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-   -   Cyclops Plastic Finish Restoration (https://www.onlycubcadets.net/forum/showthread.php?t=38442)

mobermiller 04-21-2015 05:39 PM

Cyclops Plastic Finish Restoration
 
My Cyclops plastic grill support had many deep scratches in it. I decided to sand the scratches out. I started with 150 grit sand paper and worked my way to 600 grit. The finish is now very smooth but has a flat appearance like flat paint.

I need advice on how to polish the plastic to a glossy shine.

Thanks so much!!!

Mike McKown 04-21-2015 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobermiller (Post 323983)
My Cyclops plastic grill support had many deep scratches in it. I decided to sand the scratches out. I started with 150 grit sand paper and worked my way to 600 grit. The finish is now very smooth but has a flat appearance like flat paint.

I need advice on how to polish the plastic to a glossy shine.

Thanks so much!!!

You probably need to work your way up to 1500 or 2000 grit before you start the polish. I don't even know if polish will work. Paint will.

drcjv 04-28-2015 08:00 PM

I use Brillo or SOS pads they work great plastic comes out looking new than finish with coat of wax.

mobermiller 06-05-2015 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by drcjv (Post 325996)
I use Brillo or SOS pads they work great plastic comes out looking new than finish with coat of wax.

Thanks for the tip. I ended up painting them. They turned out pretty well.

garydee 06-08-2015 09:23 PM

Cyclops plastic hood restoration
 
Thanks for sharing your ideas on restoring the plastic on the newer cubs...

I am in the process of restoring my Dad's 1641...I have disassembled, blasted and primed most of the metal parts and am getting ready to paint the final color coats soon.

I have set aside the hood for the time being, however, I have given some serious thought as to how the dull plastic hood is going to look with the freshly restored paint on the rest of the tractor...probably not too good!

So, I went to my local auto paint store and picked up some urethane clearcoat to give it the gloss I think it should have. It is only necessary to "scotch-brite the plastic to give better adhesion before putting the clear on.
I also ordered a new set of decals from Maple Hunter today, as a matter of fact...I'm thinking of putting the new decals on and then clear coating the hood, hoping they will last longer and look less like "peel and stick" decals.

I will let you know how it turns out when it is all done!

olds45512 06-08-2015 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by garydee (Post 332493)
Thanks for sharing your ideas on restoring the plastic on the newer cubs...

I am in the process of restoring my Dad's 1641...I have disassembled, blasted and primed most of the metal parts and am getting ready to paint the final color coats soon.

I have set aside the hood for the time being, however, I have given some serious thought as to how the dull plastic hood is going to look with the freshly restored paint on the rest of the tractor...probably not too good!

So, I went to my local auto paint store and picked up some urethane clearcoat to give it the gloss I think it should have. It is only necessary to "scotch-brite the plastic to give better adhesion before putting the clear on.
I also ordered a new set of decals from Maple Hunter today, as a matter of fact...I'm thinking of putting the new decals on and then clear coating the hood, hoping they will last longer and look less like "peel and stick" decals.

I will let you know how it turns out when it is all done!

clear coat will not stick to plastic no matter how you scuff it, painting plastic requires an adhesion promoter which is not found in clear. i would suggest buffing the plastic, much like paint plastic can be buffed up to look like new even if its very dull.

garydee 02-02-2018 10:58 AM

1641 hood and side panel restoration
 
I finished up my Dad's 1641 quite a while ago, however, I came across this thread today while checking out this and that...
As it turns out, I decided not to paint the "plastic" after experimenting with various automotive polishing compounds to bring up the gloss and improve the overall look of the hood and side panels.
There is one other thing I tried that actually improved the color and the gloss as well...I used two solvents to clean and polish the surface. First, I used a clean white rag and quickly wiped a side panel first, with denatured alcohol, followed by a fast wipe (surface still wet with alcohol) with a fast lacquer thinner. I did this a few times to clean and gloss up the surface of each piece until I saw an improvement depending on the condition. I was quite satisfied with how this turned out and glad that I did not paint or clear coat any of the the "plastic".
The lacquer thinner was a bit too "hot" to use directly on the surface, so by applying the denatured alcohol first, it diluted the strength of the thinner...the results were very satisfactory...especially the color.

darkminion_17 02-02-2018 12:04 PM

1 Attachment(s)
I use Mothers aluminiounmnnumn polish and a damp the rag with window cleaner and it works great.
No smell and it makes it so shiny you need sunglasses.

CubyFan 03-04-2018 04:04 PM

Plastic Retoration
 
2 Attachment(s)
I refinished the plastic on a 1440 last week but did not take pictures at the time. I also used part of the same process on the paint. Since this post came up I decided to post today. Here is the end result. The hood had hundreds/thousands of scratches, some glue, some black paint, and heavy oxidation but no gouges in the finish.

CubyFan 03-04-2018 04:32 PM

Plastic Restoration
 
1 Attachment(s)
There are many variations of this process. I used every step for the plastic and also restored the paint using only the Meguire's products. I also used the Meguire's process on the decals and removed the junk and oxidation. The entire process for the hood and side panels took about 2 hours.

The products/tools used are pictured with the process listed below:
1) Clean thoroughly
2) Start with dry sanding using 1/4 sheet power sander (220 grit, then 320)
3) Block sand with 400 grit make sure there are no swirl marks left from power sanding
4) Wet sand with sandpaper wrapped around a sponge (use 600, 800, 1500, 3000)
5) Use random orbit and cut pad with Meguir's 105 Utracut Compound
6) Use RO and polish pad with Meguire's M205 Mirror Glaze Ultra Finish Polish
7) Use RO with finish pad and Meguire's Ultimate Liquid Wax
8) Use RO with wool buffing pad to really make it shine

Note: The RO polisher is HF brand - works well for my non-production type work. I pictured pads from HF (in the package), they are pure junk. Use premium quality pads, they last much longer and do a better job.


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