Removing LMC light lens lettering
Posted: May 28, 2015, 2:10 pm
There's a post on the FB Slick site that got me to thinking (I know, dangerous thing to do). Somebody over there posted a picture of an aftermarket uni tailgate with the filler panel on it. Really nice looking truck. The conversation got a bit sidetracked when somebody asked what the custom treatment of the taillights was. It was suggested they were Frenched or custom made or smoked. I think they were stock but possibly smoked a bit and they really looked good on the bright red truck. Some people are afraid to break out and try something new, or modify a part. If you have the tools to work on a truck, you have the tools to modify it!
I have all new taillight buckets and lenses for my uni. Mine were junk as most are after 50+ years. The problem (at least for me) is that the lenses have LMC letters cast into them. I also ran across this on my '66 front turn signal lenses and they were big, bold letters that detracted from the looks. I am not going to pay somebody for their parts then advertise for them, especially when I'm not that proud that I even bought parts from them in the first place. I'm not a huge LMC fan (in case you couldn't tell) and become less so every time I stoop to buying something from them.
Here's my solution to the (my) problem. All you need is a file, some sandpaper or sanding sticks (hobby stores sell them in different grits and they can be pretty handy) some polish (aluminum, chrome, whatever you can get your hands on but the finer the better) and something to buff with.
I started by using the file to remove the lettering by flat filing across the surface until the majority of the lettering disappeared. Took all of 60 seconds at the most. I also filed off the bump on the end where the casting process left a small tit sticking out where it was attached to the spru. Clean it up on the face you look at and all the sides. If you look closely, you can see a shinny spot just inside the outer edge of the lens, a little "gutter". I plan to go back and make mine a bit more flat and get rid of that gutter completely.
Then moved to the sanding sticks, starting with a medium and ending with a well worn extra fine. If you don't use sanding sticks, I would suggest a small sanding block and start with 320grit and move towards 600 or even 1200 if you plan to hand polish the lenses. By the time you are done, it should be uniformly dull with no scratches showing. Maybe 5 minutes here.
Then it's time for the polishing. I have an electric polisher and used it with very fine compound (jewelers rouge). If you use this method, don't stay in one area very long and build up heat. Keep the surface moving pretty quickly. If you polish by hand, keep moving and be careful not to dig grooves in the plastic with your finger tips. After a quick polish, inspect the piece for any big scratches you missed or areas that need a finer sanding. One lens I had, had some imperfections in the plastic that took more time to polish out. Had to go back for a bit more sanding a couple times on that one, other lens polished fine first time. Couple minutes of polishing and they were shiny again. This picture is before I went over the whole thing by hand and removed the swirls from the buffer.
That's one of the things I like about a uni, they taillights always look custom.
Another option is a headlight lens polishing kit. You will still have to remove the lettering with the file and sanding phases but the headlight restoration kit would also work to do your final polishing.
Now, go out there and remove the LMC letters from those lenses!
SPark
I have all new taillight buckets and lenses for my uni. Mine were junk as most are after 50+ years. The problem (at least for me) is that the lenses have LMC letters cast into them. I also ran across this on my '66 front turn signal lenses and they were big, bold letters that detracted from the looks. I am not going to pay somebody for their parts then advertise for them, especially when I'm not that proud that I even bought parts from them in the first place. I'm not a huge LMC fan (in case you couldn't tell) and become less so every time I stoop to buying something from them.
Here's my solution to the (my) problem. All you need is a file, some sandpaper or sanding sticks (hobby stores sell them in different grits and they can be pretty handy) some polish (aluminum, chrome, whatever you can get your hands on but the finer the better) and something to buff with.
I started by using the file to remove the lettering by flat filing across the surface until the majority of the lettering disappeared. Took all of 60 seconds at the most. I also filed off the bump on the end where the casting process left a small tit sticking out where it was attached to the spru. Clean it up on the face you look at and all the sides. If you look closely, you can see a shinny spot just inside the outer edge of the lens, a little "gutter". I plan to go back and make mine a bit more flat and get rid of that gutter completely.
Then moved to the sanding sticks, starting with a medium and ending with a well worn extra fine. If you don't use sanding sticks, I would suggest a small sanding block and start with 320grit and move towards 600 or even 1200 if you plan to hand polish the lenses. By the time you are done, it should be uniformly dull with no scratches showing. Maybe 5 minutes here.
Then it's time for the polishing. I have an electric polisher and used it with very fine compound (jewelers rouge). If you use this method, don't stay in one area very long and build up heat. Keep the surface moving pretty quickly. If you polish by hand, keep moving and be careful not to dig grooves in the plastic with your finger tips. After a quick polish, inspect the piece for any big scratches you missed or areas that need a finer sanding. One lens I had, had some imperfections in the plastic that took more time to polish out. Had to go back for a bit more sanding a couple times on that one, other lens polished fine first time. Couple minutes of polishing and they were shiny again. This picture is before I went over the whole thing by hand and removed the swirls from the buffer.
That's one of the things I like about a uni, they taillights always look custom.
Another option is a headlight lens polishing kit. You will still have to remove the lettering with the file and sanding phases but the headlight restoration kit would also work to do your final polishing.
Now, go out there and remove the LMC letters from those lenses!
SPark
