Polishing Paint on Plastic

[tcope]

First time polishing plastic parts. In this case I started with the fender which were small so I broke out my Flex PE-8 with a 3" microfiber pad. This did not work well and the polish seem to dry fast and stick to the paint. I switched over to a foam pad and this seemed to work better. I ended up running the rotary at speed 3 and quickly going over the paint. Any tips on polishing paint on plastic?

View attachment 70977

 

[mc2hill]

The trick is to keep the heat down. When doing plastic/flexible bumpers you want to be aware of the heat being generated, and make sure not to work one spot too long. The pad you started with - Microfiber pad, generates alot of heat, and using tie PE-8 in rotary would generate even more heat. I would suggest switching to DA mode and use foam or wool pads.

I recently tried the Rupes yellow wool pads, and was amazed at how cool they ran, which allowed a long work time on the polish (even on a 90 degree day).

 

[tcope]

The trick is to keep the heat down. When doing plastic/flexible bumpers you want to be aware of the heat being generated, and make sure not to work one spot too long. The pad you started with - Microfiber pad, generates alot of heat, and using tie PE-8 in rotary would generate even more heat. I would suggest switching to DA mode and use foam or wool pads.

I have a Flex 3401 but I think the smallest backing plate I have is 4". I also have a long throw polisher but that would not work either. I thought I was generating too much heat when the polish started to cake up. Based on your info, it appears this is correct. I _think_ using the foam pad at a lower speed solved the issue. I'll switch to a DA for the body. I had not realized that polishing plastic generated more heat.

 

[tcope]

So I obtained some more information on the "paint". The vehicle is a Vanderhall. Here is what Vanderhall says about the "paint":

"...the body panels are derived from a process of bonding a paint film to an ABS substate. We get the raw sheets by the pallet from our supplier with the paint film already bonded and then thermal form them into the finished components. There is a thin layer of clear infused with the paint film."

Anyone worked with anything like this? When I doubt down the explanation I see it as being a film that bonded to the ABS. I'm _guessing_ that the "clear" is perhaps just a binding agent, such as a type of glue mixed in with the color.

I'm wondering if I could put a ceramic coating over the film. Any guesses?

 

[tmdals0213]

Gotta try the coating on a small spot and let us know good luck!