Keeping plastic trim alive

[Dirty3]

Dont know if I'm supposed to plug products here but recently bought a plastic trim rejuvenator and it works a treat so I thought I'd pass on the info.
I noticed the trim between windscreen & bonnet was looking faded and had a chalky appearance. Went down to local auto parts store and as I usually use either McGuiars or AutoGlym products, decided to see what they had. Found an AutoGlym product called Bumper trim gel. It cleans the surface and applies a film of water resistant barrier. It also appears to repel dust. It has been on for 2 weeks now and still looks great. Trim in front of windscreen looks like new as do the wheel arch trim plus any other plastic trim. Apparently it won't affect paint. It's got the Queens seal of approval too! Makes the car look new again. Much better than amour-all.

Cheers Neil.

[DoctorJ]

I find silicon spray also does a great job of reviving the plastic trim

Cheers
Julian

[Disco4SE]

I have been told by several people never to use silicone based products, internally or externally, hence I don't.
Re: The trim at the bottom of the windscreen that Neil was talking about - I have used Meguiars external trim detailer and it works well.......not excellent, but well. I have also used Autoglym Instant Tyre Dressing.....DO NOT USE THIS ON THE TRIM BELOW THE WINDSCREEN. Great on tyres and trim along the side of the car below the doors, however it reacts with the windscreen washer fluid and causes it to go grey and patchy.

Sounds like the stuff Neil is using is good. I'll give that a go.

Cheers, Craig

[Tombie]

If you ever bend a vehicle with silicone used on it the crash shop will:
(a) Hate you
(b) Struggle to get the metal sorted to Repair and respray.

Try this: Walk into a crash shop holding a can of silicone spray - You will be crash tackled and kicked out!!!! :p

Use a proper interior / exterior, polish / rejuvenator / spray :)

[1976_michelle]

sounds like the bumper trim gel stuff might do nicely on the wheel arch moulding things too? I was going to fine wet and dry sand the coarse texture down till it was more consistent with the areas that arent worn , then apply a vinyl/plastic dye (spray). Though I still might need to as mine are faded a bit in areas and just dressing them with something might not do the job for rejuvinating the colour enough in the bad spots

[PeterOZ]

thanks for the info, the trim below windscreen and the wheel arches on my 07 D3 are looking faded so would be nice to have them like new again.

What auto spares carry that stuff? AutoGlym product called Bumper trim gel

Supercheap? Repco?

[DoctorJ]

If you ever bend a vehicle with silicone used on it the crash shop will:
(a) Hate you
(b) Struggle to get the metal sorted to Repair and respray.

Try this: Walk into a crash shop holding a can of silicone spray - You will be crash tackled and kicked out!!!! :p

Use a proper interior / exterior, polish / rejuvenator / spray :)

message received Tombie

Looks like i will be going to Autobarn!

Cheers
Julian

[101RRS]

A $2 spray can of tyre shine from a $2 shop works great - spray on and wipe off.

[PeterOZ]

ordered some autoglyn bumber trim gel from a mob down south called "liquid diamond car care products".

$26 with courier delivery. Will see how it goes :cool:

[Disco4SE]

Used the Autoglym gel on my black bits today.
Come up awesome. Might use it on my wife's as well ;)

Cheers, Craig

[LRChris]

Used the Autoglym gel on my black bits today.
Come up awesome. Might use it on my wife's as well ;)

Cheers, Craig

Interested to hear if wife's bits came up awesome too ? $26 would be good investment if it works !

Cheers, Chris

[MacMan]

I bought that Autoglym gel to do some aging plastic bits on our weathered 1985 BMW touring bikes and out of curiosity I hit all the exterior trim on the Disco with it. Excellent stuff.

[1976_michelle]

wonder if supercheap would stock it (have to take the seatcovers back I bought, thought front headrests were exposed but because of the handley thingie it really needs the other type I think)

[MacMan]

I bought mine at Autobarn.

[Sprint]

Any decent repco store should stock it.... if they dont, it shouldnt be any more than a day away from thier warehouse

[Dirty3]

wonder if supercheap would stock it (have to take the seatcovers back I bought, thought front headrests were exposed but because of the handley thingie it really needs the other type I think)

Hi,
I got mine from East Coast Auto spares in Bentleigh (Vic). But anyone that sells decent quality car care products probably carry this brand.
Cheers Neil.

[Dirty3]

Here's a couple of pics. One is of the wheel arch trim coated, one side with water to show how it repels the water. The other is the area under windscreen wipers. I didn't take before/after shots sorry.
The product info on it says it is safe on the duco, maybe it might use some type of synthetic oils rather than silicone to make it water repellent. I also wouldn't use anything with silicone, so this is why I went for it. Plus I like some of their other cleaners too.

Neil.

[PeterOZ]

guys I read in one of the threads a while back about a product that makes those tired and faded plastic parts like like wheel arch flares, door impact trims and the plastic bit at bottom of windscreen look like new. Well much better!

I bought a bottle and voila it is great! About 15 mins of effort and may D3 looks almost like new again. Amazing what this stuff can do.

Auto Glyne trim and bumper gel I think it was called. Good stuff.

[MC D4]

I spent a few hours detailing my car on the weekend and used Meguires Trim Detailer on all the dark plastics (in and out) and that worked a treat. My plastics were starting to look a little chalky especially under the windscreen and now look like the day I picked it up form the dealer. I have been a fan of Meguires they make top quality cleaning gear.

[Davy]

Forget all the Hi-Tech products, the best thing for faded automotive plastics is peanut oil.

.

[DieselDan]

Forget all the Hi-Tech products, the best thing for faded automotive plastics is peanut oil.

.

Or peanut butter. But not the crunchy stuff obviously:rolleyes:

[turbopsi]

Thanks for the tip, I'll see if my local Autobarn has it in stock.
I've seen the penut butter method on a few youtube vids which seems to also do the job.

[1976_michelle]

I'd be reluctant to peanut butter anything! Rodents don't need much encouragement to get under and chew stuff let alone with nice flavouring on?

Anyway, the autoglym is ok on the reasonable condition trim but I'll need to stick to my original plan to refurbish my wheel arch moulding thingies, they're too far gone for a treatment but I'm going to fine sand them then vinyl dye them

[turbopsi]

I'd be reluctant to peanut butter anything! Rodents don't need much encouragement to get under and chew stuff let alone with nice flavouring on?

Anyway, the autoglym is ok on the reasonable condition trim but I'll need to stick to my original plan to refurbish my wheel arch moulding thingies, they're too far gone for a treatment but I'm going to fine sand them then vinyl dye them

Not a bad point about the rodents. Our Ford Focus seems to attract birds that like eating plastic trim!

Would be great to see some before and after pics after the sand and vinyl dye.

[1976_michelle]

Yep. Will happily put it off a while longer but will definitely post progress when I start. I have nothing to lose, its either replace them altogether or give them a shot

[steveG]

Vinyl dye worked well on my County radiator grille and headlight surrounds. Did them about 18 months ago and the car isn't garaged but still looks good now.

Grabbed some of the Autoglym Bumper and Trim Gel from the recommendations on this thread. Brought it home and declared to the boss that I'd "bought her a present". She used it for the trims on her Astra and its come up great!

Steve

[VladTepes]

ryangus posted a thread here somewhere about resurrecting the trim around his headlights etc.

Can';t find it at the moment...

[turbopsi]

Brought it home and declared to the boss that I'd "bought her a present".

Steve

How funny, I do this all the time :D

[Rick Fischer]

Forget all the "flash stuff". Motor trimmer gave me good advice many years ago. Use boot polish. Black Brown Grey etc. One can get almost any colour from your local boot maker. Among the best advice I have ever been given. Thing that kills interior and exterior plastic trim in Oz is the ultra-violet. Shoe polish pigments provide ultra-violet opaque blockers. Many of the so called restorers on the market actually amplify the UV and or cause damage to the plasticizers at a molecular level.

In my experience, having done a few restorations of Euro cars over the years, and consequent observation of Euros, Japanese and Oz builds. Only the Japanese and Oz builders seem to take note of Australia's extremely high UV. Not only rips your face off but kills automotive soft trim.

I've used it on and in my rag top Concours car and on my restored E30 as well as in all of the Landies I've owned. Not had any problems with degradation; and the shoe polish gives a nice subtle finish when "polished".

Cheers

RF

[superquag]

... If you're tempted to go for a spit-polish look... use KIWI. regular, not the 'Parade Gloss'

:p :p