Originally posted by trippmann
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DIY: Black Plastic Restoration
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Thanks for the write-up! Yesterday I did a trial run of the procedure on my US-spec grilles to see how it works before I try it on my soon-to-be installed Euro-grilles. My grilles were pretty much gray & white, and after the treatment, they look nice & black again.
Couple of tips for doing grilles -
1) Wrap a flat head screwdriver with a thin cloth for both applying and removing the solution to reach the tough spots in between the slats. It took me about 45 minutes to do each grille & 15 minutes for the kidneys.
2) If I had nicer paint on my bumper, I'd be worried about any remaining thinner washing down onto it when the grilles get wet for the first time. You may want to thoroughly rinse the grilles off before reinstalling them. I feel pretty good that I got most of it off.
3) Rubbing the solution off the plastic is important, because this is when you are actually removing the contaminants & dirt. Don't just wipe the cleaning solution off, rub it good. Keep in mind that products like Armor-All just leave the dirt stuck on the plastic, so you really only need to wipe it on, whereas this procedure intends to clean the dirt off.
I plan to drive around with these grilles for the summer, so I'll post up a pic if how they look after a few months of sun & rain. I'd say the grilles look about 95% as good as if I had painted them with trim paint, but this way I don't have to deal with chipping paint 5 years down the road...
I'm pretty happy with the results, but see for yourself.
BEFORE:
AFTER:
R135 /// 1990 Alpinweiß II 325is
└┼┼┘ /// 1993 Black/Black Convertible (sold)
..24
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thanks for this DIY. I just wanted to share my experience using it.
I have an extra set of side mirrors and I decided that I should try to restore it using this DIY instead of painting it over. I was worried about how boiled linseed oil can spontaneous combustion so I wanted to try it on something I can easily replace before I attempt to do it on all my black plastics (i.e. the side trims and the bumpers).
Here are the results:
1. the before pics of the side mirrors before I applied the solution:
2. the after pics:
Although, the top one looks wet it dried off to look like this:
3. finally, a side by side comparison with the side mirrors that were currently on my car:
I was going to wait awhile and see if anything bad happens (like exploding mirrors) before I put them on my car, but couldn't wait and decided to swap them out the same day. They have been on my car and exposed to the sun for about a month now and I still don't see any negative changes.
This stuff really works! Next, I am going to try it out on the black plastic running boards of my SUV and see how it handles there, but I suspect it will turn out just fine.
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just did my grilles, wiper cowling, and wiper arms - looks great! keep in mind this is like a wax - the oil dries to form a thin film, so you really want to get as much excess off as possible. I noticed when doing my kidneys that it did a nice job restoring the "chrome" on them, but then when i tried the diving boards it made a mess. still looks better actually but the dried film is super sticky and attracting dust. so i'd say keep it off the chrome/DBs generally.
it did nothing for the cosmoline on my air box though - OP did you do anything else to remove the cosmoline? even straight mineral spirits didn't do much, though it seemed to soften a little.'89 lachssilber vert - Frau Blücher
'84 alpine 2dr - gone to the great beyond...
'00 titanium 4dr e46 - bricked
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Originally posted by Semblance View Postjust did my grilles, wiper cowling, and wiper arms - looks great! keep in mind this is like a wax - the oil dries to form a thin film, so you really want to get as much excess off as possible. I noticed when doing my kidneys that it did a nice job restoring the "chrome" on them, but then when i tried the diving boards it made a mess. still looks better actually but the dried film is super sticky and attracting dust. so i'd say keep it off the chrome/DBs generally.
it did nothing for the cosmoline on my air box though - OP did you do anything else to remove the cosmoline? even straight mineral spirits didn't do much, though it seemed to soften a little.Current:
1989 325i
1988 M3
1987 325ic
Past:
2001 330ci
2001 M3
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Originally posted by Semblance View PostOh, I thought that was cosmoline sort of flaking in your first pic. Thanks though, and thanks for this awesome fix!
Secondly, Semblance check this out http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/show...moline+removal
Here's a video as well.
Hope this helps! :D
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