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Faded Chalky Plastics

Discussion in 'Mini Lounge' started by aomorisambar, Jun 2, 2020.

  1. aomorisambar

    aomorisambar Member

    I got grey door panels that have basically turned white. From what I've seen around town, this is fairly common, especially on the acty HA4s. It's odd that it doesn't seem to happen on the dash, just the doors...

    Im going to trya few of the tricks floating around the interweb to get them back to grey. Worst case, I may even just hit 'em with some flexidrip spray. I'll keep you posted on what works, and what dosent. A

    thought this might be a good topic to get other to chime in on with what has worked for you.
     
  2. trktrd

    trktrd Active Member

    81ADCC0C-4DB7-4953-8F1F-20A21349D3BC.jpeg I had same issue. They looked awful and the dash looked brand new. I pulled the door panels off cleaned them up best I could and painted them. They came out great. Cab looks brand new (except for driver seat upholstery). I used Krylon Fusion paint and was really amazed at the results. Usually you can tell a rattle can job but this stuff covered perfectly. It was my second attempt. First time used another brand and pretty much made a mess out of it. Took forever to get off to try again. Panels are really easy to remove. Just use patience and be careful not to crack it. Wish I’d took a “before “ pic. They were bad.
     
    Last edited: Jun 2, 2020
  3. aomorisambar

    aomorisambar Member

    That did come out good, nice work. What color is that?
     
  4. trktrd

    trktrd Active Member

    Gloss vintage gray. Didn’t have to do anything to handles or window crank, they were fine.
     
  5. Ohkei Dohkei

    Ohkei Dohkei Active Member

    Yeah, I used rustoleum automotive plastic trim spray and it looks sharp. Not quite a year in though.
     
  6. aomorisambar

    aomorisambar Member

    I just tried the heat gun method. It does work, but these things are so faded that it looks super blotchy.

    Like I said before, I was thinking about flexidrip, but that stuff is $15 a can here in Japan, and I haven't seen a local, cheaper, substitute. So I'll go the paint route.
     
  7. wheelio

    wheelio New Member

    I've had great success with magic black trim restorer on hard plastics. I just keep reapplying it and I think it replaces the missing oils in the plastic or something. It works best if applied before trying anything else. I considered heat but without using an oven for perfect temp control I feared I would not be able to get a consistent finish. also it might just redistribute the oils left in the plastic reducing flexibility. IMHO
     
  8. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    The Rust-Oleum, or Krylon, all in one, fusion paints, designed to etch and paint plastics should work. Between the two brands, you have a good selection, of colors, and shine/luster levels.

    Another option: An auto parts store that sells automotive paints can probably come Really close to matching your trim color in the flexible paints they have to do bumpers with. It would cost more, and you would need a suitable spray gun to apply it.

    It depends on which plastic you’re trying to work with. There are a few plastics, that it doesn't work with.
     
  9. carlosjr56

    carlosjr56 Member

    I have the same issue on my acty. Anyone have a good matching color for the brown interior?
     
    Adam C Spry likes this.
  10. Adam C Spry

    Adam C Spry Member Supporting Member

    @carlosjr56 - did you end up going the paint route? I am going to try to restore my brown interior soon. trying to decide if i want to try Cerakote or another ceramic restoration- they look good on youtube, but i am a little skeptical. Anyone else tried the ceramic coating route?
     
  11. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    I’m familiar with cerakote mostly from firearms. The curing heat is height than the melt point of the plastics in my Hijet so i wouldn’t consider it.

    Automotive paint suppliers can mix any plasticized paint color you want. Locally the NAPA does it. And, can put it in spray cans.
     
    Adam C Spry likes this.
  12. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    I'm with Jigs on that. Had a custom Rifle made a couple yrs. back, with the Barrel Cerakote, non glare finish applied!
    Limestone
     
    Adam C Spry likes this.
  13. carlosjr56

    carlosjr56 Member

    I might go to my local Napa to see if I can get a close enough paint. I was just wondering if someone had a good paint color code that was a close match.
     
  14. Limestone

    Limestone Well-Known Member

    Yeah, you should be able to get something close enough, and freshen everything up! Very affordable!!!
    Limestone
     
  15. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    Just occurred to me: If you pull the plastic, you should to paint it, the inside which has never seen the sun, will be unfaded, and they should be able to match that color.

    Also, be careful pulling the panels to paint them. The clips that hold things on are getting old and brittle. They sometimes crack, and some of them are no longer source-able. I found that off when I did the head lights on my Hijet. Only one of the plastic clips survived the removal, and new ones were unobtainable. I ended up filling the little bracket the clip went to with Bondo, then drilling a hole through to the front and counter boring it so I could use bolts and nut-serts, to remount the headlight bezels. Looks good, but took a few extra hours working on he truck, after a few days of searching for the right part.
     
  16. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    Pull off one of the panels you need to restore, (you should pull them anyway to paint them), and take it to get the paint matched to the back of it. The back should be in very good shape, and not faded, as it has never been exposed to UV.

    Be careful pulling panels. Some of the clips used are manufacturer/vehicle specific and are very hard, to impossible, to replace. I broke all but one of the clips which hold the headlight bezels on my Hijet, and spent about a week trying to find them new, or any clip which would work. I finally gave up, and figured out how to install the bezels with screws, and nut-serts. Looked pretty good when I was done. but ti certainly isn’t stock, and took a week away from working on the truck.
     
    Clauss and Adam C Spry like this.
  17. Clauss

    Clauss New Member

    I have a 95 Hijet and am wondering if anyone has had any luck finding those plastic clips. They are pretty much impossible to remove without breaking some or all of the clip. Any chance you could upload a picture of your solution? I think what you did was drill a hole through the front of that plastic bezel where the clips used to be so that you can access the head of the screw that you put in through the bezel, but a picture would be nice to confirm. Whoever came up with the original mounting idea of using plastic clips that are impossible to access was not thinking things through. Thanks for the post and a solution to this problem.
     
  18. Jigs-n-fixtures

    Jigs-n-fixtures Well-Known Member

    Those plastic clips would have worked well for decade or so. But after 25+ years they have lost most of their elasticity, and crack under stress.

    On my work around, I installed riv-nuts, in the holes where the clips went into n the body. Then filled the bracket where the clips mount with Bondo, body filler. Then I drilled a hole to let a 4-mm bolt be a bit loose, from the back to the front and counter bored it from the front to accept the head of the bolts. 136CF271-45F6-4450-A859-BA09CC0AC674.jpeg
     
    Limestone and Clauss like this.
  19. Clauss

    Clauss New Member

    Thanks so much for the photo. I may end up doing this with mine. I did manage to find a store in Thailand that sells the clip in question (I think). They don't ship to the US though, but I was able to get the part number from that site and find what I think is the same part on Rakuten, It's hard to tell because other than the part number and the "Hijet clip only 90044-68201-000 V-S110P Daihatsu genuine parts" everything else is kind of vague. They did not provide a picture of the part, but I bought eight of them and for just under $30 they look like they are coming my way. I'll update this if and when they arrive and I can verify that it is the correct part. Here is the part number in case anyone else is interested along with a link to the Rakuten item and the one with the same part number from Thailand. If this doesn't turn out right I'm definitely doing the same thing you did. Thanks again for sharing.
    Part# 90044-68201-000
    Rakuten - https://item.rakuten.co.jp/suzukimotors/klrm76416/
    Monotaro - https://www.monotaro.co.th/p/42002187.html
     
  20. Clauss

    Clauss New Member

    Just got the clips in the mail and can confirm that they are the correct ones. I bought 8 of them and paid just under $30 for the clips and shipping. Got them from Suzuki Motors on Rakuten. Link is in my previous post. IMG_20211030_160424620~2.jpg
     
    Bookworm likes this.
  21. Terry H

    Terry H Member

    With the chacky ness of the outside plastic, mirrors front bumper and such, I took my propane torch and just fanned the flame to turn it black again... did pretty well...
     

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