Question about PITA Accent pieces

[Centexhokie]

I have two (2) of these on my hood.

and two (2) of these on my sides

They each have two (2) chrome fins in a black plastic field. My question is what products, tools and techniques, etc. would you use to clean, polish and protect these?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dr_Pain]

What I would do with those hood extractors and the side scallops would be no different than what I would do if I was dealing with hard plastic and chrome plastic individually.

They should be cleaned with car shampoo and the chrome should be protected with paint sealant. I would use UTTG (Ultima Tire and Trim Guard) on the black plastic applied with a small detailing sponge (or small foam applicator brush you find at Lowes) or a stippling brush.

If nice and cruddy a nice APC bath, but know that the concentration of the APC and dwell time may remove your LSP on the paint around.

Just know that you should not be too aggressive in trying to polish the chrome pieces as the surface is nice and thin. An ounce of prevention will bring you a long way. They do tend to water spot easier so keep them protected.

 

[Centexhokie]

What I would do with those hood extractors and the side scallops would be no different than what I would do if I was dealing with hard plastic and chrome plastic individually.

They should be cleaned with car shampoo and the chrome should be protected with paint sealant. I would use UTTG (Ultima Tire and Trim Guard) on the black plastic applied with a small detailing sponge (or small foam applicator brush you find at Lowes) or a stippling brush.

If nice and cruddy a nice APC bath, but know that the concentration of the APC and dwell time may remove your LSP on the paint around.

Just know that you should not be too aggressive in trying to polish the chrome pieces as the surface is nice and thin. An ounce of prevention will bring you a long way. They do tend to water spot easier so keep them protected.

They stay pretty clean with my weekly washings with CG Honeydew. I have the PBL Coatings (paint, tire, and glass) along with the PBL sealant. Would you use any of those to preserve them?

 

[swanicyouth]

I would remove them, clean them with 1Z Plastic Cleaner and then coat them with DLux using foam Q-Tips. Then reinstall. That's what I did here:

That trim piece is 13 years old. DLux works on any color plastic and last at least a year.

 

[Centexhokie]

Swanicyouth,

Now that Dr Pain has told me what they are called I may be able to find a video of how to remove them. It is not obvious looking at them or looking under the hood. DLux does look like it works well in your pictures. Thanks.

 

[ShaunD]

If the attaching hardware is accessible then I would remove these pieces to work the paint and clean, polish and protect the accent pieces. I am obsessive about trying to remove pieces on/in a vehicle. Sometimes the risk of damage doesn't out weigh the reward though. So, just masking the plastic if polishing around it is the easiest route most times. A product like Wolfgang Trim Sealant would work on both the plastic and chrome, or just apply a coating to all the surfaces and be done with it for at least 12-18 months. Either way, having a good exterior detail brush like a boar's hair or horse hair brush is essential. As far as an apc that is safe on any surface I would recommend OPC.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using AG Online

 

[swanicyouth]

Swanicyouth,

Now that Dr Pain has told me what they are called I may be able to find a video of how to remove them. It is not obvious looking at them or looking under the hood. DLux does look like it works well in your pictures. Thanks.

I wouldn't use any abrasive polish on "plastic chrome". I tried it and ruined my grille. I had to buy a new one.

 

[Dr_Pain]

Dlux is a GREAT product and I use it myself. The UTTG is more of a monthly maintenance thing for me. The DLux should provide a good year of protection.

Personally, I am not sure I would go through the whole process of removing them (unless you have the proper tools) as you may end up cracking them or scratching the paint. Those tabs that hold them in place are more of a PITA than the accent pieces.

I read that you have some of the Pinnacle Black Label coating and I would say go for it, BUT I would check with Nick first. On paint (or headlights) you can polish the product off if you need to refresh it or replace it but am not sure how you would remove it in the nooks and crannies of the black plastic. I think a product like UTTG or DLux would provide the same level of protection against the elements, then would the coating and is more easily manipulated than a coating on plastic

 

[Centexhokie]

Dlux is a GREAT product and I use it myself. The UTTG is more of a monthly maintenance thing for me. The DLux should provide a good year of protection.

Personally, I am not sure I would go through the whole process of removing them (unless you have the proper tools) as you may end up cracking them or scratching the paint. Those tabs that hold them in place are more of a PITA than the accent pieces.

I read that you have some of the Pinnacle Black Label coating and I would say go for it, BUT I would check with Nick first. On paint (or headlights) you can polish the product off if you need to refresh it or replace it but am not sure how you would remove it in the nooks and crannies of the black plastic. I think a product like UTTG or DLux would provide the same level of protection against the elements, then would the coating and is more easily manipulated than a coating on plastic

Thanks I will just get some Dlux to be safe. I can't find any videos of how to remove them yet. I do have a pretty extensive garage with most tools and a 4 post lift so if I can find a video I'll know how difficult it is to remove and re-install them. They are difficult to mask off because the chrome pieces stretch into the body. I did mask them off to take the swirls out of the paint when I got the car, but it was tedious work. I may just use the q tip method suggested. Whoever designed these things never thought about maintaining them.

 

[Dr_Pain]

Thanks I will just get some Dlux to be safe. I can't find any videos of how to remove them yet. I do have a pretty extensive garage with most tools and a 4 post lift so if I can find a video I'll know how difficult it is to remove and re-install them. They are difficult to mask off because the chrome pieces stretch into the body. I did mask them off to take the swirls out of the paint when I got the car, but it was tedious work. I may just use the q tip method suggested. Whoever designed these things never thought about maintaining them.

The UTTG or the DLux won't affect the chrome or the paint. You are masking them mainly to avoid the tedious clean up afterwards.

As you mentioned, the designers are not about practicality and more about the look (and sometimes the function). I have similar hard plastic inserts on my Ford Raptor. They are functional but a real time consuming pain (and I do mask them when I machine seal the truck to avoid some of the clean up)

 

[Dr_Pain]

If you know where the tabs are.... easy as pie (if it was done a couple of times before than the tolerance of those tabs have been improved) but if the angles to pry are a little harder and the tabs are nice and tight, you may end up having to buy another emblem

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1ibGLnite8]SVT Raptor side vent removal - YouTube[/video]

 

[Centexhokie]

The UTTG or the DLux won't affect the chrome or the paint. You are masking them mainly to avoid the tedious clean up afterwards.

As you mentioned, the designers are not about practicality and more about the look (and sometimes the function). I have similar hard plastic inserts on my Ford Raptor. They are functional but a real time consuming pain (and I do mask them when I machine seal the truck to avoid some of the clean up)

These are functional as well, but the difficulty of masking comes from the shape (they are a continuous curve rather than line and the fact that the chrome pieces stretch across both the plastic and the body panels. I am sorry to say that I didn't consider this when I bought the car. Not sure I would have changed my purchase, but at least I would have considered it.

By the way, cool video. I will do more investigating about removal as that is what I would really like to do if it appears to be reasonable.

 

[Centexhokie]

Just figured out that the hood extractors are easy to remove. A couple of torx screws and some plastic clips that can be accessed from under the hood. If I can figure out access to the sides I bet they are just as easy, but at least some progress on figuring this out. Thanks for the product recommendations.