I recently bought a Honda ATC Speedometer. It was in ok shape, but I wanted to clean it up as much as possible. I followed a lot of the other threads about taking it all apart and everything went well.
The problem was that my odometer 10'ths number dials were very brown, as was the needle.
I found a website that dealt with getting rid of the brown coloration of aged white plastic. The website was primarily devoted to old computer equipment and video game consoles. The before and after pics were dramatic, so I decided to give it a shot. Here are my results:
The chemicals you need are simple: hydrogen peroxide (from the hair salon, which is much stronger than the drugstore variety), Oxiclean (the laundry booster), and a blacklight. I know this will sound like some crazy internet hoax, but I tried it and it worked... although I do think there are a few flaws in the website's information.
It took three days of soaking to get my results. I first started with drug store peroxide, then switch on the next day to hair salon peroxide cut 50/50 with water, then on the third day went with hair salon peroxide cut with water at 75/25 (mostly peroxide). You mix about a 1/2 teaspoon of oxiclean into a cup of peroxide and stir. Put this in a small plastic container with your plastic parts to whiten and then stick this under a blacklight. If it is sunny out, the sun works best. You are looking for UV light here. The sun is the best source, but in Michigan this time of year, my blacklight (yes the kind you'd use at a party to make white things glow) was my best option.
The chemicals didn't affect the black ink numbers, and did significantly whiten the plastic. I took the parts out after three days, and they are almost 100%, but they aren't perfect. I didnt' want to risk any other sort of ill effect from too long of an exposure.
So, if you want to read more, search retr0brite on google (that is a numer zero in retro). You'll find their main site and the explanation of the science behind all this.
I do have one problem with their information, and maybe it is due to a recent change in the formulation of Oxiclean. The website goes on to say how a particular chemical in Oxiclean, specifically TAED, is a catalyst for the peroxide and makes the process work more quickly. They claim result in 8 hours or less. I pulled up the MSDS for Oxiclean and it no longer contains TAED (no idea if it ever did, but the website claims it did). So, I used the oxiclean anyway, but I don't think it is having any effect. Given that my process took 3 days, I think that supports the thought that there is no more TAED in oxiclean. Anyway, I got decent results in 3 days, so I'm happy.
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