RE: black trim

["Browning David (TVCS)" <BrowningD@tce.com>]

Eventually all the bumpers I've had have gotten so gray that any amount of
"protectant" only works until the next rain and doesn't really get it that
black when I put it on.

So...  About a month ago, I got some Simple Green (the automotive degreaser
version) and a scouring pad and went to town on the back bumper.  (Why does
the back bumper always seem to be worse than the front??)  After a while of
scrubbing you could see the "stuff" that made it gray start to disappear and
eventually become almost black.  Then I put my "protectant" on it, and it
looks brand-spanking new.  It's held up so far.  I used to think that the
sun faded the black, but I'm not so sure now.  It might be build up of years
of "protectant"  (I hate to bring it up, but I have always used Armorall.
Now I'm only using it on the bumpers and trim, and using this Black Magic
stuff on the tires and dash.  I have yet to see **substantiated** stories
about the evils of Armorall.  Despite the side effects, it does make things
look black and shiny.)

It's like waxing and polishing the car.  I've found that there is no
substitute for honest elbow grease.

dB

'86 4000S 
'89 944
'55 Austin-Healey 100

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Joe Rae [SMTP:quattro@ptinet.net]
> Sent:	Thursday, October 08, 1998 7:47 PM
> To:	quattro@coimbra.ans.net
> Subject:	Re: black trim
> 
> I heard that if you take a heat gun to the black trim that the heat warms
> up
> the plastic and makes the protectent come back to the surface.
> I tried this with a hair dryer and it could not get the plastic hot
> enough,
> My friend had this done to his car and his black trim looks great
> Joe
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Remi Kwan <kwanremi@nortel.ca>
> To: <quattro@coimbra.ans.net>
> Cc: <chrisdyer@hotmail.com>
> Date: Thursday, October 08, 1998 5:20 PM
> Subject: Re: black trim
> 
> 
> >"Chris Dyer" <chrisdyer@hotmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >>5. The fat black plastic trim on the bumpers is graying.  What's the
> >>best stuff to bring it back to deep black?  Also, there's some parking
> >>stickers on this part, is it worth trying some chemical to get those
> >>off--seems rather tricky.
> >
> >Just a few weeks ago I used some Back to Black by Mothers on an
> >inconspicuous place to start.   It didn't seem to do any damage and
> >it looks GREAT.
> >
> >It's been on in sun and rain and still looks real good so far, but I
> >don't know how long it lasts.... yet.     I suspect these things may
> >"polish" a layer of the plastic off so if it needs to be applied too
> >often I'd rather stay away.
> >
> >The stickers shouldn't be too hard to get off with maybe some heat to
> >loosen the glue.  The only thing I'd worry about is if the plastic
> >_under_ the sticker is not as faded, and you can't restore the colour
> >back to original.
> >
> >Remi
> >88 90Q
> >94 90Q
> >
> >