Guest Gr8White Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 I got really tired of trying to polish out old scratches on my interior instrument lenses (1978 Z). I haven't seen replacement lenses offered (maybe I just didn't find the right place, moot point now) so I decided to make my own. I work at a custom glass/Aluminum skylight company that also sells acrylic formed domes, so the material is easy for me to acquire. I found some 3/16" clear material that is used for dome forming (heating and forcing air against a mold) and it is very close to the exact thickness of the stock lenses and looks to be nearly identical for the curved speedometer and tachometer lenses, which are slightly thicker than the (3) smaller lenses on the dash. The smaller flat lenses work perfectly and were very easy to make. The curved were more of a challenge but I have used some .040" aluminum to create a mold. This was a relatively simple matter of rolling the aluminum to the original lense and tweaking it until it fit flush and cutting a cardboard flat template for the curved lense and using a heat gun to form. I still have some minor tweaking to do, but my first attempt with duplicating the curved lense was surprisingly close. No scratches and no gap greater than 1/16" of an inch on any spot around the lense perimeter (most of the perimeter is exact). The second attempt was even better. The curved lense doesn't have to sit 100% completely flush anyway and you really can't see any difference when "stacking" the old lense to the new lense for comparison. It looks great and no more annoying scratches... I am gauging interest for these and would like to send a Guinea pig a set of these to try. Anybody interested? The smaller lenses will still be wrapped in the blue protective film, the curved lenses will not due to having to heat them and form. I'll post some pictures as well, that is if there is an interest for these. I am assuming the 70-78 is the same..... Thanks! -Will Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 You got me at acrylic formed domes! I might need some new domes the three skylights on my house. They are beginning to crack from age. Do you do custom shapes/sizes? Also keep us posted on the gauge lenses. You might have a pretty good market for those if you get it right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetride2go Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 That sounds great Will! I wish I had that available to me before I mounted my big gauges. I bet there could be some interest in these. Cheers Ryan~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Gr8White Posted November 11, 2009 Share Posted November 11, 2009 You got me at acrylic formed domes! I might need some new domes the three skylights on my house. They are beginning to crack from age. Do you do custom shapes/sizes? Also keep us posted on the gauge lenses. You might have a pretty good market for those if you get it right. If you could get an idea of the base dimension I can look into it for you. We have clear, smoked, opaque. Plex ranges from 1/8" to 1/4" thick. I used some smoked 1/4" plex on my Mustang rear hatch, looks like glass and about 10% light transmission...(limo tint or slightly lighter)...Nobody has ever questioned as to whether it is glass, they assume it is... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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