Reviving old plastics?

[kb0nly]

The boiled linseed oil and paint thinner looks interesting.. Looks kinda like that Wipe New product they sell now... Hmmmm

Anyway, i have some sun baked front fenders i might try that solution on for the heck of it!

[CodyRosa]

Well KB i'll be trying it tomorrow hopefully.. as long as my dad remembers to grab it after work that is haha, I can let you know how well it works. It takes a few coats I guess. If you try it before me post pics please! I'll be doing the same.

[puffine]

Once you get your plastics restored I recommend using 303 Aerospace protectant instead of armourall. 303 actually protects the plastic and keeps is from sun damage and drying out. I coat my trikes in the stuff!

[sweetip2000]

They wont combust on your plastics, keep them outside getting air to them to dry it out. I'll show you a video.. this stuff works INSTANTLY, it'd take 1minute to restore all the plastics on a trike. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KevwAZutZwI Here you are, proof that it works. I guess its 60 paint thinner, 40 linseed oil.. so i was wrong on my above post. I'll also be trying this later on monday and I can let you know how well it worked. The plastic i'll be working on has sun bleached spots though.

I am really impressed with the results. That's a nice quad. Here is some info that will compliment your solution. Weather you like to wet sand and buff or use a solution after you are done here is the final step that will make it shine really good.

Get this stuff called Butchers Bowling Alley Wax. It is a clear petroleum based wax. Put it on thin in small tight circles. Let it dry about 10 minutes. Then you can buff by hand or for best results use a buffer. It will keep on shining long after you are done and water will bead off of it like a ducks azz. It also brings out the pigment in the plastic. I have been wet sanding the front fender of my 350X for 3 days now. 28 years of deep scratches and scrapes are gone. I am up to 1500 grit and will finish with 2000 and then buff with Butchers bowling alley wax. BTW thanks for showing us this info. Totally awesome !!

[CodyRosa]

Sweetip do you happen to have a before and after of that 350x fender?? Be pretty cool to see how well that wax works!

[jb2wheels]

I had the pressure washer out to clean up one of the Tecates I bought recently. It had a severely crusted OEM front fender on it.

The pressure washer removed the crusty, dead plastic without leaving the scratches from a razor blade.

Just an idea. I have not done any more work on the fender. I hate sanding/polishing plastics.

[Doc Holliday]

Yep, I took my plastics to a car wash and used the pressure wand to blast them clean, then went home and wet sanded with a 600 grit sanding block. They look new, seriously. Take your time, be patient and don't rush. You'll love the results.

[CodyRosa]

So I tried the linseed oil/paint thinner. Not sure on the ratio.. i just kinda threw the concoction together. I must say it did work to a point, it brought the red out and made the whites less noticeable. I do still see where the white was though. I'm on like my 3rd coat.. I'll probably need 10 or so sense the guy on the video used 6 and his plastics were not nearly as bad as this tank. I used 400 grit wet/dry paper on 2 white spots and it took them off within 10 seconds so i'll probably have to sand the rest out now. My tank also has some black residue that's hard to remove so its kinda hard to tell how well the stuff worked. (thats what that streak is on the right side)

All in all, i say give it a try, if your plastics are not nearly as bad as mine then yea go for it!

[neverdone]

Well that is good enough for me to say that it is worth a shot.....

My plastics are not near as bad as that tank is/was! I am going to order up an exhaust gasket too. I am going to pull the header on my old trike and take it and the muffler and sand blast them. They are looking kind of rough so before they are junk I want to clean em up and throw some paint on them. That will also help spruce it up a bit!

[kb0nly]

Hmm, if its that bad i suppose we should maybe lightly sand it then try the linseed oil and thinner combo on it. I have one front fender off a 110 thats really white and crusty i was going to try it on, i think i might go with some sanding then put the mix on there and see how that does. It looks promising at least!

[CodyRosa]

Yea after I did this I had a small piece of white left that the mix didn't fix.. lol.. so I took 400 grit to it and it came off it maybe 10 seconds and it looked brand new. Its definitely worth the try!