Restore faded plastic

[Dino]

I had to take my center a/c vent apart as it was warped. Fixing that now. Another problem though is that the vent was covered in rattle can paint. I used Easy Off oven cleaner to get all the paint off, but unfortunately that also sucked the deep black right out of the plastic.

Second picture is fuzzy but shows the problem better than the first. The dark spot is how it used to be, I scraped off more rattle can paint on that spot after soaking it so the Easy Off didn't quite touch it.

Any way to bring it back to black short of painting it? I tried to oil it and it brings out the shine but the color remains absent. 

[Troy]

Oddly enough, I was just watching this today. Will it work?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=42&v=3V-fiBPU56w

Troy

[johnnycharger]

I have heard that you can heat it up with a heat gun to get it to return to black. Brings out the natural oils or something. Don't know if it shortens the life span though. 

[bill440rt]

I've always used plastic polish or a mild rubbing compound to bring back the shine.

[440]

I have had great success with paint polish !! Normally I use Meguiars 105 or Ultimate Compound.

[Randy_Lahey]

How are you repairing the warped vent?  Mine are warped as well and I'm about to pull the dash.

Thanks!

David

[c00nhunterjoe]

Atf always worked for me. Apply liberal and let it soak, then wipe excess off.

[Dino]

I've tried a few things. The heat gun definitely works but the small parts are easily warped. Polish brought the deep black back on most but not all. Oil works well but the oven cleaner really sucked the black out so I ended up with shiny gray!

I'm sure I can get it close enough with some elbow grease though so I'll keep going.

I straightened the pieces by laying them in near boiling water, reshaping them, and holding them under ice cold water to set in place. Works really well!

[Dino]

Everything's polished and reassembled. It's not 100% but you'd have to go look for it, big improvement over what it was. Tomorrow I'll redo the chrome and post some pics.


Thanks for the help 

[Rubberduck]

I ust Mothers Back To Black.

[Dino]

All done, a big improvement over what it was.

I used TrimBrite chrome tape from O'Reilly's

[Randy_Lahey]

Can't wait to see what it all looks like after it's reinstalled!  I'm intrigued by the chrome tape idea.  I may copy it.  I was going to have them rechromed professionally but this may be worth a try.  It's definitely the cheaper option.

Thanks,

David

[Dino]

Of course nothing beats the real deal but this looks really nice, and it was only 5 bucks for the chrome tape. I have to say it looks much better than in the pictures. You can also use bare metal foil or aluminum tape from your local diy store in the hvac section.

I should have it installed today or tomorrow so I'll post pics later.

[Dino]

Not the greatest pictures but you get the idea.

[myk]

That's inspiring work, Dirk. 

I do have an unrelated question though: on your console armrest assembly, how is it attached to the console body?  I too have that armrest setup but I wasn't sure how to secure it to the console body without drilling into the sides or something.  A special bracket?

[Dino]

That's inspiring work, Dirk. 

I do have an unrelated question though: on your console armrest assembly, how is it attached to the console body?  I too have that armrest setup but I wasn't sure how to secure it to the console body without drilling into the sides or something.  A special bracket?

Hey Myk, there are holes on the inside of the console. One end has the piano hinge on it so remove that. Instead of hunting down the stock brackets I went to the local hardware store and bought aluminum angle iron. Like an inch wide or so. Drill the holes on both sides and bolt it together. Easy peasy. I have pics of it somewhere I'll post once I find them.

[Dino]

I can't find them at the moment but you can see one of the brackets in the pic near the bottom. In the pics with the console on the saw horses you can see the screw holes on the inside of the console.

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,112405.0/all.html

I'll get you some more when I'm home. The console is in the house.

EDIT: Found them!

[myk]

Wow thanks Dirk!  Those screws are pretty shallow right?  Not a lot of material to dig through...

[Dino]

Right, about 1/2" long or so.