Ruined dashboard window

zilog_jones

Like a spa, I put window cleaner on the plastic window over the instrument panel. Now it's all blotchy and crappy looking. I can still read everything OK but it's annoying, and it shows up worse with the lights on.

Is there anything I can try to make it look better? Some sort of wax or polish or something?

peasant

Try dry kitchen roll first ...you might just be looking at residue.

If it is scratched, try polishing with "peek" ...that's what we use on acrylic in work.

vector

LOL

I did the same thing, and even used a cheap windolene copy that left white dots instead of transparent ones.

I went to the nearest retail motorfactors and got on of those cockpit shine / STP/ turtle wax aerosols that smell like a taxi air freshener, but it actually worked, cost about EUR 7

colm_mcm

the plastic speedo window can be replaced on some cars, generally costing 30-40 quid.

zilog_jones

peasant wrote:

Try dry kitchen roll first ...you might just be looking at residue.

i've tried cleaning it with water, and fairy, and it made no difference. What kind of shops sell this "Peek"?

I went to the nearest retail motorfactors and got on of those cockpit shine / STP/ turtle wax aerosols that smell like a taxi air freshener, but it actually worked, cost about EUR 7

Might try one of them if I can't get the other stuff.

the plastic speedo window can be replaced on some cars, generally costing 30-40 quid.

Fook :eek:

Thanks for the help!

peasant

zilog_jones wrote:

i've tried cleaning it with water, and fairy, and it made no difference. What kind of shops sell this "Peek"?

We get it in some small hardware / DIY shop. It's a polishing paste (usually for brass and such) in a small silvery tube.

Have you tried rubbing the window with totally dry paper or kitchen roll? Try a corner first. With windolene or fairy what happens sometimes is that you just smear the dirt around ...when you don't dry it off thoroughly it'll just sit there.

gafarrell

Believe it or not what is quite good for that kind of stuff is toothpaste. Trust me I am not joking. Works like a charm. Also great for getting the wax stuff off of the outside of the windscreen.

C_Breeze

id just get a new one from the scarppy if i was you. Its the kind of thing that would bother me too

CrowdedHouse

gafarrell wrote:

Believe it or not what is quite good for that kind of stuff is toothpaste.

True - not guaranteed but worth a try

zilog_jones

I tried what vector said and got some Carplan "Dashboard Shine" from Homebase on the way home from college. Sprayed some on and wiped it with a chamois cloth - did this a few times over and the marks were totally gone - and now it's lemon fresh too!

Does anyone know if the instrument panel can be replaced with the higher spec ones that have tachometers on them? It's a '98 Fiesta LX - the pictures in the Haynes manual show a tachometer (I guess it was a Ghia), but it doesn't seem to mention any connections specific to it. There's no digital odometer or anything fancy in these.