Making faded plastic parts black again

[stallie]

When it was in the dealership, all the outside plastic arches and panels were a nice shiny black. Sadly two months later I realise that there was a lot of black detailling "paint" and it's worn off and revealled the greyer weather beaten areas to the plastic parts underneath.

What treatment do others use that will restore my wheel arch covers and other black plastic parts to black, and more importantly stay that way?

[HangOver]

try "back to black", but don't get it on your hands :D

doesn;t last forever but a bloody longtime

[Jason789]

Hello stallie,

Armorall (spelling could be wrong). Use the cleaner and the protectant in the same brand. Don't let it touch your paintwork or use it on fibreglass, it will cause fading. You will need to keep recoating periodically.
These type of things only work properly when you use them on plastic from day one when the plastic is new, so don't expect miracles.

Cheers,

Jason

[101RRS]

A cheap short term solution (month or so) is to spray cheap spray tyre shine that is available from $2 stores and supercheap etc. Lightly spray and wipe so there are no runs - works OK. Wipe off paint etc.

Garry

[georgesadlik]

I've been using this for years now and it works a treat. I find it lasts for a good couple of months and get better over time. Water beads on it and it doesn't wash of in water.

Autoglym - car cleaning products, car care products, car valeting, car detailing (http://www.autoglym.com/enGB/product-proddetail.asp?v06VQ=EM&Range=1)

About 25 per bottle from memory but the bottle lasts forever.

Cheers

George

[imatt]

I was shown an old car yard trick the other day and that was to use vaseline on rubber seals around windows and can also be used on plastic bumpers etc. Not sure how long it will last but looks better than I was expecting.
Cheers Matt

[mike 90 RR]

What treatment do others use that will restore my wheel arch covers and other black plastic parts to black, and more importantly stay that way?

.... Just use the plain old trouble free can of "Kiwi" .... Yep! .. Boot polish


Cheers
Mike
:D

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

Clean it up with Prepsol then spray with a satin black VHT vinyl & carpet dye.
There had been a thread on this somewhere here before.
Bonds well being a plastic designed product and dyes rather than paint.

Cheers

Andrew


I am not a moderator, I am a human being!!!

[stallie]

Thanks all.

It's the short term fix that I was trying to avoid. Sounds like Prepsol and carpet dye might do the trick.

[ozscott]

The silicone in tyre shine are hard to beat. I use them on mirrors door handles plastic sills etc

[isuzurover]

Clean it up with Prepsol then spray with a satin black VHT vinyl & carpet dye.
There had been a thread on this somewhere here before.
Bonds well being a plastic designed product and dyes rather than paint.

Cheers

Andrew


I am not a moderator, I am a human being!!!

x2.

[Sully]

x2.

X 3!

[xsm]

This thread may help.

http://www.aulro.com/afvb/discovery-2/89938-wheel-arch-flares-perishing-2.html

I used forever black on mine. great long lasting results for only about $20.

Cheers
Martin

[OffTrack]

I personally haven't tried this method, but you can apparently use a heat gun to rejuvenate faded bumpers.

How to Blacken Bumpers | eHow.com (http://www.ehow.com/how_7600518_blacken-bumpers.html)

I guess you'd want to test this on a small, non-obvious section before tackling the whole catastrophe.

[stallie]

:eek: I reckon I'd only try the heat gun approach if I had a spare set of bumpers/guards!!!

[OffTrack]

:eek: I reckon I'd only try the heat gun approach if I had a spare set of bumpers/guards!!!

Apparently works pretty well. There is a mention on one of the UK LR forums that the heatgun treatment revives the colour for about 12 months vs 3 months for the applied revivers.

I'm not sure that I'd use the sandpaper as suggested in the link to eHow. Cleaning with rubbing alcohol as a first step and heating appears to be all that really at is required.

YouTube - Fix Your Faded Jeep Wheel Flares

YouTube - Using a heat gun to restore automotive plastics

[isuzurover]

Apparently works pretty well. There is a mention on one of the UK LR forums that the heatgun treatment revives the colour for about 12 months vs 3 months for the applied revivers.

I'm not sure that I'd use the sandpaper as suggested in the link to eHow. Cleaning with rubbing alcohol as a first step and heating appears to be all that really at is required.

YouTube - Fix Your Faded Jeep Wheel Flares (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pw0cWfTZ_dA)

YouTube - Using a heat gun to restore automotive plastics (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-dtbBzky-s&feature=fvwrel)

Looks slow and tedious. For the cost of $15/can of plastic Dye, my vote is on the dye.

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

Looks slow and tedious. For the cost of $15/can of plastic Dye, my vote is on the dye.

Not to mention that heat damages the plastic.


I am not a moderator, I am a human being!!!

[catch-22]

for long lasting results -

> C4 Trim Restorer (http://www.gtechniq.com.au/articles/_C4_Trim_Restorer_/23)

be prepared to pay BIG..

[Ranga]

I just used this on the wife's Vitara external plastic trim, including rear bumper, and it worked great!

Aerosol Vinyl Paint Gloss Bla-, Septone Products Australia (http://www.septone.com.au/detail.asp?item_cat=&item_number=212&page_num=6)

It dries in about 30 seconds (looks like alcohol drying), and was only about $13 a can. Not sure about lifespan though, but after about 3 months hers looks the same as the day I did it.

[simonl8353]

I restored the wheel arches on the D2 over Easter with 3M Acrylic Bumper Black. Only been 3 days but so far so good. :) Need to do the sills next.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2011/04/98.jpg

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2012/03/264.jpg

[6inmytribe]

I used to work in a detailing yard (many a year ago) and there was a specific product we used with great success but only lasted 4-5 months. Pretty sure it was from Autosol but may have been Autoglym (was quite a few years ago) , it was sort of a cross between Armour All and vaseline and with multiple uses it lasts longer and looks better. Will have a search and see if I can find it again. I like the idea of dying the plastic though, might give that a try on my current POS.

**edit**
try Autosol Plastic Cleaner, this is the product I used previously.

[Wil2k]

My flares are really rough, like coarse sandpaper. Who can vouch for the sanding treatment, I'd love to smooth them off and restore them a bit before they are too far gone. If you wipe them with a cloth most of the cloth stays on the flares at the moment, that's how rough they are. :(

Wil

[Rosscoe68]

My flares are really rough, like coarse sandpaper. Who can vouch for the sanding treatment, I'd love to smooth them off and restore them a bit before they are too far gone. If you wipe them with a cloth most of the cloth stays on the flares at the moment, that's how rough they are. :(

Wil

ditto , mine too sandpaper wheel arch flares
about 60 grit i reckon :)

[Sully]

Yep.. Sanding is the way to go.

I tried the forever black dye. It does the job, but can leave some streaks and will make a mess of your paintwork if you're not careful.

Despite using the above product, I'm not completely satisfied. I'm about to rip all the wheel flares and other trim off, sane back the rough bits and hit it all with some vinyl spray with a UV inhibitor.

When I get around to doing it, I'll post some pics.

[LOVEMYRANGIE]

Had a closer look at my flares last night. Mine look like they have been painted unless it's factory finish as there's chipping on the leading edges.
I actually have a can of Septone plastic primer paint that I did the grille and Rola roof mounts in some time ago on the RRC but have never got around to finishing as it with the dye as it didn't look too bad on it's own, but the D2 flares have faded.
If your flares are bare plastic, don't sand them as it will permanently score them and make it uber hard to cover up unless you plastic prime them.

Andrew



I am not a moderator, I am a human being!!!

[Mudguard]

When i was selling my 03 Disco i removed the wheel arches (only stuck on) and sanded them back with fine sandpaper, then spray painted with a can of acrylic spray pack, Cost around $10 from memory for the can. I cant remember if i went for the gloss or flat, might have been somewhere in between even... getting old. Anyway they came up a treat. I saw the vehicle again recently (over 2 years later) and they still looked good. Mind you he could have had to paint them again 5 time in that time :eek:

[stallie]

I used to work in a detailing yard (many a year ago) and there was a specific product we used with great success but only lasted 4-5 months.

Probably what was done to mine!