Is there any way to restore the black color of damaged unpainted plastic?

[BluBrett]

My side mirror was hit last night. Most of the paint damage came out and a lot of the black plastic discoloration seems to have been rectified with 303, but it looks almost bent in and I can’t think of any way to tackle this as I believe it typically occurs when the plastic is stretched during impact.

Any good way to fix this?

[Sizzle Chest]

It looks as if material has been removed/dented in on that edge. The only way you will be able to fix/repair that, unfortunately, is by replacing the mirror.

[Dan]

Sometimes a blow dryer or heat gun can help with black trim but use extreme caution and shielding with the paint that close.

[SWETM]

Maybe Würth Satin Black Trim Paint could make it look a little better. It`s a lot of paint in the can so look up the cost if you can get the side mirror housing trim on it`s own or even on a scrap yard where vehicals that has been in accidents and stripped for the parts that where in good conditions for the whole side mirror. The Würth Satin Black Trim Paint is $16 and it will usually lasts a long time but can be handy to have if something else happens down the road. The best would be if you can take off the trim and paint the whole thing. Or take off the whole side mirror and masking tape the not to be painted parts thoroughly. I would not paint spray it while on the car of the huge risk of overspray. But you could get a very small paint brush and just spray the paint out of the can in a little cup a long way from the vehical LOL. And touch up it as good as possible and if the trim color shade is to off you can paint the whole trim part this way. Thin and more coats than thick and less coats is what I would test with. You can use those touch up sticks with a small foam sponge on the tip to dab on the trim paint. If it`s textured trim I would get those kind I think. And it`s just to make it less visible and not perfect.

https://www.autopia-carcare.com/w-8930190.html#.Xca3DtZwFyU

If you are able to get the trim off and as a last option when you are already set to get a new one. You may be able to get some heat on it as with a heat gun or even those small tourches that some uses when cooking and other things. Lightly introduce heat build up and see if you can get the black paint in the plastic to get reactivated. As soon as you notice it gets like it`s painted or how to describe it you stop and let it cool down. Just like when you painting you want it thin and more times. When you decide it`s the last heat up and you want to get some texture on it. You can dab it with a porous sponge or even a coarse grade sanding to just dab and no wipe and you can compare different grit to the texture on the trim to make it simualar. This is more if you are going to be sanding down a trim damage to get even and try to make it look kind of acceptable. It`s a hack for sure and as mentioned be ready to replace it before trying this LOL. Depending on the thickness you can try to sand the dent down and maybe use the paint trim I mentioned before. It`s time consuming to do this and maybe not worth it vs getting a new trim part or the whole side mirror. You may still not be satisfied with the results from trying to fix and gets you to buy a new part of it either way in the end. And also it`s much of how your expectations is of the results. Plastic trim is very hard to fix in it looking as new. So have low expectations when you start and you maybe gets a satisfied result or good enough until you are able to replace it.

/ Tony

[Ron Ketcham]

Solution Finish- visit solutionfinish.com It is what true professional have been using for the last 4 years.

[BluBrett]

Thank you all, really helpful!

In the end, I decided to order another new housing because at $110, they are cheap enough to replace and save my sanity.