White 500 sanding issue? Any suggestions?

[Gilas]

I grabbed a white 500 the other day and started to do some cleaning on it when I noticed a heavy scratch in the casing.  I have sanded several different cases down before with great results so thought I would do the same however I ran into an issue as you can see.  When I started sanding the white it began turning different shades of yellow underneath.  I tired different grits to see if it was something that I could go through and return to white however no luck so far.  It does seem to get a bit lighter but blotchy.  Any suggestions on what could be going on with it?  The dial shows 7C-58 so it should be white.  Anyone else had this issue and would bleaching etc resolve it or more sanding?  I included a couple pictures to show the parts not sanded vs the sanded area.  Also there is a large P on the bottom as you can see from the last pic.  What would that be for?

[LarryInMichigan]

The shell may have been painted white, probably with Polane.  How does the inside look?  Does the embossed lettering on the back look sharp?  You can probably scratch the inside of the shell with a screwdriver to see if there is yellow plastic below the surface.

Larry

[TelePlay]

Could be, Larry. The top and middle photos show round raised dots that could be Polane paint spatter from a not too clean nozzle. A picture of the WE logo under the handset would be telling.

[AE_Collector]

My guess is similar to Larry's except I think it was a sun discolored white shell that was repainted white. You can almost see where a rectangular sticker may have been on the side in the second picture. The sticker protected that area from discoloring as badly as the other areas. I'd say, keep sanding!

Terry

[cihensley@aol.com]

Good eye Terry.

Chuck

[Gilas]

So would the peroxide/bleaching be best in this case?  Sanding enough to get every single small crack through all those colors is gonna suck lol

[AE_Collector]

Bleaching would be a good option for a white shell.....if it hadn't been painted. You would have to get all of the paint off before bleaching so may as well just keep sanding. Or find a new shell.

Terry

[cihensley@aol.com]

lowery340:

I have a white case - pretty good condition - you can have for the price of mailing it to you. If interested, email me at cihensley@aol.com

Chuck

[Gilas]

Chuck I really appreciate the offer but think I will take the long road and sand my fingers off.  Not that the phone is worth it in the long run with the hours ahead, but it gives me something to do after work to unwind and "get normal" as my wife would say