Some off label product testing on plastic trim..

[Eldorado2k]

Ok so a while back I restored the plastic fender skirts on my fathers Toyota Tacoma, I never really found anything great to protect them, so they’re due for a bit of attention again.

Here they are today before cleaning them. They used to be far worse than this before..

To clean and prep them I decided to try the Blackfire Paint Prep for the 1st time.

Spray on.

Wipe off.

Worked pretty good. Smells great. Here’s how much dirt came off.

Move on to the front fender. Now it’s time to remove all the oxidation that’s built up since the last time I cleaned them.

I’ll be using the McKee’s Coating Prep Polish [old label] w/terry applicator.

Before.

50/50

After.

Cleaning this time around was a breeze as there was nowhere ear as much oxidation to remove as the 1st time around. Very fast.

Gave it another quik wipedown with the Blackfire Paint Prep...

Finally time to lay down some protection. For this I figured I’d pull out the bottle of McKee’s Paint Coating [V.1] that I haven’t used in a while... However I’m fresh out of foam applicators.

So I decided to go Renny Doyle Style. Just grab 1 of my old gym socks.

However, as soon as the coating flashed, it hazed up the plastic making it look almost as bad as before. What the heck?

Another quik rubdown with the Coating Prep Polish brought it back to new...

But what gives? The coating is forbidden to use on non porus plastic/rubber pieces? I wasn’t expecting that. Oh well, any suggestions for long term protection on this type of trim? Besides the obvious stuff like sealant etc. What do you guys think? Anyone dealt with this trim before?

 

[adamgayton81]

I used Gatorback on my avalanches many years ago. GatorBack: Home of Automotive Plastic Restoration Products might give it a try. Others may have other ideas besides just painting them lol.


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[Ochnob]

If the coating doesn't work out try Sonax PNS on the trim. Works outstanding.

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[osiapstndp]

I used the old version of the McKee's paint coating on pebble trim a lot of times and it always did a great job. None of the cars were in bad shape and so the trim already looked fine. An alcohol wipe does wonders for trim prior to the coating (sometimes several alcohol applications), and I imagine the BlackFire prep product did the same job. Did you wipe down the surface with the BlackFire prep until no more dirt came off on the towel?

Also, it's possible that the solvents in the paint coating are "eating away" whatever the DP coating prep polish left behind that the BlackFire prep didn't affect. I always smelled alcohol with version one of the McKee's paint coating, but there may be other solvents in there too. Did your sock pull up any dirt or did it otherwise get discolored at all as you applied the coating? Heck, maybe the sock did it.

I've noticed that Opti-Seal does a fantastic job at making trim look very nice and as a bonus it protects it too. Try spraying Opti-Seal on a plastic trim piece, like the fender flare on the truck, and then quickly apply it evenly with an applicator. It does wonders for me every time.

 

[Eldorado2k]

@osiapstndp. The sock was clean, so was the microfiber towel after the Coating Prep final wipedown.

You make alot of sense, but I’m a bit crazy... So I decided to try something from way outside. You talk about off label use, you’ll never guess what I decided to put on there. Lol.

I’ll probably get flamed for this but, I sprayed some Meguiars Headlight Coating on it. Lol.

It’s dark outside, but right now it looks pretty darn good. Just like I expected it to look. Crossing my fingers it still looks good when the sun comes up. Lol.

Reasons I did this:
-Coating didn’t play nice
-Dressings attract dust
-Meguiars D4510 Plastic & Vinyl Coating looks great, but needs frequent re application + never fully dries to the touch resulting in attracting dust
-This smooth plastic is non porus, so traditional trim products including trim coatings smear on it
-I want something with UV protection that lasts a long time
-It’s clear, what’s the worst that can happen?

Btw it never rains out here but just now it started to rain, what the heck! Totally unexpected. Lol.

 

[Tempest45]

Please let us know how it goes. I've had good luck with Paint protect on black plastic.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Please let us know how it goes. I've had good luck with Paint protect on black plastic.

Here’s what it looks like right now... It’s absolutely perfect! Yes! I nailed it.

[those minor water spots from last nights rain aren’t a problem. I just wiped a small area clean with my finger]

I knew this stuff would work.
But don’t take my experience as a recommendation.. The directions say in bold print to prevent it from getting on plastic trim.

Like Renny Doyle says “when you’re an artist, then you can break the rules” lol. J/k

 

[fly07sti]

Nice to see it’s working for you. I agree with Ochnob about applying PNS and also in some instances I use BSD to top. Both work fantastic. IME the prep polish topped with a good lsp work better at restoring smooth trim better than any dedicated trim product I’ve tried.

 

[joecollectin]

Heat gun and some 303 as a follow up will make it look like new.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Heat gun and some 303 as a follow up will make it look like new.

I agree about the heat gun.. But I don’t have 1. Lol. As far as the 303, I was looking for something that lasts much longer, not something I have to keep reapplying all the time.


Update: So it’s been a week since I did that 1st fender wheel piece and after that we had a couple of days of rain + I’ve been to busy to continue until just now. The 1st trim piece is still looking good. [except for the fact that I could’ve prepped it a little better but oh well]

This is the piece I decided to do this morning. [notice how it could still use a bit more on the prep to remove more oxidation]

I found out that a Magic Eraser soaked in plain water + the McKee’s Coating Prep Polish worked great at removing the oxidation on this trim. Here it is all prepped and ready to spray with the Headlight Coating. [Blackfire Coating Prep spray did a great job of quik wipedown here]

Just after spraying.

All done.

 

[Celabe]

Interesting use of this product thanks for sharing and thinking out the box


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[fly07sti]

Heat gun and some 303 as a follow up will make it look like new.

IME, the heat gun method doesn’t work on smooth plastic trim. Works very well on slightly textured and pebble textured trim plastic.

 

[Tempest45]

"I found out that a Magic Eraser soaked in plain water + the McKee’s Coating Prep Polish worked great at removing the oxidation on this trim."

Thanks for the tip. I wonder how this does on headlights?

 

[Eldorado2k]

"I found out that a Magic Eraser soaked in plain water + the McKee’s Coating Prep Polish worked great at removing the oxidation on this trim."

Thanks for the tip. I wonder how this does on headlights?

I dunno about headlights, but it may be worth a shot if you have any that are on a beater it can’t hurt to try.

But I should mention that the Magic Eraser alone wouldn’t have removed that oxidation, I tried that before a while back when I was 1st looking for ways to clean up those pieces. Magic Eraser + APC/Super Degreaser did nothing to it. But when I paired it with a small amount of McKee’s Coating Prep Polish it began to knock right through it way faster than trying to do it with a terry applicator.

I still have the front bumper to do and it’ll save my arm. [that’s the main reason I’ve been putting it off for so long, because I knew it would be a ton of work. Lol. But not anymore]

So if you were to try it on headlights, make sure to pair it with an adequate headlight polish of some sort to have a decent chance of success. It might work.

 

[Tempest45]

I just did my dad's beater lights a couple of days ago with compound and polish. Got them good enough but I'm sure they will haze again.

Will test the eraser with prep polish next time. I have some on hand.

 

[Eldorado2k]

Update: It’s been exactly 6 months and the plastic trim on the truck still looks as good as the day I protected it with the Megs Headlight Coating. Nothing has been applied to the plastic trim in 6 months!

 

[osiapstndp]

Thank you for sharing an update! That's really cool to see! Do you know if the trim pieces have been cleaned very often since you made the first post?

 

[Cruzscarwash]

DAMN Eldo that looks great!!!

 

[PaulMys]

damn eldo that looks great!!!

Yup!!

 

[Farmallluvr]

that looks awesome,,everything I always seemed to use faded out right away,,,Armor _Dillo was the only thing I could get to last on Avalanches and Aztecs for any amount of time.......usually 5 to 6 momths