I want to clean and spiff up my console before spring gets here (is it ever going to get here?). One of the things I need to do is take apart my shift plate. How do I take the PRNDL assembly apart so that I may clean the back side of the lens? The lens is pretty disgusting. The PRNDL assembly is staked to the shift plate on the backside of the plate, but how do you peel back the stakes without destroying everything? And once I have everything all sparkly, how I do I put everything back together so that it stays together? That is, being that the shift plate is pot metal, I am afraid that if I try to bend the stakes back out of the way, and then back again when I am done, something is going to bust. Also, does anybody make replacement PRNDL lens for the Buick? I've seen them for the Chevelle, but not for the Buick; at least in my 'travels'. If no one make a Buick specific lens, will the Chevelle lens work in the Buick shift plate? Thanks.
When you take it apart the pot metal tabs usually get broken off.Ive put them back together with epoxy.
Thanks. That is what I was trying to avoid doing. I was hoping there was a better, magical way to do it without destroying the shift plate. Do you know of anyone that makes a replacement PRNDL lens? Thanks again.
One thing you could try is only bend the tabs DOWN ONE SIDE of the indicator FIRST...then see if you can lift the indicator lense and slip the other edge out from under the UNBENT TABS on the other side. At least you preserve one set of the tabs and might not have to repair as many.
Try Shiftworks. http://www.shiftworks.com/lens.htm#1967 I don't think they have the application, but they may be willing to make one for you.
Well how about this. Nothing moves or slides on the BACKSIDE of he Shift Lense itself....it just sits there. So there's probably a lot of dirt, etc under it but, again, it's just sitting there. The P, R, N etc may be painted into an inset or stamped area on the underside...thus cleaning may not rub off any lettering. My bet is once you get it out of there you can clean the backside pretty well. On the topside, if it's scratched at all, you can wetsand out any scratches and then use something like Mother's Wheel Cleaner or Meguiar's Plastic Cleaner and their Plastic Polish to finish it off (use on the backside also). Send the lense to me and I'll give it a shot but you should be able to clean it up to virtually a new look. As long as it's not cracked I think you can get it looking good.
I got a cold chisel out this weekend and slowly tapped the stakes back on one side of the the shift plate. With a bit of careful wiggling, I was able to get the lamp housing, lens, and lens backing plate out without breaking anything. :TU: What I saw once I got everything apart was pretty encouraging. The lamp housing and lens backing plate had a bit of surface rust, and it should be nothing more than a little bit of elbow grease, sandpaper, paint and they should be as good as new. Krylon makes a blue-green that matches the lamp housing pretty good. It's a shade lighter that the stock piece, but should be OK. The lens was in better shape than what I thought it was. The crud visible through the lens was actually rust from the backing plate. I thought it was mold or something else that had grown and attached itself to the lens. But I think that I can repaint the PRNDL characters, then sand and polish the lens and it too will look good as new. The console itself REALLY cleaned up well. I was surprised how good the metal parts cleaned up. Very little pitting. After I strip and repaint the black highlights, the parts should look almost brand new. I got lucky. Thanks for all the input.
I will. But I am going to work on this a little at a time, it will be a while. I am going to take my time and make sure this turns out right. Thanks.
