| Author | Message | ||
     Hambcastle |
Has anyone had luck polishing out deep scratches on XB plastic? I have a deep scratch on a black Uly airbox cover (someone keyed it). I tried some Novis scratch remover, and it started to put a white fog in the area. Any experts out there? | ||
| Cyclone00 |
I detail cars on the side. Do you have access to a buffer? 3M makes a a couple of polishing compounds. "Rubbing compound" for starting and then there "Finishing compound" for the final finish. You can do it by hand but you wont get the same results as using a buffer. I assuming the cover is big enough to buff lol. This works well for me however some realy deep scratches you wont be able to get out (my opinion) but will make it look less noticable. Meguiers make a product called "Scratch X". It works like a wax. It works well or small scratches (not deep). I some times use it as a finishing agent. It worked awsome for getting the scratches off my tank from dirt getting between the tank cover. Good luck!! Eric | ||
| Bads1 |
If there deep the best thing is to sand them out with fine papers. After that some compound and then polish will do with Buffer. | ||
| Hambcastle |
This is good, but I am wondering how deep you can go with this plastic. I assume it is the same color all the way through, but if you sand past the polished area, will you be able to get the plastic underneath to shine up? | ||
| Jomartijr |
I spent considerable time and effort on renewing the windscreen and airbox cover on my 2007 Uly with black plastics ( purchased used last Jan)with good results but I can tell you the best results require an orbital buffer/sander, really fine grades of wet/dry abrasive paper, at least two grades of plastics polishing compound, a wool pad for cutting and foam pad for final polishing. If that hasn't put you off here's the drill- 1. Use a semi soft sanding block like a rubber eraser and 400-600 grit paper to sand out deep scratches. 2. After scratches are level with the surrounding surface using the same sanding block and 1000 paper grit to remove the sanding scratches left in step # 1. 3. Continue scratch removal with 1500- 2000 and finally 3000 grit papers. What you are doing here is to get the scratches shallow and fine enough so plastics polishing/cutting compounds can remove the paper grit micro scratches. 4. Apply the plastics cutting grade/polish to a wool pad and using some small amount of water spray buff the area with the orbital or rotary buffer. This takes time and patience and an occasional washing out of the pad. You should begin to see a smooth but slightly clouded ( micro-scratches) surface. 5. Finish with the buffer and a foam pad( I used a black 3M). Again this takes considerable time with the pad and final plastics polish. 6. Plan on some material expense and a week or so of spare time work. I actually considered just buying replacement pieces instead of reworking the original parts but decided I already had enough invested in materials and a buffer I couldn't turn back and take the easy way out. There you have it. The color is molded in the material which seems to work like polycarbonate- that is it is slightly soft unlike acrylic, and so takes longer to achieve a shine. You should not expect an as-new surface however. Mine is about 98% of new surface which is almost new appearing. I can provide a list of materials and sources for those wanting to tackle this. | ||
| Mesozoic |
I don't have any deep scratches, but just faded plastics from use and exposure to the Arizona sun. I have a rotary buffer I'd like to use on my airbox, flyscreen, and front fender ('08 XB12Ss, black). I've got some 3M Rubbing Compound, but need new pads. What product would be used on a lambwool pad and what on the foam pad? | ||
| Terrys1980 |
I wouldn't go as far as rubbing compound just for surface scratches. Mothers plastic polish or Novus works great for getting them back in shape.. | ||
| Court |
Novus |
