Possible key to restoring Plastics

[honda200x1987]

I never would have thought but it seems water is the key! I would recommend using 2000 grit sandpaper before heating up the plastic. Maybe a propane torch would work better that a heat gun but I'm no sure. I'm definitely testing this tomorrow afternoon on some old plastics I have . So, when the plastic gets real good and shiny immediately pour water of the entire section and it will stay that way. It looks legit in the video and I never heard of anyone doing it this way before. This does away with buffing so takes all the work out of it. https://youtu.be/yAu_BYXGR1Y

[christph]

Wow, thanks for the link. The results speak for themselves. I'll have to try it.

[Scootertrash]

That's awesome!

Thanks for the link!

[Jd110]

Good information-thanks. I’m imagining doing a bigger piece, by myself, next to a hose and a torch-maybe not a heat gun or anything electrical.

[honda200x1987]

Yes, I believe it's safer using a torch when water is involved and easier.

[ATCKevin]

I need to restore my big red plastics, sorry for the dumb question... but why do you need to heat the plastic up?

[bkvette3]

Going to give that a try on some old plastic that I have. OP - thanks for posting.

[Supraman0614]

That's cool! It might be like quenching hot steel to maintain a certain grain structure, but in plastic. I'm going to experiment on an old fender, first, but I need to polish the plastics on my 200x, so this would help. I wonder if you could blend sections if you were working on a large area. I can't imagine it would be easy to keep a large area glossy long enough.

[schlepp29]

I'll have to do this with big spechts klt!

[big specht]

Yes you do lol

[honda200x1987]

Well guys I had no luck with the Heat gun , all it does is get the plastic hot and warp it. I believe the propane torch is the only option , I will have to buy one. I recommend you practice on some junk plastics first before tackiling this.

[barnett468]

A torch, can darken the color to some degree if you get it too hot, so start off lightly. If red gets slightly darker, it's not a big problem, but yellow turns to a lovely golden brown if it gets too hot, just ask me how I know. :lol:

A heat gun can definitely work but it needs to be one that gets blazing hot so it can get just the outer surface of the plastic hot quickly before the heat penetrates thru the plastic, which is the case with some lower powered ones. Also, it's easier to heat just the surface of thick plastic than thin plastic.


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[BOB MARLIN]

I've heated the plastics before to remove the White stress marks you get when the plastic is bent to far. Using a good heat gun works the best for me. I've never quenched it with water though.

[El Camexican]

My experience has been to use the heat gun to remove white marks, and sandpaper and water to remove scratches.