Center Gauges Scratch Easy

[Mustang5ohMan]

Nice. Where’d you order the 350 gauges and how much were they?
All plug and play it looks like. What did you use to remove the plastic bezel w/o damage.
May try this in the future....

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[cmxPPL219]

Tried the Meguiars product listed above and it works great. Got rid of the


Solid advice. I tried this earlier and the product produced a decent effect enough to solve my problem. I can no longer notice the fine scratches.

Glad it helped! I found it to be great product too.

 

[cmxPPL219]

I just moved the bezels from my factory gauges over to the GT350 gauges, since the metal rings on the GT350 gauges are darker and don't match my factory trim. Here's a picture of them side by side showing the difference in color. You can see the 3 screws holding the bezels on.

I've been wanting to do this same mod too! Awesome.

 

[opengl]

Nice. Where’d you order the 350 gauges and how much were they?
All plug and play it looks like. What did you use to remove the plastic bezel w/o damage.
May try this in the future....

Found mine or eBay for around $120 IIRC. New they're much more. You can find a thread here w/ part number to search for, or just search eBay for "gt350 oil gauge".

 

[Silverstone03]

I notice the same thing as well. The acrylic in both those centre gauges and the instrument cluster are all equally easily scratched (the instrument cluster just not as easily seen due to the binnacle style (if not the digital dash) and even the angle on the digital dash - but they all scratch easily.

I've always been very particular about my cars in general, to a high degree. This includes interior plastics and clear acrylics. If you are super particular like me, this is what have done for years (on other cars) and continue with the Mustang acrylic:
Don'ts
-Never touch with fingers.
-Never "dry dust" either with duster or cloth. (I've never believed in dusters and dry dusting, they will always leave fine scratches behind.
-Never wait too long to clean the dust off (longer you wait, more will accumulate and act like fine sandpaper when wiped)
-Never wipe/touch when the car has been sitting in the sun (this particular design doesn't help, as there's no cover or "gauge hood"; Sun and heat in car softens the acrylic making it more susceptible to micro scratching

Do's
-Always use a dampened microfiber towel to wipe away dust. (gather the towel and size it to about the size fo the gauge; Wipe away in a circular single motion, OR wipe away in one direction of the lens maybe at an angle - start to wipe from the "virtual" 7oclock and end 1oclock for example)
-Always wipe with almost no pressure put on the cloth.

So, 2 options to resolve your case:
1. Restore the acrylic with some kind of product like the one mentioned and follow above going fwd ^
or
2. Buy a new set (yes, super anal) and follow above going fwd ^

I notice the same thing as well. The acrylic in both those centre gauges and the instrument cluster are all equally easily scratched (the instrument cluster just not as easily seen due to the binnacle style (if not the digital dash) and even the angle on the digital dash - but they all scratch easily.

I've always been very particular about my cars in general, to a high degree. This includes interior plastics and clear acrylics. If you are super particular like me, this is what have done for years (on other cars) and continue with the Mustang acrylic:
Don'ts
-Never touch with fingers.
-Never "dry dust" either with duster or cloth. (I've never believed in dusters and dry dusting, they will always leave fine scratches behind.
-Never wait too long to clean the dust off (longer you wait, more will accumulate and act like fine sandpaper when wiped)
-Never wipe/touch when the car has been sitting in the sun (this particular design doesn't help, as there's no cover or "gauge hood"; Sun and heat in car softens the acrylic making it more susceptible to micro scratching

Do's
-Always use a dampened microfiber towel to wipe away dust. (gather the towel and size it to about the size fo the gauge; Wipe away in a circular single motion, OR wipe away in one direction of the lens maybe at an angle - start to wipe from the "virtual" 7oclock and end 1oclock for example)
-Always wipe with almost no pressure put on the cloth.

So, 2 options to resolve your case:
1. Restore the acrylic with some kind of product like the one mentioned and follow above going fwd ^
or
2. Buy a new set (yes, super anal) and follow above going fwd ^

Does anyone know if there is a replacement part for the lens only (not sure if it is plastic or glass, but assumed plastic) on the 12” LCD digital instrument cluster? I tutored the Novus plastic scratch remover and polish and looks like I’ve only made it worse. Thanks

 

[cmxPPL219]

Uh oh...
There's no official replacement for just the lens from Ford - you'd have to buy the whole cluster, which includes the lens.
You could then see if you can separate the lens from the cluster, and swap the lenses.

Or, you can try to polish it using the Meguiar's Polish I referenced above - it's supposed to be mild, and not cause more damage.

The Novus stuff, I know they have multiple grades, did you end up using the more coarse versions? This could have caused the damage.

Take a look at this thread:
https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/2018-digital-cluster-installation-guide.99275/
Although it talks about a gauge swap from analog to digital, you can see partly down the first post, the guy removed the lens from the digital cluster, to clean some debris. It can be done, but again, the cluster and lens come together, not as separate parts. (I checked TASCA Parts, and its about $1,000... https://www.tascaparts.com/oem-parts/ford-cluster-assembly-jr3z10849lb)

 

[Silverstone03]

Uh oh...
There's no official replacement for just the lens from Ford - you'd have to buy the whole cluster, which includes the lens.
You could then see if you can separate the lens from the cluster, and swap the lenses.

Or, you can try to polish it using the Meguiar's Polish I referenced above - it's supposed to be mild, and not cause more damage.

The Novus stuff, I know they have multiple grades, did you end up using the more coarse versions?

Thanks. I used the Novus 2 Fine scratch remover with the cloth provided by them and then their plastic clean and shine. The scratches are only noticeable when the cluster isn’t lit. Just being very particular.

 

[cmxPPL219]

Thanks. I used the Novus 2 Fine scratch remover with the cloth provided by them and then their plastic clean and shine. The scratches are only noticeable when the cluster isn’t lit. Just being very particular.

Cool, good luck. Haha, this thread exists because we are too particular

 

[Mustang5ohMan]

Cool, good luck. Haha, this thread exists because we are too particular

Yes it does! And that Plastix solved my problem.

 

[WD Pro]

Thanks. I used the Novus 2 Fine scratch remover with the cloth provided by them and then their plastic clean and shine. The scratches are only noticeable when the cluster isn’t lit. Just being very particular.

Did you keep adding new product so it was well covered or did you polish it until the product was completely gone / polished out ?

I ask because sone products break down with use and like to be polished out until they leave noting but a slightly oily residue. I don’t know the particular product you used, but if it’s a product that likes to be polished out you will never get the best finish until you do that.

The megs product shown above (and quite a few others from the megs range) only provide the best results after a few cycles of fresh polish then fully polish it out.

It’s normally the third cycle onwards where you start getting good results

WD

 

[Elp_jc]

My dash had like a shadow that looked like crap, and the center screen had a scratch too. I used an old bottle of Griot's Garage plastic polish that didn't seem to do anything after several tries, but I eventually managed to get both defects off. After the polishing, it took several tries with a new microfiber rag sprayed with water, to remove all the smearing from the polish. Bottom line is it's going to take more than one try, so keep at it until it goes away . Good luck.

 

[Mustang5ohMan]

I only had a problem with my guages and the polish took great care of it! Try it!

 

[oneheadlite]

I learned YEARS ago to not take a chance rubbing on gauge faces.

Best thing I found is to soak the gauge face with a cleaner of choice and
then wipe clean with a chamois.

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