restoring plastic with pictures

[killer454]

i just bought a 1998 blaster a couple of weeks ago for 400.00 and wanted to clean the plastic up to make it look better.
i found a post on hand sanding it and thought i would try it.

here are the before pictures,i have hit this thing with a 3100 psi powerwasher and just would not cleanup enough to look good.

here are pictures of the rear fender after useing 400 grit wet sanding and followed that up with 1200 wet,then a 2500 grit final sand.

here are pictures of blue tank and front cover,i started with 400 on these but scratches are a lot noticable in blue.if you have a dark color like blue,red and black i think 1200 then 2500 is best for these darker colors.and maybe just 2500 do a small patch and see.
i hit it with 1200 then 2500 looks better than it did.

here is a final picture after putting on a wax coat,i think if you wax the plastic before going for a ride when you go to powerwash after the wax will allow the tirt and mud to come off better and keep the luster.

all in all i will add this 400 grit seemed to rough for this,i had white plastic so not to noticeable but i think if you used 1200 or 2500 to do the whole thing it might come out better.

i had 12 pictures when you can only post 10 so i deleated 2 before pictures and keept all final pictures.

 

[sheeblast]

i would suggest clearing the plastic too.
i know when i sanded mine, after they dried, they looked like sh*t. but they looked good when wet. just a thought.

 

[killer454]

yes i thought about that but im afraid after time the clear coat will crack and start falling off then i would be back to where i started.

im going to see how well this holds up with applying a auto wax and see how it cleansup after mud and dirt get on it.

its all about seeing what works the best

 

[sheeblast]

have you let the plastic dry let? if so, how did it look?

 

[killer454]

it looks 90% better than it did the wax helped to bring back a semi-shin back to it.im satisfied with how it come out in the end.im going to see how well it cleansup after mud and dirt this weekend,i will post pictures of the mud and then pictures cleanedup after powerwashing.

 

[Kieran]

i used upol plastic filler for deep scratches, expensive, but can be flexed when it dries, and has plenty of give. Its gives a plastics finish is easy to sand and paint over

 

[scotj77]

yeah i agree with sheeblast. I just scrubbed mine with softscrub then clearcoated it. then you wax it. clean that wax off and clearcoat it and it will preserve all your hard work longer. looks great man.