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A tip for faded plastic vs painting

32K views 25 replies 19 participants last post by  jnuke79 
#1 ·
Hello.....

I found a little tip that I thought I would share w/my fellow X'ers.

If you use a heat gun on your plastic pieces it will burn the oxidation off and bring the black out in it again...I did this with my wifes Jeep Wrangler fender flares and they went from nasty faded gray to black again!
Now, I will tell you this some of the worst was hard to get to look good again and this is by no means *perfect* It does however make the plastic look much better....watch this youtube vid.

 
#2 ·
I believe it would not burn off oxidation, but would instead simply cause the pigmented plasticizers to migrate to the surface of the plastic...restoring the color.

:wink-big:
 
#3 ·
OMG thats amazing... Sarcasm works every time :)

No really This has been covered 20 times.. In the past.. To me painting just looks better..
This seems like a very lazy way of doing it.. Id say you would see lines from the heat gun...

BUT! What works for you is the best option.. Thanks for sharing
 
#4 ·
I guess if your parents or friend has a heat gun and you had a free afternoon this could be an easy and free way of doing it but it doesn't stay that "black" for very long anyways...
 
#6 ·
Generally, when you use a technique that migrates the plasticizers to the surface, the plastic becomes more brittle, as the plasticizers are what provide most of the flexibility.

The surface plasticizers then fade in the sunlight and from ozone, etc, and the plastic fades again...hence the reference to it not lasting very long.
 
#8 ·
thanks TJ I will keep that in mind, I should have my X out of the shop soon after my wreck, getting a new ARB bumper and everything on the front plastic(s) will be new and the back stuff will be looking old, I may just order new stuff so it wont be so mismatched.
 
#13 ·
I used a Magic Eraser on mine. It still looks good after a year. I used the eraser then I wiped it down with Lusto Glaze which is like Armor All Protectant. I will get some pictures tomorrow of what is still looks like. All I have done since then is just wash it.
PS Just be carful of how much you take off I went overboard on the left side since it was alrighty black as you can see in the first picture.
 

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#16 ·
Speaking of the heat gun - it also works to punch out the dent when your kid backs into something with the back corner of the bumper...heat it up, get back there and push it out with a hockey stick or some other pole- or stick-type thingie...

I see X's around here all the time with the back bumper corners mashed in, perhaps they will see this thread...
 
#18 ·
I did the heat gun thing once. It lasted less than six months. I prefer to use Black Wow once a year now.
I talked with one of the techs at Green Gifford where I bought mine at and he said to sand it to get rid of the oxidation hence leading to my question. When you use the Black Wow did you have to sand the trim, then apply, or just a straight application?
 
#23 ·
I recently painted all the plastics on an 01 X I just bought, and it turned out well.

On a newer FJ Cruiser I own I wanted to spiff it up recently and ran across a thread on another forum about 303 Aerospace Protectant. A detailer claimed this was the greatest thing he's ever used to refresh faded plastics. I have used back to black, and was not all that impressed with it, and have tried Armorall in the past too. The 303 is hard to find, finally found it at a marine store. It's claim to fame is that it is a UV shield, supposedly. I found a website that said O'Reilly's carried it, but my local store had never heard of it. It was $24 for a 32 oz spray bottle, and the 16 oz was about $16 or so, so this is not a cheap item.

I applied to all the plastics on the FJ, and buffed it off with a dry towel. Very happy so far, but the real proof will be in how it hold up. The detailer indicated that a couple of times per year application will keep your plastics protected form the UV. YMMV
 
#25 ·
I recently painted all the plastics on an 01 X I just bought, and it turned out well.

On a newer FJ Cruiser I own I wanted to spiff it up recently and ran across a thread on another forum about 303 Aerospace Protectant. A detailer claimed this was the greatest thing he's ever used to refresh faded plastics. I have used back to black, and was not all that impressed with it, and have tried Armorall in the past too. The 303 is hard to find, finally found it at a marine store. It's claim to fame is that it is a UV shield, supposedly. I found a website that said O'Reilly's carried it, but my local store had never heard of it. It was $24 for a 32 oz spray bottle, and the 16 oz was about $16 or so, so this is not a cheap item.

I applied to all the plastics on the FJ, and buffed it off with a dry towel. Very happy so far, but the real proof will be in how it hold up. The detailer indicated that a couple of times per year application will keep your plastics protected form the UV. YMMV
Working at a parts store Ive used most of the products. 303 is one of the best Ive used.
 
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