Hey guys, both a friend of mine and I have recently painted our EF's but our moldings and bumpers have become REALLY faded...
We're wondering whats the best stuff to use to bring the color back?
My friend tried something, i believe back to black, and said when water hit it, it ran.

If there's a spray paint we could use, what kind would it be??
TIA everyone

 

ive actually seen people use a heat gun and it brings the black back out.

 

VW'ers have been using Kiwi black shoe leather dye, just used it on my own bumpers, came out real nice and glossy.



Also popular is peanut butter, yes, peanut butter:



Pics jacked from VWVortex. For either application, clean off the surface thoroughly with alcohol, then rub on the product, and wipe off the excess.

 

thanks for the ideas...
but i might be missing something... how does Peanut Butter help??? is it the oils in it or is it a joke

 

Yeah, something to do with the peanut oil. Not sure which is more effective, both options are popular. Make sure you use creamy peanut butter. Like I said, I used the shoe leather dye myself, and also make sure if you use the dye, get Kiwi brand, since some other brands aren't true black (more like really dark blue, which will show in sunlight).

I put the pics to show that the peanut butter is not a joke. I didn't believe it myself until I saw the pics.

 

I tried this stuff, but the **** ended up chipping on me. Maybe I did it wrong. Oh well, paint is coming soon.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by iamdoingthat &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Yeah, something to do with the peanut oil. Not sure which is more effective, both options are popular. Make sure you use creamy peanut butter. Like I said, I used the shoe leather dye myself, and also make sure if you use the dye, get Kiwi brand, since some other brands aren't true black (more like really dark blue, which will show in sunlight).

I put the pics to show that the peanut butter is not a joke. I didn't believe it myself until I saw the pics.</TD></TR></TABLE>
ok thanks. yea not trying to call you a liar, just that recently a VW board told a guy to sandpaper a scratch...poor guy listened to them and f-ed up his paint wanna make sure the PB wasn't a quick gag

 

We've had awesome success with a heat gun... check it out:

http://resource.crx.org/module...=trim

It only works for the plastic trim, not runbber, but it does work well

 

I used to work in a detail shop called Ziebart and they used Back to black, they stuff is the bomb but it's like tar but it'll give you that dark black your looking for if it's hella faded

 

Thanks to the 2 people who mentioned the heat gun... I tested it on a small part of the bumper and it started to work right away
Now, will this method also work on the side moldings??

Thanks again, after i wash the car saturday morning, both me and my friend are going to do this

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SMZ GSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Thanks to the 2 people who mentioned the heat gun... I tested it on a small part of the bumper and it started to work right away
Now, will this method also work on the side moldings??

Thanks again, after i wash the car saturday morning, both me and my friend are going to do this </TD></TR></TABLE>

As was stated earlier, it does not work on rubber parts. I believe the side (door) moldings are rubber, so it won't work there, only on the ABS plastic parts, such as the lower portion of the bumper, and the small portions on the fenders.

Alex

 

drat... what would be best to try then? cuz i'm not putting PB on my car

 

Well, for the bumper, go out and buy a cheap heat gun and shoot away.

For the rubber, just do what the rest of us do...use some quick detailer, some armor all, some shoe polish, some flat black paint for rubber parts, some magic markers, some handmade indian dye made from oxblood and flower petals (this is my personal fave) or just try the peanut butter. It will just wipe off, you know...or you could soak a rag in veggie oil or crisco or butter or something.

Alex

 

thank you to contributors of this post. my old 4dr's bumpers and moldings definitely need some TLC and now i have some ideas to try out.

 

Damn people you have good ideas that really work. I will use heat gun on plastic and some black stuff on the rubber pieces.

 

tried eagle one tire shine and found out it works great on blacks(blackies,donuts,steelies) but leaves oily run marks on moldings. I tried using less to avoid runs, but putting even coats were unpossible .

 

Kinda Ot but is there any other method to adhere the side moldings to the car without using the metal strips and clips? Like maybe some sort of spray or tape that will not damage the paint? Anyone have any experience? Thanks..

 

If you're repainting the moulding you can use acetate film to protect the paint without masking, the kind we used to use when we made projections using transparencies, you can probably get it at office depot, I found mine lying around from some old report. get the stiff ones. slip it between the car body and the moulding. It takes about 10 pcs for the door. that's what I did and I also used Bondo Easy finish bumper black spray paint to paint the mouldings and the bumpers. Then just pull out the acetate when you're done. dont forget to tape newspaper above to prevent overspray.

 

u can go get some car paint bottle at pep boys and paint the moldings and put some clearcoat

or if u jsut wash ur car u can use NO TOUCH tire shine and it shines the bumpers and other mouldings very shinny and good looking.....

or get some clear shoe polish.. works good also....

 

Thanks for all the great ideas guy
I'm bringing a heat gun home from work today and will be trying everything out tomorrow morning.
I'll be taking pics of the process and make a thread about it

 

Another question would be how long to each of these methods last? I know when I use the tire shine/black magic etc it lasts between 2-4 weeks. What about that heat gun? How long does that last?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by blah13 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Another question would be how long to each of these methods last? I know when I use the tire shine/black magic etc it lasts between 2-4 weeks. What about that heat gun? How long does that last?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well most of the liquid application stuff will work about the same amount of time - I have heard that certain hard-to-find products that are a back-to-black type of thing will last longer...but most of them probably last about 2 to 3 weeks max.

The heat gun should last quite a while. What you're really doing is refreshing the plastic by melting the top layer, so the next layer down comes out. Theoretically, it should last as long as it did from the factory when it was brand new, so probably about 10 years before it starts turning white/gray again.

Alex

 

Home Depot wants $29.49 or $55.97 for an industrial strength one....hrm, I guess $30 is worth it in the long run vs buying bottle after bottle of black restorer...

 

http://www.harborfreight.com

Try there, might have a decent one for cheaper. Of course, you'd have to wait for it and pay for shipping and all that...

Alex

 

Can someone please tell me if a heat gun would work on any of the molding that surrounds the windows?