How to restore this ..?

[jamesyu]

Hi , I got a situation as following picture.. I am not sure if this is oxidation or water stained..
Is there any suggestion to remove or lighten it ? Any suitable products for applying to this situation?



Thanks for reading my post. Have a nice day.
James

[Eldorado2k]

Is that next to your sunroof? Or where on the car?

[Detailing by M]

Re: How to restore this ..?

it's degraded and beyond repair. paint it

[whitethundar]

Re: How to restore this ..?

Is that next to your sunroof? Or where on the car?

Same question. Is that plastic?

[The Guz]

Re: How to restore this ..?

Curious to see what this is. Almost looks like the clear coat has failed or a chemical etch.

[Eldorado2k]

I agree with the Guz. It looks like clear coat failure from the photo.
If it feels like dry raised bubbles to the touch, then that's what it is. Not much you can do to fix that. I have a small area [maybe 5-7 inches long] similar to that on my fender.

I went at it by hand with Ultimate Compound/microfiber pad, and while it began to show slight improvment at first.. It soon found out it just wasn't going to happen, and I decided to stop b4 I made things worse. I followed by trying Ultimate Polish on it. The polishing oils did seem to innitially "moisturize" the paint and minimize the dryness of the bubbles and make it appear just a tad less visable.. But it didn't last very long. Soon after the 1st wash it was just like b4.

[billddrummer]

Re: How to restore this ..?

have to agree with the pros here.

You need a paint job from a reputable shop.

[jamesyu]

Re: How to restore this ..?

Thanks for all the suggestion, it happens on the trim where red marked in picture.


The material is hard rubber, Yes, It looks like coated with clear paint on the surface.
So.. it sounds like trim restorer would not help.
Anyway, thank you all for the suggestion !

Have a nice day.

[The Guz]

Re: How to restore this ..?

Is it painted plastic or as you stated just rubber?

[jamesyu]

Re: How to restore this ..?

Is it painted plastic or as you stated just rubber?

Hi, sorry for my late response.
I checked the trim again and I was wrong , the material should be PLASTIC not rubber.
Thanks for reminding me again..
I think I will try some cleaner wax and restorer at first.. Because these are easy to get here.

[owendavidj]

Re: How to restore this ..?

Shoot, of its just the runner trim I'd just paint it myself. Well if you have some painting experience at least. Trim is easy to paint perfect, but easy to mess up if you done know what your doing. I've poisoned trim and black plastic mirrors on several cars. I just use generic Rustoleum high gloss black. It looks perfect brand new. The issue is you'd have to paint all the trim to match.

Tape off everything EXTREMELY well, use newspaper and/or plastic bags and lots of painters tape. Presand your surface with a dry grit 600ish. clean thoroughly with alcohol. Once completely dry spray one very light even coat. if you think you should go heavier, you def should not. The first coat should really look like its doing nothing almost, if this is what it looks like, good job. Let get tacky for 10 min and do another super light coat. Wait 10 more min and repeat, and repeat a 4th time.

Depending on how well that coat looks when its dry the next day you can do two things. Leave it alone, or ad another 2 coats depending on what you feel it needs to look like. If your adding another two costs wet sand it first with a 1500-2000 grit. Thoroughly clean with alcohol, and add two coats in the same manner as the previous day.

Once thus second round is dry for 24 hours, again you have a choice, do you need to go even shinier and smoother, or not? rubber and plastic trims are often supposed to look a little ruff, not perfect like the cars paint, so many times I'm done after the first day. But if you've come this far, and you want it super shiner and smooth, your last step is to wet sand with a 3000 grit, dry and thoroughly clean with alcohol. Compound, polish, wax.

I've made many side mirrors look better than they did when the car was new this way. Usually for rubber trim I'd just do the day 1 steps only. Rustoleum does make a trim and bumper paint I've seen at Walmart that is not a gloss and does mimic a more ruff plastic surface if that is the look you want as well. Easy fix for under $10.

Best advice if deciding to tackle this, remember paint will get on everything. Pretty much tape up the entire side of the car you're working on. Use newspaper to cover large areas. Overall paper by at least two inches, tape all seams in the paper. And use double tape st the edges near where your actually applying the paint. Its important for those tape lines to be PERFECT do you don't see overspray/underspray.

[billddrummer]

Re: How to restore this ..?

Thanks for all the suggestion, it happens on the trim where red marked in picture.


The material is hard rubber, Yes, It looks like coated with clear paint on the surface.
So.. it sounds like trim restorer would not help.
Anyway, thank you all for the suggestion !

Have a nice day.

Appears to be matte plastic, so sounds like you would need something like
G15812 Ultimate Black Plastic Restorer

[jamesyu]

Re: How to restore this ..?

Hi, Owendavidj, many thanks for your detailed instruction. I am not good at paint job, I will practice on other plastic material firstly.
I will still try some plastic restorer before paint job, since the trim is damaged anyway...

Thank you again. have a nice day.

[jamesyu]

Re: How to restore this ..?

Appears to be matte plastic, so sounds like you would need something like
G15812 Ultimate Black Plastic Restorer

Hi, Billddrummer, thanks for your suggestion.
Luckily it is able to get G15812 here. I have ordered it already especially it is suitable for many plastic & rubber parts.
Thank you!