Gatorback textured plastic coating

tomstin · 04-09-06, 03:35

I have three vehicles with black plastic trim (94 Accord, 95 Civic and 2001 Tacoma). I have tried several dressings including 303, Z16, Back to black, M38, Meguiar’s All Season Dressing (ASD), PP Trim Restore and B&B among others. The water based dressings hold up pretty well to washing but one rain storm and they’re done. The petroleum based dressings ASD and PP Trim Restore last a bit longer but tend to streak on my Tacoma fender flairs. Recently I saw the Gatorback product that is designed for the plastic cladding on the GM vehicles.

http://gatorbackcoatings.com/index.htm

“GATORBACK TEXTURED PLASTIC COATING PERMANENTLY treats all plastic cladding issues of oxidation and discoloration.” I ordered the 8oz bottle on Monday and it arrived at my home on Thursday, $19.90 including shipping and handling.

I test everything on my Hondas, they are outside 24x7 and as long as they start, the kids are happy! Doing a little research, it appears you need to have the surface CLEAN. When you think it’s clean, go over it one more time! After washing the car I went around all the black plastic cladding with the denatured alcohol. Some areas required three wipe downs to have the rag come out clean.

I found the bottle applicator (like liquid shoe polish) was tough to use for an even coat. I ended up using a 1 inch foam paint brush which gave me access to some tough areas along with a little more control for an even coat. It was a pretty straight forward application with both the bottle applicator and the brush to even the coats out. The surface ended up with a semi gloss finish. I could see a few areas I did not cover evenly. Looking back, I would have removed a few pieces of trim to get better access. Having the car on jack stands or a lift would make access to some of the trim pieces a bit easier. Plastic gloves are a good idea if this is a permanent as they advertise.

So far, meets expectation. Let’s see how it holds up to a few drives in the rain.

Looking forward to my Tacoma, I think I’ll try removing the fender flares and spray Gatorback. The flares are very noticeable and any mistakes will be VERY obvious. I think the spray finish on the flares will produce a better finish. Same goes for the black plastic windshield wiper cowling on the Hondas.

Pictures of the lower trim were not worth posting.

I’ll be back in a month or so with an update!

For reference: http://autopia.org/forum/showthread....ght=gatorblack

http://www.avowners.com/forum.idc?sh..._topics&FID=60

http://www.avowners.com/forum.idc?sh...&TID=2857&PN=1

cj99si · 04-09-06, 03:53

Any dressing you have to layer many times to have it really hold and any dressing you most likely will have to re-apply. The gater stuff im not sure of, If no one answers try it out and let us know.

wannafbody · 04-09-06, 06:45

some have used TW Ice-not sure of durability tho

VWdriver · 04-09-06, 07:21

Since it's hard to cover evenly is this product more for things like door handles than big plastic pieces? I was hoping to use this on the tray underneath the windshield but if it's going to look all uneven I might just cough up the $150 for a new one.

The other part I want to try it on is rubber around the windows that cannot be replaced at all (way too much $$) and it's got a pencil sized ridge all around it. It just seems a little hard to get it right.

Did you happen to get any of it on the paint?

tomstin · 04-10-06, 03:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by VWdriver

Did you happen to get any of it on the paint?

I had a recent coat of M21 on the painted surfaces so what little I got on came right off. As for the tray under the windshield wipers, if this stuff hold up, I will remove that cowling and probably spray the gatorback. With all the curves of those pieces I think the spray would be easier and give a better finish. For me, it all depends on the durability of the gatorback if I go to all that trouble.