Stock C5 Radio lens replacement
05-26-2016, 10:46 AM
#1
Drifting
Thread Starter
Stock C5 Radio lens replacement
I've got some scratches on my radio lens. I got another radio with a good lens. Does anyone know if the lens in removable and how to do so? I'd rather not swap radios as I've added an iPod/iPhone update to my current radio. Let me know. Oh yea, are all C5 radios with single disk the same? Thanks Zuti 
05-26-2016, 10:55 AM
#2
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St. Jude Donor '03-'04
the lens is plastic.. you can rub out the scratches with a lubricated abrasive.. rubbing compound then polishing compound.. just make sure you rub in one direction.. apply pressure and go back and forth... I have diamond polishing pastes from 80 grit up to 50,000 grit, I use to sharpen my knives. I can also take scratches out of glass with these diamond dust abrasives. I would not try to take the OEM Bose radio apart, not because you should not but because it is too much work for such an easy fix.
Take a mico fiber towel, cloth.. rub a bit of compound on it and with pressure rub it from left to right on the lens and see what's going on. If its not doing anything go get some 5000 grit sand paper, 2000 grit, and 1500 grit.. (IMPORTANT.. only rub in one direction ). start with 1500 grit and work toward finer grit, finish up with polishing compound or swirl remover.
Take a mico fiber towel, cloth.. rub a bit of compound on it and with pressure rub it from left to right on the lens and see what's going on. If its not doing anything go get some 5000 grit sand paper, 2000 grit, and 1500 grit.. (IMPORTANT.. only rub in one direction ). start with 1500 grit and work toward finer grit, finish up with polishing compound or swirl remover.
Last edited by Evil-Twin; 05-27-2016 at 04:26 PM.
05-26-2016, 12:28 PM
#3
Drifting
Thread Starter
the lens is plastic.. you can rub out the scratches with a lubricated abrasive.. running compound then polishing compound.. just make sure you rub in one direction.. apply pressure and go back and forth... I have diamond polishing pastes from 80 grit up to 50,000 grit, I use to sharpen my knives. I can also take scratches out of glass with these diamond dust abrasives. I would not try to take the OEM Bose radio apart, not because you should not but because it is too much work for such an easy fix.
Take a mico fiber towel, cloth.. rub a bit of compound on it and with pressure rub it from left to right on the lens and see what's going on. If its not doing anything go get some 5000 grit sand paper, 2000 grit, and 1500 grit.. (IMPORTANT.. only rub in one direction ). start with 1500 grit and work toward finer grit, finish up with polishing compound or swirl remover.
Take a mico fiber towel, cloth.. rub a bit of compound on it and with pressure rub it from left to right on the lens and see what's going on. If its not doing anything go get some 5000 grit sand paper, 2000 grit, and 1500 grit.. (IMPORTANT.. only rub in one direction ). start with 1500 grit and work toward finer grit, finish up with polishing compound or swirl remover.
05-26-2016, 05:27 PM
#4
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St. Jude Donor '03-'04
Do not use the paper wet... you can use it dry dry..it will remove the scratch but make the lens dull.... don't worry.. using a lubricated swirl remover or polishing compound will be wet enough to remove that dullness and bring back the clear shine. use the 1500 to remove the scratch, then use the 2000 or finer to remove the 1500 marks.. the polishing compound will remove the 2000 marks.. but always do it in one direction... . If you were as old as me and where in the Army 50 years ago.. this is the same technique used to polish brass belt buckles for garrison inspection.. we didn't polish brass in the bush... .
05-27-2016, 09:46 AM
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E-T: thanks for the great advice. Going to save this in case I ever need to do any work to the radio in my car.
05-27-2016, 03:34 PM
#7
Drifting
Thread Starter
Do not use the paper wet... you can use it dry dry..it will remove the scratch but make the lens dull.... don't worry.. using a lubricated swirl remover or polishing compound will be wet enough to remove that dullness and bring back the clear shine. use the 1500 to remove the scratch, then use the 2000 or finer to remove the 1500 marks.. the polishing compound will remove the 2000 marks.. but always do it in one direction... . If you were as old as me and where in the Army 50 years ago.. this is the same technique used to polish brass belt buckles for garrison inspection.. we didn't polish brass in the bush... .
Thanks for the info!
05-27-2016, 04:23 PM
#8
Safety Car
I also am a fan of grit and water for polishing work , learning from my brother as he built telescope optics. I like it the best, a very controllable approach, and can often be used with power tools.
In my sailor days, I came across guys who used various grades of fine steel wool for the final hand polishing on varnish work, usually on decorative knot boards , used today only as presentation pieces for people who enjoy a nautical theme. Steel wool is easier to find then carborundum grit in my area.
the rest is off topic
In the old days, sailors might make elaborate knot boards, large, with fancy and complicated rope work along the framing borders, sometimes working on them across many voyages and multiple years, working in complications that others would puzzle over. Often they would be used to pay off sizable bar tabs, run up when they were on the beach.
THose old bars are done now, but if you see a knot board with more rope work in the presentation than the actual knots, it's to study over above a bar, probably used as payment for a tab, back when sailors put the money on the bar and started drinking. When they were through, you took back what was left, and, if there was nothing left, you were through anyway. A hold over from the days before literacy . A lot of sailor stuff is very old and unused in the modern age. I just caught the tale end of it from the WW2 guys that were still around when I started.
In my sailor days, I came across guys who used various grades of fine steel wool for the final hand polishing on varnish work, usually on decorative knot boards , used today only as presentation pieces for people who enjoy a nautical theme. Steel wool is easier to find then carborundum grit in my area.
the rest is off topic
In the old days, sailors might make elaborate knot boards, large, with fancy and complicated rope work along the framing borders, sometimes working on them across many voyages and multiple years, working in complications that others would puzzle over. Often they would be used to pay off sizable bar tabs, run up when they were on the beach.
THose old bars are done now, but if you see a knot board with more rope work in the presentation than the actual knots, it's to study over above a bar, probably used as payment for a tab, back when sailors put the money on the bar and started drinking. When they were through, you took back what was left, and, if there was nothing left, you were through anyway. A hold over from the days before literacy . A lot of sailor stuff is very old and unused in the modern age. I just caught the tale end of it from the WW2 guys that were still around when I started.
Last edited by strand rider; 05-27-2016 at 04:26 PM.