Hmm - I'll have to give it a try.  However, plastic cleaners usually work
best if you can apply a very uniform, and relatively rapid "swirl" since
they are abrasive.  I've tried this trick with toothpaste and plastic watch
crystals.  If done by hand, they turn out looking worse, but if you use a
buffer, like a bonnet attached to a drill, then you get beautiful results.

The trick would be getting to that awkward surface on the instrument
cluster.  I normally just use something called "Brillianize" from Kleen
Master Products, which is an acrylic "polish" that puts a nice sheen on
clear plastic and reduces static, but doesn't have abrasive polishing
agents.  (Its also great for plastic "true-vue" fish tanks)

Brent Christensen
'89 GL Syncro Westy
Santa Barbara, CA

-----Original Message-----
From: Karl Mullendore [mailto:thewestyman@mindspring.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2000 4:22 PM
To: BRENT CHRISTENSEN; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: Instrument cluster lenses

Try some Meguires plastic cleaner (available at your automotive paint
store), it should polish out any scratches.

----- Original Message -----

> Is it possible to replace just the clear lens that covers the instrument
> cluster in a late-model Westy?  Mine is getting pretty scratched up, and I
> am reminded of it every night when driving home...
>
> It seems to be fused to the rest of the cluster, but I can't tell if that
> isn't just a hardened layer of crud trapped in there.  (While probing it
> with an exacto blade, I actually removed a perfect trimming from a
previous
> driver's finger nail, along with some other tid bits...)
>
> Brent Christensen
> '89 GL Syncro Westy
> Santa Barbara, CA