Polishing Plastic

[Yeldarb]

Hey All, as some of you may know, I have this clear film stone chip protection all over the bonnet. It works fine for it's purpose, but is SO easy to mark.



You can see scuffing on the pic below:



Plus a stain on this one:



So, is there any hope? I don't want to remove the film, as it's just great protection. Just wish it wasn't so easy to mark.

[MattMPS3]

I use Meguires PLastix on my headlights and taillights, works a treat on any acrylic surface, but it may be a bit harsh on the film.
Have you tried hiding the marks with wax ?

[Yeldarb]

I use Meguires PLastix on my headlights and taillights, works a treat on any acrylic surface, but it may be a bit harsh on the film.
Have you tried hiding the marks with wax ?

Nice product find, thank you. I'll give a whirl on the boot lip. Cheaper to replace than a whole bonnet section.

Honestly, only ever had the Opti-coat done to the car.

[mmmmps]

Hi Yeldarb,

I have the same film on my VR Gen 2 (also on my True Red Gen 1, now owned by Bakis). The product recommended is Plexus, available from most motorcycle stores.

By the way, check my car on Mazspace, some of my mods were inspired by your car.

Cheers, Bruce

[ZAS]

You may want to investigate this further, but I know you can machine polish straight over those vinyl wraps that people use for advertising. I'd imagine that the film might be the same.

These films do serve their purpose like you said, but I guess this is one of those drawbacks.

I hope the Opti-Coat is still serving you well though. Something you might find interesting...I had a nice big bird poop on my car the other month that I reluctantly left there for "testing" purposes for a couple of weeks. To my horror it appeared that the poo had etched the coating. This etching then disappeared 2 days later.

Has happened twice now and once to Kim who applied your coating. I discussed this with Dr Ghodoussi (the guy that inventec this stuff) and turns out Opti-Coat isn't affected by the acid in bird poo. What we are seeing is a stain on top of the coating that then breaks down in the sun over the following days!

[Yeldarb]

2 nice bits of info there Joel, thank you. I'll hea back to Kim for that kind of work.

[Yeldarb]

Hi Yeldarb,

I have the same film on my VR Gen 2 (also on my True Red Gen 1, now owned by Bakis). The product recommended is Plexus, available from most motorcycle stores.

By the way, check my car on Mazspace, some of my mods were inspired by your car.

Cheers, Bruce

Ha ha, I've inspired people? That's amazing! Glad I can help.

Yes, I was using the plexus, but it's just a finisher I think, it didn't seem to do much in the way of scratch removal.

[Caffeine Fiend]

For what it's worth, I got some similar scratching out of Bruce's plastic coating (mmmmps) with some hand paint correction (initially).

I'd initially masked it all off while correcting the bare paint, but there was a very small scratch in the plastic coating at the front in an unobtrusive spot. I hit it by hand with some Ultimate Compound and lo and behold it minimized nicely. From there I did a machine polish effectively treating it as though it were straight clear coat (but with a slightly lighter touch)

Worked a treat


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[Yeldarb]

Thanks Dan. I made the mistake of rubbing a spot with my finger, I ended leaving a permanent smudge. I effectively burnt the film with the heat of the rubbing. So yeah, it's not the most resilient finish. But if (when?) I ever peel the shit of, it will be pristine, day 1 paint. But as the whole bonnet section cost me close to $600, it won't be coming off in the time that I own the car.

[Caffeine Fiend]

Yeah I'm reasonably heavy handed with the amount of Ultimate Compound I use anyway so I don't mar the the surface through friction. That's something I'm absolutely paranoid about, especially when working on someone else's pride and joy. Doing it to my own car would be bad enough. I reckon it would fair destroy me if it occurred on someone else's car.

The number of brand spanking new cars I see on the road that are rife with holograms through the clear is just staggering. I saw a brand new 7 Series Beemer, in black, the other day that someone at some stage had absolutely gone to town on. There was not an unaffected panel on the thing. It made me want to cry



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