Get a Brand New Faceplate for $5!!!

[BAD_MAYHEM 10+ year member]

How to get a Brand New Faceplate for around $5!!!

I bought a 1 yr. old Kenwood Excelon KDC-X889 off of ebay for a great price.. Nice HU with tons of features but the faceplate was in rough shape.. It had tons of little scratches that weren't real deep but there was enough scratches to cloud the screen.. Also, the previous owner must have sprayed something on his dash and didn't clean it off the headunit so there were all these little overspray dots all over the place.. Some of it came off with some cleaning spray but not all of it..

I was a little disappointed when I went to Kenwoods website to see about buying a new faceplate ($175.00 OUCH!!) but then I remembered reading an article on how to remove scratches from your ipod with Brasso metal polish.. I was a bit skeptical at first so I tried it on my cell phone screen and HOLY CRAP IT WORKS!! So it was on the the faceplate...

Here's the original article.. (Thanks to Todd Dailey for the article)

If your gonna do this plz read the article thoroughly!

http://todd.dailey.info/archives/2005/09/27/restore-your-ipod-nano-to-new-condition-with-a-4-can-of-brasso/

Before Pic:

Here's the auction pic.. Crappy pic but trust me, the faceplate was really bad.. I wish I would've taken my own before pic but I didn't think it would work this good..

After Pics: 20 Brasso applications and removals later...

Little dust particles on the wheel and I still have to do the trim ring...

Thoughts and Observations:

Have Patients!!! Brasso is a micro polish that takes alot of work to achieve a good result!! I must have done about 15 - 20 applications to get this faceplate like new again.. Wipe it on, rub it in, let it dry, wipe it off... Many applications with some moderate pressure will get the job done.. Remember, Wax on Wax off!!

Avoid Powertools!!!! I know, I wanted to use my dremel too but it's not worth burning up the plastic to save an hour of polishing...

Use a microfiber cloth!!! You don't want to add deeper scratches by using a washcloth or regular towel...

Try to avoid too much buffing around any screen printing.. Metal polish will remove the screen printing in a hurry if not careful!!! You can see on the left side next too the volume wheel I learned this the hard way..

If you take the faceplate apart (which I did BTW) be very careful!! There's tiny springs and crap in there that could render your faceplate useless if lost.. Try not to touch the LCD/FL display or the underside of the faceplate cover.. Don't wanna put it all back together only to find a nice big fingerprint on the FL display..

Conclusion:

This is a great rainy day project for when your browsing CA.com forums and wanna work on your car but don't know what to do.. I hope it helps some ppl revive their scratched up faceplates to like new again.. Plz don't flame me if you mess up your fp.. It worked great for me..

Brasso FTW!

Click to read more...

 

[CaliforniabOY5 10+ year member]

wow!

 

[regal8r 5,000+ posts]

holy ****, where can u buy this at?

 

[CaliforniabOY5 10+ year member]

holy ****, where can u buy this at?

I believe i've seen Brasso at like Lowe's and Home Depot ?

 

[CaliforniabOY5 10+ year member]

?

 

[JessAlba452 10+ year member]

I went ahead and used Plastic-X for my face plate. Always use a microfiber cloth it helps tons.

I had the plastic-x from polishing my headlights, but it's more expensive than the Brasso if you don't have it on hand.

What both the Plastic X and Brasso do is that they are very mild polishes which help cut the surface until it appears new.

The faceplate to my 780mp had a deep scratch in it, perhaps from shipping. Now it looks as if it's new! Love it.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/naughty.gif.94359f346c0f1259df8038d60b41863e.gif

 

[dleccord 5,000+ posts]

looks good. so you had a pair of microfiber cloths?

 

[phyphoestilic 5,000+ posts]

looks good. so you had a pair of microfiber cloths?

everyone should have some of those. Great for just wiping some dirt off from ur car. Not like the terry towels thats scartch it up.

 

[frzninvt 10+ year member]

A better product that is specifically designed for the purpose of polishing plastic is Novus, it only requires a couple of applications to get the same results.

I use the Novus Plastic Polish and then follow it up with the Plastic Treament which keeps it looking good and static free.

http://www.novuspolish.com/

Another product that will work is Eagle One - Never Dull Cotton Wadding Polish

http://www.nevrdull.com/

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

oh jeuss. dont pull the neverdull out //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

in bootcamp for the navy, i swear to god i used that **** so much.

*shudders*

 

[Twistid 5,000+ posts]

oh jeuss. dont pull the neverdull out //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif
in bootcamp for the navy, i swear to god i used that **** so much.

*shudders*

so i suppose that would make you a seamen?

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/nerd.gif.c6fa51ddf7ff75f1c0371fbc648f70ae.gif

 

[BAD_MAYHEM 10+ year member]

A better product that is specifically designed for the purpose of polishing plastic is Novus, it only requires a couple of applications to get the same results.
I use the Novus Plastic Polish and then follow it up with the Plastic Treament which keeps it looking good and static free.

http://www.novuspolish.com/

Another product that will work is Eagle One - Never Dull Cotton Wadding Polish

http://www.nevrdull.com/

Thanks for the info! I like the static free part..

I didn't hear about Novus until after I used the Brasso.. Gonna pick some up soon..