Painting plastics?

[czac]

so... whats the consenses on painting the plastics on your trike? is it worth it? is there a paint that stays on and doesnt flake off? is there a method to painting them? my front fender is ruff and the headlight i already hit with yellow rustoleum... but its the rear fenders and front fender im worried about flaking.

also glueing / repairing.. whats the best method for repairing cracks? someone "fixed" the crack on my rear fender by riviting a piece if sheet metal under the area and using bondo to hide the rivits... im in the process of removing the bondo cause it was cracking and chipping off. and my front fender was stapled lol like a wound on an arm...

[Ghostv2]

I heard of some people wrapping them in vinyl. I have heard of plastic welding. The ol' drill and zip tie method.
If you search there is a lot of discussion about this stuff.

[trike savior]

paint: There are better ways to bring plastics back to life. Search the posts and you can find a thread for polishing. I have had good luck with the new rustoleum that is specially for plastics but I have not used it on any of my bikes.

Fixing cracks: Search the posts. I prefer using fiberglass on the underside after a good sanding. Some guys use plastic welders but that seems more of an art form and I have seen a lot more terrible fixes than good ones. I used to use a piece of steel and pop rivets and it is strong but doesn't look good.

[nhwheeler]

At work ( auto body shop) we have a nitrogen plastic welder it blows hot nitrogen gas onto repair strips and melts the strips onto the plastic I can cut a bumper in half and put it back together and repair area is stronger than the rest of bumper ( go on YouTube and type in nitrogen plastic welder) ( repairs are done from underside) as for painting you need paint with a flex additive in it and plastic needs to be prepped with a special cleaner's you don't sand plastic with sandpaper ever if you can afford it bring to a body shop that use's good paint like ppg or Sherwin Williams both brands have additives for plastic painting applications. We paint thousands of bumpers a year and warranty them for life of vehicle. If going on the cheap call local auto paint store they can mix up what you need and put it in a spray can and get you the plastic prep you need.( not sure but I think in Connecticut there should be Fisher auto supply aka Robbins auto /or sanels / or bond auto supply.

[Bigwestbullies]

One of my buddies was telling me people have been dying they're plastics whatever color they want with a kit from Walmart. He said you mix it in a big tub and let your parts sit for 24 hours and boom new plastics. He said its durable and fuel resistant as well. I'll find more about it and post it here

[yaegerb]

Try the search feature. I know there are 10-20 posts about this already out there.

[Ghostv2]

One of my buddies was telling me people have been dying they're plastics whatever color they want with a kit from Walmart. He said you mix it in a big tub and let your parts sit for 24 hours and boom new plastics. He said its durable and fuel resistant as well. I'll find more about it and post it here
That sounds pretty cool, see if you can get some before/after pictures too.

[Daniel86]

I know when I worked for ford we painted the dash boards for the f-150 and we used a bonding agent painted on before the color paint let it flash then hit it with the color. but that was back in the early 2000 and the paint was water born.

[czac]

I was wondering how the rustoleum for plastics works I also heard of a paint made for repainting vinyl clad homes. Maybe that would work? maybe liberal amounts of crazy glue? lol

[MtDew]

How about that stuff called Plastidip. People have been using it on cars. My son did his entire Honda Civic about 6 months ago. Think he ordered in from a website like dipmycar.com. I wonder how it would hold up on a wheeler?

[Dave Little]

At work ( auto body shop) we have a nitrogen plastic welder it blows hot nitrogen gas onto repair strips and melts the strips onto the plastic I can cut a bumper in half and put it back together and repair area is stronger than the rest of bumper ( go on YouTube and type in nitrogen plastic welder) ( repairs are done from underside) as for painting you need paint with a flex additive in it and plastic needs to be prepped with a special cleaner's you don't sand plastic with sandpaper ever if you can afford it bring to a body shop that use's good paint like ppg or Sherwin Williams both brands have additives for plastic painting applications. We paint thousands of bumpers a year and warranty them for life of vehicle. If going on the cheap call local auto paint store they can mix up what you need and put it in a spray can and get you the plastic prep you need.( not sure but I think in Connecticut there should be Fisher auto supply aka Robbins auto /or sanels / or bond auto supply.

That's pretty cool. I just checked out a few youtube vids on the subject. I've got a question then for you, Let's say you want to repair cracked plastics but have no intention of painting them...ever, but want the repair to look as though it never happened at least from the top. Would it be possible instead of using the repair strips, which I assume do not match the plastic's color since all automotive bumper covers are painted and use vintage Honda plastic from the same time period as what is to be repaired so that what gets welded is a perfect color match and only sanding and polishing would make the repair almost undetectable. You know, make your own plastic welding 'rods' from a piece of a broken fender that is the same age/color/brand/composition. Ever try anything like that, and what do you think of it working?

[czac]

Hmmm Plastidip... I wonder if it would eventually start to peel off like paint does? I guess if you wanted to paint it black you can also use the rubberizes stuff them make for patching leaky gutters and stuff. the stuff on TV where they replace a boats bottom with a screen door then coat the screen with the stuff and the boat doesn't leak... lol plus it would have a nice texture to it also....lol

[fabiodriven]

Rule of thumb for painting ATV plastics- paint+plastic=mess.

A car bumper doesn't flap around or take even half the abuse an ATV plastic will have to endure.

[czac]

that's what I was thinking... I don't really want to paint them but they are stained and a little faded in spots...it would be nice to have them looking fresh or at least fresher.

[fabiodriven]

Then wet sand them.

[effort=results]

hope this is two birds with one stone for ya. this is how i do it. u could also tri plasti dip, i did it on my 185. does alot better than paint . hates gas on it tho. but a lil spray of it and good as new. i dig the vinyl wrap on my atc 110 better tho. hope this helps.

http://youtu.be/yhQy3UFqz2M

http://youtu.be/yhQy3UFqz2M


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SfcV1s3Z34

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_SfcV1s3Z34

[honda atc guy]

IMO, I wouldn't use paint. I would wet sand and polish the plastic with a buffer. Takes a while but turns out beautiful.

[eBoyDog]

What is necessary to prep the corroded plastic for vinyl wrap? I thinking about wrapping my Yamaha YT200 in camo wrap instead of painting.