Restoring plastic (side vents)

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cay7man

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I messed up during air scoop installation on my car. Then I went onto make more mess by removing the side vents
for cleaning during all the glue/epoxy mess made I made during installation.

During cleanup I tried plastic deep cleaner, 3M adhesive remover etc. For some reason, the vent plastic turned
into like this.

How do I restore this to black?View attachment 59742
 
When it's wet does it look like it's supposed to??
 
here it is from 3' and also the other side which was OK job. Could have been more snug fit. I screwed it up in couple of places. I could see the white glue :(View attachment 59801View attachment 59800

(sorry I don't know why the pictures orientation change after I insert them)

I think it doesn't look black when wet. It was block yesterday though. Will confirm

@LSN, any of those are permanent fix?
 
Ok, so let me make sure I understand what happened. You removed the vents and did some repair on then using some sort of adhesive, then you removed the excess adhesive with some sort of solvent?? I'm trying to figure out exactly what I'm looking at.
 
I had perfectly fine vents. I tried to install the air scoops myself. It required applying glue to the edge of it. For better fit, I used some epoxy as well. The install went OK on one side. Though the fit wasn't perfect with bit exposed glue etc. The picture is above. The other side install was pretty bad. After I put the scoop over the vent I was keep adjusting it for good fit. After an hour or so, I ended up pulling it out. At this point, the glue and epoxy were all over the vent and body panel. I scrapped off as much as I could. Then used 3M adhesive remover, goof off, and APC ( all the chemicals I could find in the garage) to remove the rest. In the process I made damages to the vent plastic insert (not shown here), grille, body panel and the vent shown.
 
Ok. Now I see. It looked like something that was sprayed on there that caused the problem. Do you happen to have any Optimum Hyper Polish?? I would try polishing first. Hyper Polish would be ideal. If you have a microfiber applicator that would probably work. If you see improvement but it's next to none move up to a light compound. If you see descent improvement with the polish keep going until you have the desired results. If you get no improvement then I would try covering in up with another product. With the difference in colors I do think you'll be completely happy just trying to cover it up. I haven't had much success with that type of product when you have multiple colors, maybe others have??
 
cay7man said:
here it is from 3' and also the other side which was OK job. Could have been more snug fit. I screwed it up in couple of places. I could see the white glue :(View attachment 59801View attachment 59800

(sorry I don't know why the pictures orientation change after I insert them)

I think it doesn't look black when wet. It was block yesterday though. Will confirm

@LSN, any of those are permanent fix?
Click to expand...

Technically your post is "restoring plastic" but this is a repair not resto.

Thanks for the better photo... if that's glue on the vent, my suggestion above will not work.

I don't think a compound is going to remove the glue resin, especially if it's textured plastic.

You may want to try a mineral spirit... but do a small test spot first... Perhaps a touch of heat..

You may want to contact Porsche dealer. It may just require a new scoop insert.




Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
LSNAutoDetailing said:
Technically your post is "restoring plastic" but this is a repair not resto.

Thanks for the better photo... if that's glue on the vent, my suggestion above will not work.

I don't think a compound is going to remove the glue resin, especially if it's textured plastic.

You may want to try a mineral spirit... but do a small test spot first... Perhaps a touch of heat..

You may want to contact Porsche dealer. It may just require a new scoop insert.




Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
Click to expand...

It doesn't look like glue to me, it looks like something he used to remove the glue dis colored the plastic. You can see where whatever he used was running down, I'm on an iPad and can't see it real clearly, but that's what is looks like to me.
 
LSN & Dave - I was not saying that was glue. The glue/epoxy damage is around the plastic on the body panel. You might be able to see it. This discoloured plastic I believe was due to one of the chemical I used (method APC, 3M adhesive remover, griot's paint prep, car pro ironx). I was basically reaching out to all the chemicals I could to get the glue and epoxy out from the area surrounding the vent. I for sure didn't use any paint thinner or acetone though I had them around.

Wondering if I could simply paint that insert? This thing already out of my budget. I should have taken to a pro for install. OEM scoops cost close to $1500. These scoops are from directcartoys. Their method of installation is using glue. OEM part install requires whole vent assembly install and screwing to it.

I damaged one of the scoop as well. I'll have to order another one tomorrow.
 
I rotated your file and uploaded it to the AGO gallery.

IMG_4682.JPG


Essentially the plastic looks stained. The product you are referring too is very similar to what I suggested earlier, Solution Finish.
Solution Finish Black Plastic & Vinyl Restorer, trim restorer, black plastic restorer

when in fact your wanting it to look like this (photo courtesy of KS_Detailing)
a244c8da551daf31bec1602328cd379b.jpg


You can first try one of the non-permanent solutions like Solutions Finish or Mothers product to see if it "can" be restored. If it can, I'd wait until the temp solution is fully cured...
Then after some time, clean it with some APC and apply a semi-pregnant solution such as CarPro DLUX.

Or you can just skip the first suggestions and go right to DLUX, as DLUX will restore black plastic trim. DLUX will also add a ceramic coating so the longevity under normal driving conditions should be at least a year.

I hope this helps!! :)
 
That vent looks nice! Thanks LSN! I've DLUX. Anything you don't like about the forever black dye?
 
cay7man said:
Anything you don't like about the forever black dye?
Click to expand...

I've never used it.. I've only used the products I mentioned. Mainly I use DLUX

Long answer: If a customer came to me with the kind of issue you have, I would try DLUX with no promises. That part may or may not be beyond the point of no return, so at this point you've got noting to lose but try the products mentioned.
 
LSNAutoDetailing said:
I've never used it.. I've only used the products I mentioned. Mainly I use DLUX

Long answer: If a customer came to me with the kind of issue you have, I would try DLUX with no promises. That part may or may not be beyond the point of no return, so at this point you've got noting to lose but try the products mentioned.
Click to expand...

What about just painting it with that Krylon for plastic?
 
yet to try it. Meanwhile, while I was waiting for a replacement scoop, I took the other scoop off from the car since I wasn't happy with the install. What an idiot! Again, while removing the silicone residue from the body panel, I used 3M adhensive remover. I sprayed on the area above where the vent insert is and over sprayed it on to the vent. I watched it turning to white like in the picture! Now I know which chemical was the culprit.
 
cay7man said:
yet to try it. Meanwhile, while I was waiting for a replacement scoop, I took the other scoop off from the car since I wasn't happy with the install. What an idiot! Again, while removing the silicone residue from the body panel, I used 3M adhensive remover. I sprayed on the area above where the vent insert is and over sprayed it on to the vent. I watched it turning to white like in the picture! Now I know which chemical was the culprit.
Click to expand...

Definitely, solvents and plastics don't play well together.
 
cay7man said:
LSN & Dave - I was not saying that was glue. The glue/epoxy damage is around the plastic on the body panel. You might be able to see it. This discoloured plastic I believe was due to one of the chemical I used (method APC, 3M adhesive remover, griot's paint prep, car pro ironx). I was basically reaching out to all the chemicals I could to get the glue and epoxy out from the area surrounding the vent. I for sure didn't use any paint thinner or acetone though I had them around.

Wondering if I could simply paint that insert? This thing already out of my budget. I should have taken to a pro for install. OEM scoops cost close to $1500. These scoops are from directcartoys. Their method of installation is using glue. OEM part install requires whole vent assembly install and screwing to it.

I damaged one of the scoop as well. I'll have to order another one tomorrow.
Click to expand...

I didn't think it was glue, I assumed it was just what you were saying it was. My thoughts were the stain should be just on the surface and that a good polish or compound would remove enough to get down to the original color. If others have used the dye with success that would be a great option. My experiences when starting with two different color plastics, stained/not stained faded/not faded, I haven't have much success getting the plastic to end up a uniform color. If you use a dye and don't get a uniform color it may not be noticeable, as long as it's close, because of the shape and where it's located on the vehicle.
 
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