Keeping plastics black...

Can't seem to find a thread on this... but in my experience its a FAQ/Sticky!

For me, best thing to use is a heat gun! Best to take the trim off first though to save damaging the paint.
Or if you're shy, boot polish works wonders. Kiwi express shoe polish to be presice, only about £3 and need only use it about 3 times a year, so it lasts forever...

Any additions?

i was thinking about this but it depends what kinda look you want i wouldn't mind in putting a few mods on me car has any one tried spray paint ???? black then go over them with lacquer !!!!

just a thought tho try it out and post some pics please

normal spray paint isnt flexible enough for plastic trim it'll just crack and peel off..

For a quick tart up Autoglym Aqua wax is my new chemical of choice even on black textured plastic the results are great

Autoglym Bumper Care Gel imo is the best one out there

I remember littlepip17 (i think) mentioning using a heat gun on the plastics if they have turned grey,., did it to a mates fiest and worked a treat, if a little risky IMHO

yeps that's the one!

I use it on my Uno all the time. Not only does it give a nice black finish but it also forms a kind of waxy layer allowing water to simply roll off leaving no marks when it dries!

Well HELP ME then

I thought I am being smart by buying a " Transparent" Paint spray , and used it on everything black/plastic I have ( door handles - side skirts - even the gear knob ) .

It looked cool , shiny and GLOSSY after 30 minutes .. but then
a few days ago .. it rained heavily ..

I go down .. and all my plastics and black trims .. look like they are BURNT ! with white / gray spots on it .. I tried washing with water ...
Tried a spray called back to black .... Tried Tire Foam ... nothing !

Someone suggested I should use a fine dust paper and scratch the old transparent paint a bit then re-apply back to black .

Any suggestions ? ( btw i have no clue what is a heat gun ! )

baby oil is good

Hi mate,

Do you mean you sprayed them with Lacquer? If so, then your going to have a real job to get it off again. Your probably best buying new trim! However, you could sand it down with wet and dry sandpaper, but it will never go back to "normal", you would need to probably colour code it all, as the sandpaper will take away the original texture of the plastic and will make it look worse than before if just left.

Good luck,
Alan

OMG !
Buying new trim ?
- 4 door handles
- 2 Side skirts
- 1 Front Grille
- 2 side mirrors
- 4X Windows Trims

NO there's gotta be another way , I will try the sand one .
They are black plastic , Couldn't I just paint them to black ?
I've seen some dudes painting these black parts to match the car ( bodypaint ) and some made them CHROMED ( fake I guess ) .

Isn't it better ?

Thanks for replying mate.

LOL hi mate,

What i meant was....if you want them "back to original" then it will be nearly impossible as you wont be able to remove the lacquer without causing "damage" to the plastic. Ie if you sand the lacquer off, you will also take the texture off the plastic (making it look like you've rubbed it down a wall or something).

HOWEVER.....you COULD "colour code it" meaning paint it the colour of the rest of the car, or indeed, spray it black.

But ultimately, if you want it back to original, then new parts is the only way to go.

Alan

heheh

Thanks alot
Well I think I am gonna paint them with the body-color since we have ALLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOT of dust here in the air ,and that stupid black plastic always ALWAYS looked gray and dirty .

Thanks again for the fast reply mate

you will need a special paint normal car spray paint generally wont stick and can crack and peel as the plastic is flexed..

Thanks Andy ,
Well I asked a body shop here , and he told me that they will first scratch a big slice of the black plastic , spray it again with some WAX or PASTE I am not sure what its called then spray it normally like they do with car body parts .

its gonna around $130 ( US ) .

there is actually a product out there which is designed just for this.

it is a black dye that is applied in the same way as apint and what it does is dyes the rubbers and plastics i.e bumpers and mirrors.

it is called auto glym black dye.

if you use this i would take the parts off the car if possible if not make sure you mask very well because it really does bye it and will last for years.