restoring plastics

[sbeachstang]

Hi guys, I've been looking at restoring my plastics. Has anyone tried a wet sand and buff? I've considered paint but, I'd rather try getting back the original finish first. I was thinking maybe shave the big stuff with a razor blade, then a 800,1000, then 1500 grit and buff. I don't have much experiance with plastic, just paint. Any thoughts?

 

[Busted Warrior]

I think you can use a heat gun to make them shiny again. Just dont stay in one place too long or you will melt them. Mine weren't that bad so I just used rubbing compound and my 7" buffer and they look great.

 

[mr_3_0_5]

steel wool and mop and glo

 

[blasterboy20xx]

Or sand them real good then do a few coats of clear coat. This makes em look new again aswell.

 

[heyketz]

If your plastics are really bad the razor blade scrape works pretty good. Just make sure you hold it at an angle and scrape all they way to the edge of the fender. Don't stop in the middle or you will leave a gouge and have to do more sanding.

 

[sbeachstang]

Well I've gotton over spray and grime off with a solvent cleaner and run the buffer over them so far, andd they look alot better. I'm experimenting on my blue plastics because I prefer the black and red I already have. I'm a little scared to wet sand them, but I'm going to give it a shot. Then try the mop and glo. Thanks for the input guys!

 

[super noober]

i painted my white plastics with white krylon fusion, looks brand freeking new hahaha I:I I:I

 

[Paulie B]

There are alot of different ways.
The sand and buff method is the hardest but if you do it right it's the most durable because being there is no finish theres no worries about scratches.
All work great if your willing to put the time in.
Here's the mop and glo method.

Here's the sand and buff method.

Here's the scrape, sand, paint method.

 

[99LRDblaster]

i painted my white plastics with white krylon fusion, looks brand freeking new hahaha I:I I:I

While I haven't used it on my plastics, I have used Fusion before on plastic and it is good stuff and I've heard others with success with it. Just scuff the surface and paint.

What I have done though is taken a powered car buffer with a coarse rag attachment on low speed and scuffed the whole plastic, then put on a less coarse attachment and got it to a near polish and took a heat gun to it and it came out just like new.

 

[super noober]

While I haven't used it on my plastics, I have used Fusion before on plastic and it is good stuff and I've heard others with success with it. Just scuff the surface and paint.

What I have done though is taken a powered car buffer with a coarse rag attachment on low speed and scuffed the whole plastic, then put on a less coarse attachment and got it to a near polish and took a heat gun to it and it came out just like new.

man your carb looks crazy, ive never seen anything like that. i wonder if that helping or hurting :-/ :-/

 

[99LRDblaster]

man your carb looks crazy, ive never seen anything like that. i wonder if that helping or hurting :-/ :-/

It's only on the reed side. That's how it manages to come to 30mm bore on a stock 26mm carb. Helps in theory as the vacuum creates turbulence to help atomize fuel mixtures better, but more importantly gives the air flow a more direct flow to the reed cage as opposed to an open flow which sends to be less efficient in air flow delivery. Don't notice a huge difference, but throttle response is quicker due to the more efficient air flow delivery to the reeds. Even so.....I need a bigger carb for my setup.

 

[super noober]

It's only on the reed side. That's how it manages to come to 30mm bore on a stock 26mm carb. Helps in theory as the vacuum creates turbulence to help atomize fuel mixtures better, but more importantly gives the air flow a more direct flow to the reed cage as opposed to an open flow which sends to be less efficient in air flow delivery. Don't notice a huge difference, but throttle response is quicker due to the more efficient air flow delivery to the reeds. Even so.....I need a bigger carb for my setup.

huh, i would like to hear from flotek or oconner just for thier input. my first though would be that at high rpms its causing a ton of turbulance and not really boosting it into the reeds, not trying to hate at all man, i jus tfind that interesting

 

[99LRDblaster]

huh, i would like to hear from flotek or oconner just for thier input. my first though would be that at high rpms its causing a ton of turbulance and not really boosting it into the reeds, not trying to hate at all man, i jus tfind that interesting

As did a lot of us a few years back. We had a lot of people try it with and without and everybody liked it better with. This was way back in the Bluetraxx and BlasterHQ days though. At high RPMs it does create turbulence, but the key to that is that it DIRECTS that turbulence towards the reed cage as opposed to an regular bore having more turbulence going off the walls of the intake as the vacuum draws it in. He used a lot of fluid dynamics models when coming up with the design. Takes a bit of thought, but if you can imagine the engine running in your head and what is all going on, it begins to make sense.

 

[super noober]

As did a lot of us a few years back. We had a lot of people try it with and without and everybody liked it better with. This was way back in the Bluetraxx and BlasterHQ days though. At high RPMs it does create turbulence, but the key to that is that it DIRECTS that turbulence towards the reed cage as opposed to an regular bore having more turbulence going off the walls of the intake as the vacuum draws it in. He used a lot of fluid dynamics models when coming up with the design. Takes a bit of thought, but if you can imagine the engine running in your head and what is all going on, it begins to make sense.

lol, i get what you are saying. to each his own I:I

 

[sbeachstang]

Wow, the mop and glo seems to really bring back the darker colored pieces. I'm gonna try a DA with some fine grit on some of the deeper scratches. Your input has helped guys, I'm definitly working off your ideas. I'll hit some of the discolored from stress areas with the heat gun. I'd like to get some crappier pieces and try paint. I'd like to have a set of satin black to put on a gloss colored frame for a murdered out look. Any body try vinyl covering their plastics?