Author Topic: Polishing plastic (Read 4395 times)

broken1 · « **on:** May 11, 2016, 04:38:41 AM »

I've been getting into polishing plastic & found a method that works pretty good & takes less time than sanding. As a matter of fact it's so easy this guy could do it:

I picked up a 3M headlight polishing kit, 0000 steel wool, Meguiars polishing compound & a bag of microfiber rags. The drill I used was a DeWalt 12V li-ion. It's 1500rpm max. The headlight kit comes with a bunch of sanding discs but I didn't use any of them:

The oxidation was easy to remove with the steel wool but it does take some rubbing. Sanding in one direction seemed to give the best results. Before starting on a tank be sure to seal the filler hole with tape or something because the static from using steel wool will draw the fibers into the tank. Also it is dusty so it's a good idea to wear a dust mask using this method. It took just under 5 hours to complete this 86 tank:

There was a few deep scratches but I decided to leave them because feathering them out would take some time & it would also make it a lot thinner:

When using the buffing wheel the key is to let the wheel do the work & don't apply too much pressure. I worked both the steel wool & buffing wheel in overlapping straight lines from back to front to avoid swirl marks. Put about 4 peanut sized dabs of compound on the wheel & smear it over the work surface & go to town. Once you feel it start grabbing a little it's time for more compound. The filler neck area is a little hard on the wheels but so far I've done 2 tanks & a hood with the same wheel & it's holding up good. After polishing there will be a slight haze that can be buffed out with the microfiber rags also working in one direction. Circular buffing will leave swirl marks:

Tanks & hoods are pretty easy to do & the end results are worth the effort if you have the time. It's also a cheap alternative to replacement plastic.

huntertools · « **Reply #1 on:** May 11, 2016, 05:18:17 AM »

Looks good! Thanks for sharing.

kb250r · « **Reply #2 on:** May 11, 2016, 04:51:38 PM »

Very nice work... Thx for info good job

Pumashine · « **Reply #3 on:** May 11, 2016, 07:05:11 PM »

Quote from: broken1;67399

I've been getting into polishing plastic & found a method that works pretty good & takes less time than sanding. As a matter of fact it's so easy this guy could do it:

Are you trying to say Cave men are polishers?

Big_Mike · « **Reply #4 on:** May 11, 2016, 08:25:21 PM »

Wow well done! Looks amazing!

broken1 · « **Reply #5 on:** May 12, 2016, 12:42:28 AM »

Thanks for the compliments.

Quote from: Pumashine;67431

Are you trying to say Cave men are polishers?

Only if the polishers look like cavemen:lol:

Sand_Blaster · « **Reply #6 on:** May 12, 2016, 02:47:08 AM »

Very sweet! Thank you for doing this, I want to restore my oem plastic using this trick

Hawaiiysr · « **Reply #7 on:** May 13, 2016, 01:14:22 PM »

Good job Kevin

F-Red · « **Reply #8 on:** May 13, 2016, 01:47:12 PM »

That's amazing. Great info. :eagerness:

phil_koliss · « **Reply #9 on:** May 13, 2016, 11:29:03 PM »

Oem plastic wont polish as easy as the tank. Practiced on the tank on told myself this was childs play....... wrong! Mind you my plastics are quite cracked and im pretty fussy but I will get them as nice or nicer than OEM. They do polish nice if you dont need to sand, but fukk me, started with 280 all the way to 1500 now and still not happy enough to hit with buffer. Should have painted my Maiers with lots of flex in clear, pretty sure would have held. Did a bunch of summit and mxz hood that you can bend anyway you want they dont break and paint followed without cracking, just the paint took about a full day to be tack free and almost a work week to be handle ready. Also, the bend test was done years after some ofnthe hoods I did as I has to offer lifetime warranty through the paint company(BASF).