cheekyage
08-14-2014, 08:46 PM
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, geneva, lucida, `lucida grande`, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;">Hi all,
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, geneva, lucida, `lucida grande`, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;">Can you recommend any products that will help turn my dirty and faded black undercarriage/wheel well trim to restore a nice clean and deep black colour?
<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:verdana, geneva, lucida, `lucida grande`, arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:13px;">Looking forward to your feedback`http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/images/smilies/smile.gif
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For the undercarriage.........a good APC with a brush followed by something like Chemical Guys Bare Bones will do the trick.
David Fermani
08-18-2014, 09:53 AM
Welcome to Autopia! Yes, give them a deep cleaning with some All Purpose Cleaner (APC) and brush them with a stiff brush. Then, apply either a water based or solvent based dressing for the icing on the cake. I prefer a clean, undressed look personally, but make that call after you clean them and after they are dry.`
Accumulator
08-18-2014, 12:15 PM
cheekyage- Welcome to Autopia!
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As noted, the first step is to clean things up.` How trashed the plastic is will determine what your next step should be.
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If it`s not too bad then either a dressing based approach or a trim sealant (I like Ultima`s Tire and Trim Guard Plus) will work.` IF the sealant seems like overkill but you still want to do something other than a dressing, some rinseless washes leave a nice sheen (I use Garry Dean`s Ultimate Use Detail Juice) or you can use a Quick Detailer ("QD", for this specific job I use ValuGard`s Fast Finish).
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For a dressing based approach (which I myself generally avoid) you can try a tire/trim dressing or even one of the sorta-slimy "undercarriage sprays", but watch that you don`t get the latter on any place where you don`t want it (including your garage floor/driveway).
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If the plastic is so abraded by the stuff the wheels throw up then you have to decide how involved you want to get.` On my wife`s A8 I just let it go; some areas are worn but hey, it`s a high-mile daily driver.` Options to improve such a condition include refinishing the plastic (ValuGard`s Exterior Trim Restoration kit) or just replacing the plastic bits (easy on some cars, not easy on that A8).
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So I`d clean it up and see if a QD or a tire/trim product gives you satisfactory results.