10AE key restoration
 

Hey all,

My 10AE's key has turned yellow and I'd like to see if I can't get it back to the original look. I don't even know what to call it, but its like a thick clear adhesive that covers the 10th Anniversary RX7 logo and the Mazda logo on the other side. Peeling them back reveals the nice white and gold that the original key used to show :)

Anyone ever tried to restore the key by replacing the clear adhesive?

Just be happy yours still has that part of the key ;) Mine came with that already fallen out.

Agreed. I think that removing the existing clear cover will actually pull up some of the paint on my key so I am a bit worried about doing it. I have no idea where you could buy the clear adhesive cover though.

Meguiars mankes a polish for plastic called "Plastix". It works fantastic for restoring yellowed headlamp housings, tail lights, side markers, and it will even clean the scratches from CD's! I think I would give it a shot and work it in by hand. I think its delicate enough that it won't destroy the coating on the key.

Just wondering if you ever made any progress on this.

Very very slow progress. I removed the adhesive, repainted the key and polished it. I am still searching for a replacement clear adhesive cover :’( but I have some ideas

How did the key turn out? What ideas do you have?

Some type of epoxy perhaps? There's people out there who make custom horn buttons and wheel caps with a clear epoxy on top, something like that might work well for this. But I've never held a 10AE key, I'm going off of pictures and what I expect it to feel like.

It's a rubbery clear epoxy that covers the center on each side of the key. It's not rock hard, but its stiff epoxy.

Revisiting this. I tried some flowable/self-leveling, clear silicone adhesive I had lying around at work. DOW 734. It’s not as clear as I would have hoped, but everything else about it is as good as I could hope for. It flows well so the dried product is very smooth, surface tension holds it into a perfect shape. Silicone adheres well without being permanent, so I can rip it off if I don’t like it. This was just a test so I didn’t bother painting the insert underneath it.

I will keep looking for a more clear version of silicone adhesive and continue to post updates.

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https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.rx7...a2c96877a.jpeg

Thank you for the update!! Do you think if it were painted it would have come out appearing more clear? I can always post a picture of my 10AE's key for referenceif you'd like. Its in perfect shape as the original owner never used it.

I do think the white paint would make it appear less cloudy. I’d still like to find something more clear though. I think there may not be a transparent silicone available. I ordered 4 and they all came out cloudy/translucent like that. I just bough a non-silicone clear caulk by sashco from my local Ace Hardware store and I’m hoping that will look nice.

will post a photo when I apply this new stuff. I’m also going to let it set in a vacuum so I don’t get those darn air bubbles.

as for white paint, I don’t recommend nail polish…