Scratchs in Black Plastic (interior)

[integraoligist]

Anyone know how to remove scratches that are in black plastic... it`s my arm rest/shifter consol...



i tried using Mother Plastic Scratch remover... it did do anything at all.

and it`s not a smooth surface, there is some "leather look" texture to it, so i can`t just sand them down...





Thanks all!

[Pats300zx]

Your not going to believe this but this is what I just did like one hour ago and it worked amazingly.



I was at a car show this past weekend and some of my trunk interior panels are scratched from carrying stuff years ago in the trunk. I have purchased brand new panels that I had planned to install right before our national Z convention in August.



At the show this past weekend this fellow Z`er came up to me and said that I could take out the scratches with a heat gun. He told me that he does it all the time and it is his part time business. He told me not to use a hair dryer but use a heat gun like they use for paint removal. I looked at him like he was nuts.



Well..I said what the heck, I have new panels anyway. Today I purchased a heat gun at Lowes for $30.00 and decided to give it a try.



I cleaned the panels completely to remove all protectorants. I lightly ran the gun over the scratch and IT DISAPPEARRED !!!!



I was blown away. The guy says that the heat cause the plastic to go back to its original form. Now there was a small circle around the scratch area from the heat. I went over the panels with NXT Tech Protectorant and they look brand new. I am sure if you look close enough or remove the protectorant from the panel that you might be able to see something.



Trust me its enough to fool a judge a a Concours de Elegance show.

[integraoligist]

really? i`ve got a heat gun sittin here in my garage too..



what did you use to completly clean the areas? dish soap?





do you just slowly pass the heat gun over the scratched areas or did you let it sit on there until you seen the plastic actually melt?

[NickcZ28]

Sounds like a good tip, I`ll have to try it.

Thanks.

[splattj]

I have used a butane pencil torch to the same effect. I like the torch because it`s more focused.

[Tasty]

Nice tip. :)

[TW85 HHI]

The heat gun sounds better than my Dremel with a felt tip idea. Well, less of an idea and more of a reality and while it reduced the scratches, it CAN melt the plastic if you lose focus for even a fraction of a second.



BTW, PlastX sucks for interior plastic use. It leaves a haze behind that I cannot remove. I have to hide the haze with a dressing.

[Jake11375]

Never would have imagined. Thanks for the tip.:up

[imported_plazaman]

how far did you hold the gun from the scratch? for how long?

[Pats300zx]

Just slowly move the heat gun over the area and you will see the scratch slowly start to disappear. One thing I did notice was that the area became shiny when I was done compared to the rest of the panel. I assume that this has to do with the plastic being heated. As it heats, the plastic goes back to its original form. The shinyness was easilly taken care of with some interior dressing to match it with the rest of the panel. On some that I have done if you look at the panel at an angle you might be able to see a shiny area. I think it looks better than the scratch. Keep in mind that keep scratches or gouges are going to be tough to remove.

[White95Max]

You can also use VM to fill in light swirls/scratches on the plastic. It worked well for me a couple weeks ago on the plastic on my center console.