights on my 96 Impala SS. This coating was extremely hard and difficult to sand through, and once I penetrated a small spot, the entire surface needed to be done to eliminate the huge edge effect (at the coating line) that was visually unavoidable.
Polishes contain carefully controled sizing of tiny hard abrasive particles that physically remove material producing a newly lowered and optically flatter top surface in order to eliminate previously observable irregularities and imperfections.
Obviously it is critical to diligently rinse ALL coarser abrasives away before moving on and cross-contaminating the next step using a finer grade compound.
It is also foolish to use too coarse a grade initially (like 220) just to remove very light surface dust marks and swirls. With a lot of labor, it can get you a good result, but unnecessary material removal (and hard work) can and should be avoided.
I usually start out 'in reverse' with a quick test, by hand rubbing some compound on the worst area using 3M Finesse-It II #05928 just to see what it does NOT remove, and if that test is not completely effective, I then move on to 3M Perfect-It EX #36060 to see if that will cut deep enough, this test can help me see if I can skip the need for sanding.
Wax applications serve to 'fill-in' scratch damage with optically transparent material to restore the original surfaces' optical performance.
Like wax, windshield repair liquid resin repairs fall into a similar 'filling-in' category, only doing that job much more permanently.
Block sanding, working progressively finer toward eventual optical clarity can produce a surface even more flat than original, but if the inside surface is not also perfectly flat, such that the inner and outer surfaces are dead parallel, then the result can be optical anomalies.
Finally, A HUGE obstacle is having to work around those permanently molded-in logo plates usually found in the middle of the top panel!
.... Man, that issue is always so frustratingly hard to overcome, because in the end we obviously want the new perfectly clear surface to mate up perfectly to the pre-existing edge of the (hopefully) untouched logo plate!!!
That's why I love a TT cover that has no logo plate on it.
I hope a few of these thoughts are of use to someone here.
danbar
New Member
Hello everyone,
I had shipped my Sansui SR-838 to Asia, everything looked fine when it arrived. But six months later cracks on the dust cover started to show around the hinges. Please see attached photos. I've been looking but could not find a replacement or a place that does repair. There used to be one on ebay that specialized on custom made SR 838 dust cover, but it closed about two years ago. I would appreciate it very much if you can give me any advice on how to restore if still possible, or where a new one can be made. Thanks in advance for any response.
I had shipped my Sansui SR-838 to Asia, everything looked fine when it arrived. But six months later cracks on the dust cover started to show around the hinges. Please see attached photos. I've been looking but could not find a replacement or a place that does repair. There used to be one on ebay that specialized on custom made SR 838 dust cover, but it closed about two years ago. I would appreciate it very much if you can give me any advice on how to restore if still possible, or where a new one can be made. Thanks in advance for any response.
I've used PlastX headlight polish and a cloth, works really well.
Jibe01
Active Member
Recently buffed the dust cover of my old college turntable for my Daughter to use. Did it by hand, wet sanding, starting with the 800 grit, because it had some deep scratches, then 1000, 1500, 2000. finished with Meguir's Scratch X 2.0 , and then some polish. I was very pleased with the results - only a couple of traces of the deepest scratches remained. Took a little under 2 hours start to finish. I cut a piece of plywood almost as big as the top, then put a cloth towel over it, then set the dust cover on top of it, and set all on a sturdy box, this served as a platform to full support the dust cover from below, so I would not get any stress cracks, or worse, as I applied pressure to sand.
The 3 pics below show 1. existing scratches, 2. near the end, as I was buffing out the haze left by the sandpaper., & 3. Final results.
The 3 pics below show 1. existing scratches, 2. near the end, as I was buffing out the haze left by the sandpaper., & 3. Final results.
Very nice job!
I just refinished the surface of my Thorens TD-160 dust cover tonight. One problem that I’m reluctant to tackle are the blemishes to that new, near perfect finish! Scratches or scuffs inside the dust cover, a spot or blemish in the plastic you couldn’t see before you started. Those kinds of things. I’m a Virgo, so I strive for perfection, but sometimes you just have to accept that it won’t likely be perfect.
And just like a new car, we always curse that first scratch on a new finish.
And just like a new car, we always curse that first scratch on a new finish.
