Forever Black product troubles on Chevy Avalanche

Soap Monkey

Soap Monkey

New member
Joined
Oct 4, 2015
Messages
5
Reaction score
0
Attached is a picture of a plastic reconditioning that I performed on a customers Chevy Avalanche. As you can see it's been something of a source of contempt. My question is


Does anyone know why this would have happened?

Does anyone have suggestions on removal of product?


I'm wondering if this could have had to do with the number of layers I had to apply to make an even coat (7, in case you were wondering).
 
I have to restore trim on a 2002 Avalanche in a week or so..now i'm scared. was planning on using CQUK as the coating...

Not sure how that would happen though. Never had that issue.
 
I own a 2005 avalanche. 5 years ago when I bought it I did the plastic on it. I used tuff shine plastic restore kit with the clear coat. Scrubbed it many times with the tire cleaner to get all of the other crap off of it. Its held up great for me.
 
after washing and drying I taped off the area and applied the forever black with foam brushes and pads. The real problem is the customer would like the service redone, but I don't know that re-applying would lead to the same result. Any suggestion would be excellent!
 
In my July 3-day class and my September 3-day class I used extremely neglected Chevy Avalanches to teach two things,

Production Detailing
Plastic Trim Restoration

I have not had time to get the before and after pictures from the September class onto the forum but I do have a FULL write-up for the Production Detailing Class in July.

For my money and time, the way to go is with Solution Finish. The KEY however is you really need clean plastic to start with. It's best if someone else has not already applied other products as they can hinder the Solution Finish from properly migrating into the plastic and bonding to the plastic.

Check it out here...


How to do high quality production detailing - Your largest market!


p.s.

To get the plastic clean, I teach machine cleaning using Cyclo brushes on Porter Cable polishers. Hand scrubbing works but you get tired and when you get tired you don't scrub as well as a machine that runs on electricity and never gets tired.


watermark.php




:xyxthumbs:
 
Soap Monkey said:
after washing and drying I taped off the area and applied the forever black with foam brushes and pads.
Click to expand...

So you just used car wash? The usual prep for doing any kind of trim restore would be to use an APC or tire cleaner with a medium-stiff brush, a good rinse, then an IPA wipedown. You want to remove any old dressing, wax, dirt etc. from the surface and down into the texture of the plastic.

When I say tire cleaner, some people like to use the Tuf Shine tire cleaner for this.
 
Gotcha, so I probably need to prep the surface better. Regarding removal I suppose any medium bristle brush will work?
 
I think I would follow Mike's advice and first use a machine and try to do a serious clean.

Then I would try a product that is more easily absorbed into the plastic rather than topical, and a product that does not contain any black dyes. Something like BlackWow might work well since it really gets absorbed into the plastic. Or Wolfgang trim Sealant.

Wolfgang Exterior Trim Sealant, rubber trim sealant, rubber protectant, exterior trim products, metal sealer

Black WOW Trim Restorer Products

I think I like about Black Wow compared to many trim restoration products is it is not topical. It doesnt just sit on the surface of the plastic. It gets absorbed into the plastic and restores the original color of the plastic, whatever color it was.

It will probably take several applications again of whatever you end up using.
 
Yes...Solution Finish is a nice product.

However:
After the thorough cleaning has been done; then,
IMHO, for a longer-lasting cladding restoration...
one that's measured in years...I'll suggest:

•Gatorback
(per: GM TSB#: 04-08-111-001E)

Or:

•Valugard's E.T.R. Kit III


Bob
 
dcjredline said:
To me that trim looks dried out. Where are you from?
Click to expand...


To me... it actually looks like someone at one time painted it with some type of rattle can paint job.

The patchy look is why I think this.

Fading and deteriorating doesn't normally happen like I'm seeing in the picture. Paint wearing off looks like what I'm seeing in the picture.

It took me less than a minute to download your picture. Upload it to your free gallery here on AGO and "insert" it so everyone can see what I'm talking about.


watermark.php




It's really not that hard to learn how to work with pictures on a forum. Just did this for another guy here.

But yeah.... kind of looks like a SEM paint job wearing off due to exposure to the punishing weather here in Florida.


:)
 
Jaretr1 said:
I think I would follow Mike's advice and first use a machine and try to do a serious clean.

Then I would try a product that is more easily absorbed into the plastic rather than topical, and a product that does not contain any black dyes. Something like BlackWow might work well since it really gets absorbed into the plastic. Or Wolfgang trim Sealant.

Wolfgang Exterior Trim Sealant, rubber trim sealant, rubber protectant, exterior trim products, metal sealer

Black WOW Trim Restorer Products

I think I like about Black Wow compared to many trim restoration products is it is not topical. It doesnt just sit on the surface of the plastic. It gets absorbed into the plastic and restores the original color of the plastic, whatever color it was.

It will probably take several applications again of whatever you end up using.
Click to expand...

I have found out the hard way that not all plastic is the same. Some products do not work at all on some plastic. I had one type of restorer sit on top of that plastic and just smeared everywhere, was a total nightmare, luckily it was mine and not a customers.
 
So if it is paint then Mike do you think the APC and brush method is what they should still use to remove it? Its coming off pretty good (provided it is truly paint) and I guess it just may work.
 
dcjredline said:
So if it is paint then Mike do you think the APC and brush method is what they should still use to remove it? Its coming off pretty good (provided it is truly paint) and I guess it just may work.
Click to expand...

The OP says in his title he applied Forever Black. Or are you guys saying you think he was going over something else that was already on there?
 
Setec Astronomy said:
The OP says in his title he applied Forever Black.
Click to expand...

Checked and noted.

Setec Astronomy said:
Or are you guys saying you think he was going over something else that was already on there?
Click to expand...

I'm just saying the appearance of this plastic,

watermark.php



Does not look like normal fading. To me it looks like place with paint and places without paint.

Plastic doesn't fade with areas that have edges like I see in the above pictures.

If you look in areas where their's what "looks like fading" there's darker patches? How does plastic fade in some areas but not in areas inside the faded area?

So I'm just saying the above looks horrible and it doesn't look like "normal" fading.

I captured and documented how to restore normal fading in the article I wrote and shared the link to.


Here's the link for anyone that's reading this that wants to see what normal fading of plastic like this looks like and how we fixed it.


How to do high quality production detailing - Your largest market!



And here's a few pictures from the actual class that was taught here at Autogeek.

Now if you look at the various sections of plastic cladding in the pictures, just like Chris stated, the plastic comes from 6 different companies and some components fade differently than other components. Just want to point this out as it's very apparent in the pictures and shows that Chris really knows his business.


watermark.php


watermark.php



Sean and Chelsea removing the hard plastic tonneau cover...


watermark.php


watermark.php


watermark.php


watermark.php




Demonstration: How to apply and work in Solution Finish

watermark.php


watermark.php



Using a black wheel and tire microfiber towel to wipe off any excess.

watermark.php



Removing the painter's tape....

watermark.php




Boom! There it is...

watermark.php


watermark.php




I don't know that the plastic has been faded on this truck the OP is working on I just know it DOESN'T look like normal fading. It looks like paint chipping off in some places and sticking in other places.

:dunno:
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
I don't know that the plastic has been faded on this truck the OP is working on I just know it DOESN'T look like normal fading. It looks like paint chipping off in some places and sticking in other places.
Click to expand...

I just presumed that was the failure of the Forever Black on an insufficiently prepped surface. However, I've never used Forever Black, so I'll defer to you Mike since you've used every product that Autogeek sells and would know what that product looks like.
 
:iagree: Mike, doesn't look like normal fading, looks more like it was painted and now is trashed. If in fact it is some sort of paint, do you think using a heat gun and a plastic putty knife would prep the surface for Solution Finish?
 
Rsurfer said:
Mike, doesn't look like normal fading, looks more like it was painted and now is trashed.

If in fact it is some sort of paint, do you think using a heat gun and a plastic putty knife would prep the surface for Solution Finish?
Click to expand...


Good question.

My guess is a heat gun used by someone being really careful to not overheat and melt the plastic would cause it to lift off. I'd try a really stiff nylon brush instead of a putty knife. I think a putty knife would cause scratches and these would show up in the final results.

Ugh.... not a project I would want...


:)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top