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View Full Version : Sanding/restoring plastic. How to guide



CHAINSAW
07-24-2004, 01:09 PM
This question comes up a lot, and I see a lot of bad advice given. This is a the proper way to restore plastic, the Body Shop way. If you perfer the rubbing with blue jeans, and mop n glo way, your looking in the wrong spot.

Now first off, I dont suggest grabbing your lightly scratched discontinued plastic to start with. Find some old ratty plastic to learn on, and practice on. My instructions are going to be detailed, and if you cut corners, it will not turn out good. Follow these to a tee, and your plastic will turn out like new.

Second, Im using plastics that are way beyond repair. These have very deep scratches, that would take days to sand out, and then your plastic would be wavy and not look good once its polished. I purposly left the edges rough, to show progress of the different grits of paper. I also purposly left a few deep scratches to show how a few over sights can ruin a good finish.


Here is the before pic. Notice the deep road rash on the corners of each side. I will be working on the bottom left corner only.

CHAINSAW
07-24-2004, 01:13 PM
I only use 3M wet/dry sand paper. You can pick this up at about any auto parts store, and I believe Wal-Mart carries it.

Make sure your plastic is VERY clean! I suggest warm soapy water, and towel dry. Start out with 220 grit west sanding. All these instruction on sanding are given with WET sanding ONLY. Work on the deeper scratches first, then work out to the nicer parts. Work the sand paper in one direction with these two coarse grits. That way if you accidently get sand or something on the paper, you dont have a whirl wind of scratches to now fix.

Keep the paper and plastic wet at all times.
The second pic is what happens when you dont have your paper wet enough. The plastic will build up on the paper. With enough of this buildup, it will then start scratching your plastic. So keep lots of water on both, keep changing sides of your sand paper, and look at the paper often.

CHAINSAW
07-24-2004, 01:18 PM
You will use the 220 and 320 to get down to the deepest parts of your scratches. To tell if you have done that... run water over your plastic. This will magnify the scratches so you know where to keep sanding. You can also dry the plastic completely, and the deep scratches will usually be shiney, while your plastic is dull from sanding.

Once they are all gone, move on to 400 grit. If you sanded all one direction like I told you to, this part will go fast. Sand just a little off the grain now. If you sanded straight down the plastic, to your hand about 10 degrees and sand with the 400.

Once the paper starts feeling like it is sliding off the plastic easily, move on to 600 grit. The 600 pretty much just takes out the scratches that was left by the 400 grit.

If you look at the edges on this pic, you can see how much of a difference the 600 compares to the 220 grit.

CHAINSAW
07-24-2004, 01:21 PM
Now this is where your plastic starts to look good, and you'll want to hurry it along.... but don't!

You can use some 1200 or 1500 grit in this area, but I skipped straight to the 2000.
You want to use the 2000 as a buffer pretty much. You want to swirl the paper, go in straight lines, go at angles. Make sure the paper touches every part of your plastic at least a 100 times. Spend some time with the 2000, it will only make a killer finish once its done.

Once you have gotten the scratches out, the plastic will look like old Maier dull when its dry. Dont worry, your not done yet.

CHAINSAW
07-24-2004, 01:25 PM
You will also need some buffing compound. This bottle is what I used. You can get something like it, but I only suggest what Im using.
Its 3M Perfect-It II Fine Cut rubbing compound.


You want to grab a soft cotton cloth. For my area, I used a drop about the size of a dime.
This stuff is applied just like car wax. You buff it on until it becomes dry or dull looking. Then take a cloth diaper, and buff it till all the compound is gone. I usually put 4 or 5 coats on, and buff it really good the last few times.

CHAINSAW
07-24-2004, 01:32 PM
Once you have polished it out, you will have a shiney finish to your plastic. I have seen people then use plastic renew to leave a super shiney show finish, but its not really needed for an everyday riding machine.

This same compound also works great to clean up old chrome. Use some steel wool, a soft terry cloth towel, and this compound to remove water spots, and make it shine!!

Like I said up top, I left a few deep scratches on purpose. You can see them at the corner. See how the buffing compound sits in those scratches, and makes them like an eye magnet? That is why you need to take the time to sand out all of your scratches! If you get in a hurry, and cut corners, the plastic will look worse then when you started.

See the difference between the 220, clear down to the 2000? A little plastic sanded off will make a world of difference.
Notice the nice bowling alley slick surface.... nice.

I hope this puts to rest some myths, or half-arse ways of doing this. You can make your plastic look better then new again. It just takes time. I did this in 20 minutes start to finish, and the finish is not as good as I would put on my machine,,... but the steps are all there. A real riding moving machine, could take 3-4 hours on the front fender alone, to make it look good. It does take time, but it will be worth it.

250rAL
07-24-2004, 09:22 PM
Give myself a pat on the back! That's almost exactly the way I did my gas tank except I used a buffing wheel in my die grinder and some plastic buffing compound for the last step. Autozone has a variety pack of sandpaper that has all the grits you will need to do the job.

03 ORANGE SHEE
07-24-2004, 11:25 PM
i like how well detailed your instructions are, if i ever get a bad enough fender,ill be sure to use your help to make her shine!!!! :beer

corndawg
07-25-2004, 12:03 AM
i guess ive been doing it wrong, i usaually wet 600 it and then hit it with some of that good ole wax as you dry

CHAINSAW
07-25-2004, 01:12 AM
Give myself a pat on the back! That's almost exactly the way I did my gas tank except I used a buffing wheel in my die grinder and some plastic buffing compound for the last step. Autozone has a variety pack of sandpaper that has all the grits you will need to do the job.


Thats the ideal way, but take tools to do. These steps are also the same you would take to sand out a sun faded tank. I was wanting one of them to do this on, but a fender is all I could come up with.

atckowalski
07-26-2004, 12:06 AM
You should do up a Tecate 3 gas tank or 20some. :D

CHAINSAW
07-26-2004, 05:42 PM
I hate sanding, why you think I only did the corner? :p

edog
07-26-2004, 09:14 PM
Very informitive

Thanks edog

ohioplayboy100
08-09-2004, 05:30 PM
Thanks very much on the fender it made my honda ATC250sx look real good. But can any body help me with a sun and gas faded metal gas tank???? i woud greatily appreatiate it thanks....... mabey later i will post the picks of my trike on here.!.!

CHAINSAW
08-09-2004, 08:12 PM
Thanks very much on the fender it made my honda ATC250sx look real good. But can any body help me with a sun and gas faded metal gas tank???? i woud greatily appreatiate it thanks....... mabey later i will post the picks of my trike on here.!.!

Metal tanks are pretty simple if you dont have any dents. There are a lot of factors that go into prepping a metal tank.

If you can, describe your tank shape to me. Like how many dents, where they are at, are there stickers on it, and so on. Pics would be nice also.

thefox
08-09-2004, 10:38 PM
I have been sanding the plastic for my Yamaha 200, now spending $200 on new plastic doesn't sound so bad. Here is a before and after pic of the rear fenders. I have spent about 8-10 hours on them and my brother made the seat cover, it's not perfect but close enough.

CHAINSAW
08-09-2004, 10:42 PM
ahh man.. that does look like a lot of work!!! It looks 100 times better now though!

Meat-BoX
08-10-2004, 09:50 PM
Haha :beer
I have a Tecate Tank that was redone but after a few weeks of Gas in it the Paint Bubbled up. So I dont know what to do.

CHAINSAW
08-10-2004, 11:12 PM
thats a plastic tank on the tecate correct?

83185s
08-10-2004, 11:34 PM
hey i ha;f assed my fenders and they still look good...all i did was start with 60grit...lol...and then moved to 220 and i quit once i got that done...i repainted and put my seat backl on and it looks good from a distance...but when u get up close and touch iot u can feel the ROUFNESS!! O YEA!! lol jk anyway i just half assed it and it didnt look to bad..my tank was easy..sander and 120 grit worked good..and steel wool in the corners cause us poor people cand afford the good stuff..lol...i primerd it and repainted it to..doesnt look to bad

smokinp
08-11-2004, 12:41 AM
Thanks for the info chainsaw!very good read.

Meat-BoX
08-11-2004, 11:56 AM
Yea its an 84-85 Tank that was all sanded down and painted. Now it looks lie crap and the rest of my trike doesnt. :mad: I guess I will get a body shop to do it right. But im worried it was the Gas that made the paint buble and that it might happen again. Yes it is plastic. :Bounce

CHAINSAW
08-11-2004, 01:52 PM
painting a plastic gas tank will never work. There is a reason why motocross bike graphics have holes in them.... the plastic breathes. No matter how expensive the paint, it will not stick to a plastic gas tank.
There is an easy fix though.

Kreem will work in plastic tanks, I have done it myself and my neighbor has done the same with his. You dont need the acetone part of it for a plastic tank, just the coating material. Follow the instructions, (soapy water to clean the tank good, and then the coating instructions) but ignore the part about "Do not use on plastic tanks" It WILL work, I know from experience. You can get it at about any atv shop, Dennis Kirk, and Rocky Mountain ATV.

Once you have it kreemed, just sand it back down, prime and paint. Now the paint will not bubble! Hope that helps.

I know how frustrated you are. I spent well over $250 on paint and materials, 3 tries, but finally tried kreem, and it worked great.

Meat-BoX
08-11-2004, 03:19 PM
Here is the ugly beast :rolleyes:
Y isnt it green?

Billy Golightly
08-11-2004, 06:43 PM
Guys I've split a few posts off of this thread. Normally I wouldn't do this, but this is a tech tip posted on the main page and its CHAINSAW's thread on top of it. If you have a question for him, feel free to post it but please don't give advice out in the thread. Thanks. :)

CHAINSAW
08-11-2004, 07:18 PM
meatbox,.. Im not sure why its not green all the way through. Probably something in the fabrication of the tank Im guess. Try what I said above, and it will come out looking good.

Jeb
08-12-2004, 09:19 AM
It's brown because gas seems to discolor the Tecate tanks from the inside and all the way through. Setting out in the sun for years takes it's toll too. You can sand all the way through most KXT tanks and never get it to original green again.

Try the kreem like Chainsaw said or try to get in touch with a body shop and see if they can die it for you.

Meat-BoX
08-12-2004, 08:55 PM
I will give the Kreem a shot. I got 8 years in on this thing so whats another winter to make her right.

MTS
08-25-2004, 03:13 AM
great write up chainsaw :D i have to do this to my 1980 ds50 fenders man they -where- orange but they oxidized so bad there white lol..ill post trailprotrailpro and after pics later :P

Morbid Mike
08-25-2004, 01:08 PM
Thank you chainsaw I will take a step by step photo's and you will be able to see your handy work on my 200x

nouseforaname90
07-02-2005, 11:45 AM
I did this on the front fender of my '85 250SX, and its whiteish colored. What did I do wrong? I started with 220 for about an hour and a half to get otu all the scratches, then moved onto 400 for about half an hour, then 600 grit for abotu 15 minutes, then i went to 1000 grit for probly 20 minutes, and then i used 2000 grit for a good hour, and its still white. When its wet, its very nice and red.. but then it dries and its all white colored and gross...

bigredhead
07-02-2005, 12:03 PM
This is where you need to get with the polish !!

Yamahauler
07-02-2005, 01:05 PM
I would say, go back to 400 grit and work that in for longer, and go finer sand paper by as small of incriments as posible.
ex. 220,300,360,400,500,600,800,1000,1200,1500,2000 then polish the hell out of it with compound.

Also, are you using waterproof sandpaper?

nouseforaname90
07-02-2005, 01:27 PM
yeah.. im using 3M Imperial WETORDRY sandpaper. I also tried going back to 400 grit, and then working my way back up to 2000, and its still white. Parts of it are red, and the rest of it is white hazed. I used Scratch Out, and it made it red again, but whenever i touch it, it smears and looks bad, and whenever i wash it, its white hazed again. I also polished the heck out of it with the rubbing compound and it worked a LITTLE, but not too much... I dunno what else to do..

BigRedRunner
07-02-2005, 02:44 PM
Betcha a cookie that its an old Maier fender. You're best bet is to throw in the trash if thats the case. You can make them look okay if you use a cloth buffing wheel (like for a bench grinder) and some sticks of rouge. My stock 250r tank looks great after going through 220-320-400-600-800-1000-1200-1500, 3M perfect-it 3000, perfect-it III (used 8" foam buffer). I did the same on some Maier fenders, and they looked horrible. I ended up doing the sanding, but used some rubbing compound sticks and a cloth buffing wheel instead of the 3m and they came out okay. So, I would suggest staying away from the perfect it and try buffing with some compound sticks.

nouseforaname90
07-02-2005, 03:00 PM
I'm almost positive that its the stock fender.. the previous owner was like an 85 year old man (he was ooold), and he said that he owned it since he bought it back in '85 and he had taken good care of it and everything on it was stock except the tires. I don't know. I think instead of blowing more money on the buffing wheel and compound sticks, I'll just go get a new fender. I've already spent $25 on materials to refurbish the front fender.. it doesn't make sense to get more stuff when a new fender costs $50 at my local store. Thanks for the help.

CHAINSAW
07-03-2005, 12:32 AM
If you have several machines, and have the extra cash to afford a buffing wheel that is the only way to go. Most times you dont have to do much sanding before the wheel. However, most people cant afford them, or know how to properly work them, so thats why I made this how to guide. I need to do another one with using a buffing wheel, and explain how to use them properly without burning or warping your plastic... incase some guys wanna try it that way.

90nut
07-03-2005, 02:45 PM
Ok, first of all great thread! Very helpful. Second my Tecate tank is also faded like meat box's but not nearly as bad. Mine is just a paleish green color and you can tell that it is supposed to be a brighter green because of where the seat covered up a small portion of the tank. that part is still fairly decent looking. Anyways after I sand my tanks following your instructions (chainsaw) and get it new looking again do you think kreeming the tank would be a good idea just to help prevent the staining from the gas? Or would that just be overkill? thanks for the help.

90nut
07-03-2005, 06:14 PM
One other question. My good tecate gas tank has absoluley no scratches in it. But is kind of faded like I mentioned above. So should I sand it the same as the tank with scratches or start with a higher grit paper or just buff it?

MTS
07-03-2005, 06:20 PM
If you have several machines, and have the extra cash to afford a buffing wheel that is the only way to go. Most times you dont have to do much sanding before the wheel. However, most people cant afford them, or know how to properly work them, so thats why I made this how to guide. I need to do another one with using a buffing wheel, and explain how to use them properly without burning or warping your plastic... incase some guys wanna try it that way.
When can i expect to see this guide ? :D :beer

Orangecnty250r
07-03-2005, 10:57 PM
I look forward to the guide-- I've never used the buffing wheel --just my hand until its so cramped up it feels like it will never work again. I wouldnt even do this process for a fender/or plastic that is still available ---way to time consuming to get it right. Ive restored tiger plastics, an atc 250r tank , and refurbished my old some of my old T3 plastics before they went to ebay. As for the tecate tank mentioned above they used a crappy grade plastic that faded and discolored very easy-- you can smooth it out but not bring the color back. When reading the 86 Tecate test from 1986 in a 3 wheeling magazine they even mentioned the plastic on the tecate tank --how thin it was and that you could see the gas level by just looking at the tank (not popping the cap). They had good insight into the tank that would be haunting us all 20 years later.

CHAINSAW
07-03-2005, 11:00 PM
One other question. My good tecate gas tank has absoluley no scratches in it. But is kind of faded like I mentioned above. So should I sand it the same as the tank with scratches or start with a higher grit paper or just buff it?


Id start out with about 400 or 600 then. If no scratches are in it, there is no need for aggresive sand paper. Another plus, it wont take long because your not spending a lot of time removing scratches from coarse sand paper.

As for kreeming, I wouldnt go that far unless you are planning on having the machine for a long long time to come.


MTS = I need to get some old faded plastic then Ill get started on it. Ill check around here tomorrow and see if I can find anything in town.

joesnuffy
01-15-2006, 01:58 PM
Great info,chainsaw.I've got another can of worms for you.My brother gave me an '84 Honda 200X and in addition to the road rash,the front fender has a split,which results in an aggravating flop-flop effect when riding.Any pointers on plastic REPAIR?It's not in two seperate pieces yet,and a previous owner half-a**ed a repair with Bondo,possibly,or some sort of an epoxy.Is it even worth the trouble?

Dammit!
01-15-2006, 03:53 PM
Great info,chainsaw.I've got another can of worms for you.My brother gave me an '84 Honda 200X and in addition to the road rash,the front fender has a split,which results in an aggravating flop-flop effect when riding.Any pointers on plastic REPAIR?It's not in two seperate pieces yet,and a previous owner half-a**ed a repair with Bondo,possibly,or some sort of an epoxy.Is it even worth the trouble?

Easiest thing is to drill holes along each side of the crack and zip tie it together. Looks like crap but it should hold it together for a while longer.

You can get a brand new Maier fender for about 35 bucks so don't spend any money trying to fix it.

CHAINSAW
01-15-2006, 04:01 PM
Great info,chainsaw.I've got another can of worms for you.My brother gave me an '84 Honda 200X and in addition to the road rash,the front fender has a split,which results in an aggravating flop-flop effect when riding.Any pointers on plastic REPAIR?It's not in two seperate pieces yet,and a previous owner half-a**ed a repair with Bondo,possibly,or some sort of an epoxy.Is it even worth the trouble?

Ive seen people do the zip tie trick, and also put a piece of aluminum behind, and rivet on either side of the crack from opening up further. There is a such thing as plastic welding and fusing, but back 10 years ago when I tried it,.. it didnt work and wasnt worth the time in my opinion.
However I have read that a lot of progress has been made, and its possable to plastic weld and make it stay. Ive never tried it, and honestly for the money, you would be better off buying a new fender. The only way Id do plastic welding on something, is if it was on a high dollar car bumper, not on a $30-90 three wheeler front fender.
Or... with the knowledge of how to repair a sun faded one now.. buy one for $5 off ebay, and make her look pretty close to new!!! Ive done that with a lot of plastic, most of which people gave up on and sold for dirt cheap because they thought it was a lost cause.

1985 200s
01-15-2006, 08:50 PM
I've noticed on some of the fenders I've done that there is a layer that is almost like it has been hardened and unless you get through this layer it will not turn a nice red and will have the whiteish tint to it. I used a razor blade to scrape this layer off DO NOT DO THAT though it took forever to get those scratches out. I think you just have to sand through this layer.

CHAINSAW
01-15-2006, 10:41 PM
On some fenders, it wont be possable to restore them. On ones that have layers and layers of sun fade... by the time you get off all the crap on top sanded off, there wont be a fender left. Thats a given.

trikes4life
07-18-2006, 03:00 PM
IS there any way to fix deep scatches and to make it look good.

Tecate250
11-23-2006, 12:17 PM
This is not advice. Just what I do to my plastics.
When you get really whitened plastics use a flat paint scraper and be very easy.
Once you do this a few scrapes you will know how much force you need to take 90 % of the bad plastic off.
Im in the midts of sanding down my rear fender and im glad I did this. Ive spent 10 hours on half of my rear fender. As for welding plastics it way easier then you think. I had a thick branch come right through my front tecate fender and wedged between my ehpansion pipe and frame. Destroying my mint fender. or at least a huge hole. now when it broke it also bent the piece that broke. All you need is a heat gun and a weller sodering gun with a cutting tip. All you need is a long thing piece of same color plastic to use as a brazing rod and melt the rod with the heat gun and let the molten plastic drip down onto the welded area. use the weller sodering gun to cut out dirt out of the plastic. My front fender is mint or as mint as it comes. and it is strong. my bike was droped on a tail gate and landed right on the bottom of my front fender, and it did not break.It actually held up my bike. I sheet you not. and the heat gun can also be used to take out white (bend) marks. welding plastic is no more harder then sanding them. Just dont rush.

i58829
03-06-2007, 10:58 PM
I know this post is old news, but i tried to do this today, and i guess i didn't go long enough with the 2000 and not in enough directions, mine has little scuffs in it still and are holding in the compound. Well actually i only have meguiars cleaner wax (not very abbrasive) I'm gonna swing into the parts store and get some good stuff. Also i started with 600 is this too fine? I dont have anything huge as far as scrapes, i think i just rushed it...

Huffa
03-06-2007, 11:04 PM
This is not advice. Just what I do to my plastics.
When you get really whitened plastics use a flat paint scraper and be very easy.
Once you do this a few scrapes you will know how much force you need to take 90 % of the bad plastic off.
Im in the midts of sanding down my rear fender and im glad I did this. Ive spent 10 hours on half of my rear fender. As for welding plastics it way easier then you think. I had a thick branch come right through my front tecate fender and wedged between my ehpansion pipe and frame. Destroying my mint fender. or at least a huge hole. now when it broke it also bent the piece that broke. All you need is a heat gun and a weller sodering gun with a cutting tip. All you need is a long thing piece of same color plastic to use as a brazing rod and melt the rod with the heat gun and let the molten plastic drip down onto the welded area. use the weller sodering gun to cut out dirt out of the plastic. My front fender is mint or as mint as it comes. and it is strong. my bike was droped on a tail gate and landed right on the bottom of my front fender, and it did not break.It actually held up my bike. I sheet you not. and the heat gun can also be used to take out white (bend) marks. welding plastic is no more harder then sanding them. Just dont rush.


Now this is something I'd love to SEE step by step pic's or better yet a vid of the procedure.

You have plastic laying around that you could do one or the other and show us? That would be great! :beer

Huffa
03-06-2007, 11:07 PM
I know this post is old news, but i tried to do this today, and i guess i didn't go long enough with the 2000 and not in enough directions, mine has little scuffs in it still and are holding in the compound. Well actually i only have meguiars cleaner wax (not very abbrasive) I'm gonna swing into the parts store and get some good stuff. Also i started with 600 is this too fine? I dont have anything huge as far as scrapes, i think i just rushed it...

I just noticed that :lol: , how old the post was but yea, I think you should start out with 220 or 320, try a really small area and see what happens.

breastman569
03-07-2007, 11:53 AM
im not sure if anyone here knows about this or not but after your all done sanding your tank or whatever your working on go and get this new stuff by Turtle Wax called Ice! it is down right amazing its a plastic wax that wont leave the white crap behind and it is really amazing! it brings the color out like never before!

rckstrgrl21
01-06-2008, 08:37 PM
Ok, I read the post, went out nd bought sand paper, and when I got back I realized i bought 60, 80, 200, grit. i strted with the 60 to get out deep scrtch that was on it, and realized it wasn't wet sandpaper.


So to fix can I just start out with 220 wet sandpaper like nothing happened? or do I need to do something special now?


My plastic was super super faded and i don't feel comfortable using a razor, so is using the 60 grit good to start with to get rid of the top layer?

Brockey
01-06-2008, 08:46 PM
I wouldnt use 60 grit. I would start at 220 grit. But I only polished wheels with 2000+ grit and I have never done plastic

rckstrgrl21
01-06-2008, 09:09 PM
At the store they had these sponge's that was covered in sand, that was like sand paper. are they for wet sanding?

I think they would be easier to use, but i want to make sure they are wet sand compatable

Brockey
01-06-2008, 09:17 PM
There are ones I have that start at 220. They are like the size of a sheet of paper and about 3/8 inch thick white foam back. I am not sure if they are wet sandable but they work wetsanding. The black square sponge stlye ones about inch and a half thick are crap. Good luck.

saleen_n_around
01-26-2008, 10:35 AM
Good info for sure....

tri-Z ripper
03-26-2008, 07:57 PM
love this thread!!

300rman
03-26-2008, 11:17 PM
this should be made a sticky. very informative

joe_f7
03-29-2008, 09:14 AM
what's the best anyone ever got a tecate tank looking like? i saw another thread and he wet sanded it and polished and it went from brown to more of a white green.

84honda125
02-08-2009, 10:15 PM
is there anything i can do for broken plastic?

PGO_bigmax_50
06-04-2009, 10:05 AM
Look what ive done with my ytm200 rear fender ;)
My only regret is the sandpaper 40 grit it let some scratches but maybe scratch doctor will do the thing :)

sorry for my poor english im from Quebec so i speak french
trailpro

MonroeMike
06-04-2009, 10:40 AM
Looks like you cleaned it up good. I know how nasty those yellow YTM fenders can get.

harryredtrike
06-07-2009, 09:49 AM
Look what ive done with my ytm200 rear fender ;)
My only regret is the sandpaper 40 grit it let some scratches but maybe scratch doctor will do the thing :)

sorry for my poor english im from Quebec so i speak french
trailpro

looks good to me.probably shouldnt use a sand paper lower than 100 though.so you dont get deep scratches that youll have to deal with later.all and all looks like a great job though.

coteya
07-14-2009, 02:21 PM
heard acetone does a great job

mcdonl
08-27-2009, 11:18 AM
This is harder then it looks!! I did 1/2 of my rear fender, but only about 1/2 of it came out nice. I will have to do it over. How many times do most of you have to repeat the process for it to come out right?

bone
03-20-2010, 07:19 PM
can this same method be used for a sun faded kx gas tank???

honda200x1987
03-23-2010, 08:16 PM
I will be posting on how to polish ATC/ATV plastic in the coming weeks. I am working on perfecting it and you will see it can be done. My method will take your fenders/plastic tanks to the original factory shine,peeeerrrrfffffeeect. They will look like glass but the method will take hours to complete, that's the only drawback. HERE are a few pictures of some fenders I have done, they look very nice,not perfect but very very close. White fenders are much easier because any imperfections will not show up as easy. I am working on the last step, I am going to use a "ROUGE".. a ROUGE is a compound used by jewlers.

bone
03-23-2010, 11:42 PM
thats what im talkin about, very nice work cant wait to see more..

jessearends
04-19-2010, 02:27 AM
Hey dude i am working on a YTM200 project right now and i was wondering how you filled the holes that were there for the racks right behind the seat, and nice work on the fenders mine look like your befores at the moment but i will get around to restoring them

RileylikesHonda
04-26-2010, 10:31 PM
What models of honda trikes is shaft drivin


Please sent me a message

Thanks, Riley

rckstrgrl21
05-08-2010, 10:14 PM
Has anyone tried using an electric sander? will it work? I am not for spending countless hours of manual labor on restoring my plastics (mainly because I dont have countless hours available to use)

jessearends
06-13-2010, 01:44 PM
I have figured out that you can use a dual action on the 220 grit part, which is by far the most important, but you absolutley have to do the rest by hand. The 220 takes the longest just because of the big scratches and divots that might be in the plastic, and if you dont get them out, you will know when you get into the finer grits.

jessearends
06-13-2010, 01:47 PM
Hell yeah dude, every since i found this thread ive tried it on every machine in my shed, dont matter what the color, year, or model is, it works on any plastic, even gas tanks

sweetip2000
10-01-2010, 12:13 AM
Your are doing the right thing. I dont like the new plastic. It sucks compared to the durability of the old plastic. Cheap Chinese garbage is what we have today, Parts made by an 8 year old slave girl.
Two last things that I did that you might be interested in. The very last sanding I did was with McGuire's 2000 grit sand paper. Don't get nervous if your old red plastic has a white haze to it after you are done with the 2000 grit. The plastic is looking for a drink. So I use the rubbing compound like you mentioned. After the compound I did something different. Go out and buy some Butchers Bowling Alley Wax. Rub into the old sanded plastic and let it dry. The plastic will drink this up and become flexible again, It will also bring out the pigment in the plastic and take away that white haze. You dont need a professional buffing wheel. Just get a buffing wheel attachment for your drill and get a buffing pad. The synthetic wool ones will work best. Buff to a shine and it will be good until you dump your bike again. Do not use any other waxes after you apply the Butchers wax. If you use one wax stay with what you use. One last thing dont do stupid trailprotrailprotrailprotrailpro when you ride especially after all that hard detailing, Listen to chainsaw he is right. The only way to do a good finish requires patience time and a little bit of muscle. btw sprinkle some water onto the plastic when you are done buffing and rebuff until dry for extra high shine. Have fun with that boss.

Xpress
11-08-2010, 02:53 PM
Damn, I wish I had found this before I embarked onto resurfacing my T3's plastics :( :(

http://img181.imageshack.us/img181/2392/img3994m.jpg

I used a steel scrubber, then progressed onto steel wool, and then tried to shine it up with a plastic dish scrubber sheet, all the while using water then moving onto armor all. Yep, there's deep scratches alright :(

BGP
11-09-2010, 05:13 PM
My mother used to wax the kitchen floor when I was a kid... it always came out looking nice. One day I took the bottle of Futura floor wax and gave the old 250R a wipe after a good washing. I was astounded to see how long it stayed "wet" looking. Remove with ammonia solution and repeat after a few months.

It's no retoration job but looks better than white"ish" red plastics...

trentenmarschel
04-30-2011, 12:46 AM
ill try this on all of my dirt bike plastic and post before and after pics thanks for the instructions.

Rolling on 3
06-21-2011, 01:24 AM
All of the tips and tricks on this forum are very useful, so thank you! I have never thought of using floor wax on the plastic. After I had a bit of an incidence with my trike a while back, I worked and worked slowly sanding out the road rash. I had it looking fairly nice, so I tried your tip of the floor wax, and it worked extremely well. It sort of evened out the rough scratches that I was having trouble sanding out. If you have not tried this, you must!

Dre350X
09-14-2011, 02:37 PM
My 86' 350X still has it's original white fenders. It has few scratches, that's not my concern. It's the webbing in the material I need to understand if they can be removed. Anyone have experience with this? See my image. 131703

Dre350X
09-14-2011, 06:01 PM
My 86' 350X still has it's original white fenders. It has few scratches, that's not my concern. It's the webbing in the material I need to understand if they can be removed. Anyone have experience with this? See my image. 131703

Figured it out from a local Body Shop Specialist. These original white rear fenders suffered stone chip underneath, this caused shock stress to the plastics thus creating the web effect on upper half of fender over tires. Conclusion: not repairable, only paint or decal can cover these webbings at even that is a short term repair. Maier it is then.

honda200x1987
09-14-2011, 08:05 PM
These surface cracks or "spider webbing" can be removed by wet sanding . You will need to wet sand starting with 400 grit sand paper. You will need to sand down past the surface cracks then go to 800 grit to 1000 to 1500 to 2000 grit sand paper. Then use a random orbital buffer with a synthetic wool bonnet,dry buff..Buff Buff Buff and you will have a great shine like showroom without any amourall etc. Spider webbing is caused by weathering of the sun etc,, the surface of the fender is dried out. I successfully sanded out a 1985 350X fender and white plastic is easier to restore because small flaws do no show up.

Figured it out from a local Body Shop Specialist. These original white rear fenders suffered stone chip underneath, this caused shock stress to the plastics thus creating the web effect on upper half of fender over tires. Conclusion: not repairable, only paint or decal can cover these webbings at even that is a short term repair. Maier it is then.

honda200x1987
09-14-2011, 08:25 PM
GAfter my garage is built I am going to make a video on how to restore plastic back to NOS and this will end all concern of restoring plastic. This subject comes up too much and I will show you how to do it the right way from start to finish but it's a lot of work. Here is a thread of how I did it... http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php?107561-More-pictures-of-the-fender-I-restored&highlight=restore+plastic

honda200x1987
09-15-2011, 11:33 AM
Also hands down the best alternative to make you plastics look new and protected is "SILCOLENE PRO PREP " forget Amourall,,, This stuff is the best http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/mobile/ItemPage.aspx?DivisionGroupId=2&DivisionId=9&DepartmentId=197&ItemStyleId=25308

yooperman
12-13-2011, 10:16 PM
i gave the plastic polishing a whirl the way i know to polish metals on a small unvisible patch of plastic on my T3 tank, to see how it would work on doing it on plastic before i attempted it on a visible part of the tank because i have never polished plastic before. I am glad i did to because the method i know how to polish didnt work to well after making my way through the different grits of sand paper, i was like hmmmm plan A is a bust lol so i had to go to plan B which was do some searching on how to do it lol yeah yeah i know should have check on how to polish plastic first but reading instruction are the desprete measure if ya cant figure something out lol, I know there was a thread on this process so i went to reading and boy i am glad i did to. I was missing out on a few of the main steps that i forgot about and new ones i didnt know about.

so just wanted to say this is a AWSOME!!! write up of the steps to walk you through it, now i am fully ready take on this project head on the right way. Thanks man for taking the time to write this up helped me out ALOT!! thanks again man.

Gabriel
09-11-2018, 10:58 AM
I have been working on a 200s one piece rear fender for two days now.

It was so badly oxidized the thing was light pink. I actually started with 80 grit and worked through 120, 220, 280 and now I'm on 320 on my way to 400, 600, 1000 then 2000.

One thing I have found once I reached 320 is water is as much my enemy as my friend. There's a balance. Too much water and my paper (3m wet/dry) will stop cutting and sweat equity is lost to oblivion. Too little water and and the paper loads up, scratches and you start over. Everyone's mileage will vary but I have found instead of recreating Noah's flood like i did with 80 grit where I set the hose to a trickle and left it dribbling over the fender while i worked, a soaked cloth to keep things wet and CONSTANTLY checking your paper for build up works best (for me). About 15-20 strokes, wipe, rinse paper and repeat.


By the way, polishing plastic SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!