Fender flares restoration question

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timevns

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Hi everyone. I. Just getting into detailing and having a lot of fun. I'm trying to restore the look of my fender flares but it seems as though they are unevenly faded. There is striping or banding within the plastic that shows through even after applying Ceratrim. I prepped them by washing and then cleaning them with an apc and brush. Any advice? Thanks in advance!
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Try a heat gun. You’d be amazed.
Just make sure to test in a small spot 1st, but that looks like the perfect candidate.
 
Ok, I can do that. Are you suggesting heating it before application or after the product has been applied?

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timevns said:
Ok, I can do that. Are you suggesting heating it before application or after the product has been applied?

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Click to expand...

Before. There’s videos on youtube showing how it works. It’s super simple.
 
Thanks, I'll try it.

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I would advise against the heat gun. It's going to prematurely age that plastic, and make it more brittle. I assume what you have there is a textured finish, so sanding is right out, because it will make it smooth. I would recommend a black or dark grey colored trim paint. Tape it off and either brush or spray it on after good cleaning. Use a couple of coats and it will even out the color perfectly and it will hold up for a good long time. I had plastic body-panel trim in similar shape on my 2004 Volvo S60. I taped and sprayed grey trim paint on it and it held up outdoors for 6 months and then I sold it. It's probably still holding up just fine.
 
My first choice would not have been cerakote. It would have been solution finish to see how that does to restore trim.

As mentioned above the heat gun will turn plastic brittle. One time would be ok. There is a video that I recently saw of brittle plastic after using the heat gun. If I find it again I will post it. I think Chris West of Solution Finish showed this as a demonstration.
 
Please show the video of brittle plastic... I’ve used a heat gun on a couple different vehicles including my fathers Toyota Tacoma and all it did was make the trim look like brand new and I can attest there isn’t even a slight indication of it becoming brittle.
 
9 min in Chris West mentioning it. There is another floating around somewhere. I am not going to go back and watch all of the videos again lol.

 
Sounds like the only way it could happen would be with repeated use/overheating. And even he admits to using that method in the past.

But the need for doing it repeated times would only even be necessary if one were to leave the surface bare and unprotected after making it look good again, which would be highly unlikely for anyone on this forum.

The best thing to do would be to restore it Then protect it. Which is why I’d give consideration to using the heat gun followed by Solution Finish or another plastic trim protectant of your choice.
 
I’d also recommend trying Solution Finish to restore the trim and then after a couple weeks I’d use a protector such as Cquartz DLux or Pinnacle Ceramic Trim Restorer for long term protection.
 
I've used Solution Finish on some plastic trip and even the flares on my F150 which are 9 years old. It looks good... for about 3 months and then it is right back to faded out. I bought some Cerakote but have not tried it yet. I bought it as it seems to apply a dye and then also contains a ceramic coating. I'd have thought this would be the same as dying the plastic with something like Solution and then applying a ceramic coating like DLUX.
 
dgage said:
IPinnacle Ceramic Trim Restorer for long term protection.
Click to expand...

This over solution finish looks really good. Looks even darker when topped with PBL trim restorer.

Used it on this FJ.

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The Guz said:
This over solution finish looks really good. Looks even darker when topped with PBL trim restorer.

Used it on this FJ.

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Click to expand...


Very nice work ! Not only did the trim come out good and dark, it is very even in appearance, which is not always easy to accomplish.
 
Impressive work. I recently installed a new set of fender flares but I'll keep these methods in mind once they show signs of fade and texture wear.
 
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