In my black '81 interior, the hard plastic of the shifter console and radio/instrument bezels has lost most of its shine and maybe even some color. Has anyone used a method to polish or someone refurbish the fininsh on this plastic that has achieved superior results?

hi,

well my 82 had problems with the silver band that was spotty and the ash tray was worn. i sanded the ash tray and primered it and spary painted it black. it turned out perfect. for the silver band i found a Calligraphy Silver pen in a craft store. it is just like a marker but with a nice silver permanent color. it is not chrome but it is most likely as close as you can get. now. your other options are to buy/replace the worn parts. i have done so on the plastic door handle bezels and a few other parts.

mark v

Meguair's makes some plastic polishes that worked well for me. I have mainly used their clear plastic polish for my gauge bezels. They do make one for colored plastics. Try it in a small area first to see if you like the results.

Do you guys have Brasso metal polish over in the US? Obviously you'll have something like it anyway - any type of metal polish is excellent on that plastic. It's very slightly abrasive, much like cutting compound you might use on paint, i guess. If you have deep scratches, then a bit of 1200 (or finer) wet and dry (use it wet!) followed by the metal polish will transform any old plastic. Obviously test out your technique on a small bit first. The wet and dry approach requires lots of patience, and don't be alarmed after you've made the first pass - the plastic will look as though it'll never shine again! But whizz over it with the metal polish a few times and you'll be able to see you face in it!

I had an inch long scratch in my speedo/tach lens where someone had obviously slipped with a screw driver trying to take it out. It was deep enough to catch your finger nail in it if you ran it across. Using the above method completely removed it (OK it may have taken 45 mins, but you don't get anything for free )

Another way to re-new the crome band around the console- I bought a roll of crome colored stick-on pin striping at the auto parts store. It was flexible enough that stretched around the corners and looks good.