I decided to make this a thread so it will be searchable for people more easily. I know I've been there wanting the restore a bike to high quality 9 out of 10 and OEM NOS plastic is just not available.
Or for those who want to refresh their trikes this will make a huge difference in just a few hours of work done correctly.
A little update. I've been getting odds and ends like levers, decals, chain slider (for swingarm), etc. Plus polishing up the back fenders. I am actually getting very good at this. The last set I did was my 350X and while I did a good job I started with too course a grit paper and had a very hard time getting the lines out. This time the coursest grain I went was 400 and I got to the pics below.
For those wondering here is the protocol:
I basically start wet sanding them (by hand) 400 grit sand paper. Then go to 600, 1000, 2000, then 3000. You keep sanding till scratches are gone. All the way up to 3000 grit by hand.
Really deep scratches you can get out, but it just takes time. This part is easy BUT it just a patience game. Getting the showroom shine is the harder part for most. Here's the secret sauce this pad: http://www.autopia-carcare.com/megui...tml#.VKBu6P-sc Meguiars Soft Buff W-9000 Foam Finishing Pad 8 inch with Novus polish: http://www.amazon.com/Novus-Plastic-.../dp/B000J41VDM
www.autopia-carcare.com
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PAD MODEL:
Meguiars Soft Buff W-9000 Foam Finishing Pad 8 inch
http://www.meguiars.com/en/
POLISH TYPE:
Novus Polish
http://www.novuspolish.com/
Don't use an orbital buffer. Those won't work well for this purpose. You need something like this **THIS IS THE EXACT UNIT I HAVE** http://www.amazon.com/Tradespro-8367...DES+PRO+BUFFER
MODEL:
Tradespro 836788 7-Inch Variable Speed 10-Amp Sander/Polisher
Amazon has this.
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The orbitals for me did not work well. They will go all over the place and you won't be able to do this correctly. You want a straight polisher that only rotates the pad and let's you select different speeds.
Once you get it smooth but dull it will look kind of like the old Maier fenders did. Then start with the pad and Novus 3. Keep going slowly. After 10 passes apply more Novus 3. Do about 3 sets of passes. WASH THE PAD AND LET IT DRY. CLEAN OFF THE FENDERS OF ANY RESIDUE. Then do the same thing but this time do it with Novus 2. The more you go the shiner it gets. Honestly even for NOS plastic...that gets dull or gets rash marks from sitting on a shelf or just little nicks...the 9000 pad with Novus 2 will make it look like it just came off the plastic press!
I've also got a video that I'll be making for Nick and everyone else.
The first pic where I am measuring gives you an idea of where I was at RIGHT after all 3000 wet sanding was done.
NOTE: These pictures were only after the first day. I've been at this for a 3 more days...and they look even BETTER!!
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Originally Posted by vintagemotorsports
