How To; Restore Ugly Gray Trim back to Factory Black - for FREE! *With Video*

[Shabba]

Tools Needed;

1 Heat Gun - $20 for a cheap one like mine, or borrow from a friend.


Time Needed;

Approximately 40 minutes from start to finish for the three pieces on the rear bumper. Your mileage may vary.

Instructions;

A) Turn heat gun on highest setting and let it warm up for a few minutes. Tip will be glowing red when it's ready

B) Slowly and methodically (or not) pass heat gun back and forth over the ugly grey plastic trim.

C) Enjoy your new looking rear bumper


You will smell plastic melting. This is normal. You can even see it melting a bit. That's what you want! *Do not inhale fumes, Do not touch the hot part of the heat gun, Do not do anything else so blatantly ignorant as the first two things I typed* You do not want to touch the tip of the gun to the plastic, but you do want it very close. Do not focus on one spot for too long without moving the heat gun, and try to avoid heating up painted areas as much as possible.

This is a simple and free to make one of the ugliest parts of our cars SO much better looking. I hope this helped you. Enjoy.

 

[infamouz]

Very bad ass write up, thanks for sharing, I have to do this now.

 

[groundshock]

Very nice. Well done.

It's stuff like this that will have this place better than that 'other place' in no time.

 

[ItsOnVoy]

Wow nice job on that!! I did not think the heat gun can do that! Thanks for sharing that

 

[fletch09]

nice
thanks for sharing.

 

[HARDTRAILZ]

Looks good. Wonder how long it stays looking that way?

 

[moneypit]

Wow, Shabba you da man!!! got a cheap heat gun at Harbor Freight for $13.xx this morning to try this and it works flawlessly! Took like 10 minutes. It looks way better in person too! Now I gotta paint that rust...?

 

[jbones]

...Now I gotta paint that rust...?

Once over dust, twice over rust.

 

[Me007gold]

Looks good, Ill have to keep that in mind for future use

 

[jbones]

...Now I gotta paint that rust...?

Once over dust, twice over rust.

 

[STLtrailbSS]

my bumber step is starting to turn nasty grey....To Harbor Freight I go!

 

[Blckshdw]

Looks good. Wonder how long it stays looking that way?

Yeah, the OP will have to update us in a couple of months. I was thinking of pulling and painting mine, but if this is a long term solution, it will be SO much easier.

 

[Shabba]

I'll definitely update when and if it starts to fade. From everything I've been reading online, this is the most permanent way of doing it, but we shall see.

@moneypit if you pass it slowly back and forth over the cracks, it will fill them in as well, and you won't have those white "Corners".

 

[Jakers]

i did this on a friends step plates on a bumper a couple years ago, still looks pretty good. I have also used the same method with a hair dryer or low setting on ATV plastics when you get the white stress lines

 

[Blckshdw]

Interesting. My pads below the brake lights have broken tabs, so they don't sit flush anymore. So some reshaping as well as blackening at the same time causes this to move further up the mod priority list.

 

[willn513]

Awesome tip! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Joe D 04]

I would pull them off and THEN do this. That way you can hit every little angle and not run the risk of damaging your rear bumper.

Mine aren't that right now bad though, maybe in time. I've seen some BAD ones out there though

 

[Shabba]

Ideally, you would, but they are rivited on, and Appearantly are tough to put back on correctly if you do manage to get them off without tearing them up.

There's not much danger of hurting the paint, unless you go really overboard and get really careless. Evenness isn't a problem, as I was able to get every little bit of mine without needing any angles that I didn't have.

Whatever makes you feel comfortable though *shrug*

 

[Blckshdw]

Yeah, mine were already jacked up from the previous owner, and I had pulled them off at one point messing with my LED lightbar I've got back there. Maybe on my holiday vacation, I'll pull mine off and give this a shot

 

[gr82bCanadian]

:wootwoot: Thank you for the tip

I just said to hubby the other day....what would we ever need a Heat Gun for.....this was a question because he saw one in a flyer.....

Well guess what Santa's bringing this year

 

[El1t3tb]

did this and worked amazing. pics arent the greatest and my iphone died before i finished it but you get the idea. also it worked on my dads step ups on his truck!

 

[Bailey4200]

love learning new tricks! thanks for sharing, this will help me in the detail biz. For you guys that want a quick fix that lasts a long time rub creamy peanut butter into the textured plastic then power wash it off and look at it shine Or most automotive paint supply stores sell plastic dye that you rub into it or spray on

 

[04xuv]

thanks for the tip. did it the other day, and it looks great.
glad i don't have to wrestle it off and paint it.

 

[CdnGMan]

I gotta admit that I'm still VERY skeptic regarding this, but I'm gonna give it a shot and see what happens...

 

[Shabba]

I gotta admit that I'm still VERY skeptic regarding this, but I'm gonna give it a shot and see what happens...

What part in particular are you skeptical about?

The only way I can see this not working is if you don't allow the heat gun to heat up all of the way, or possibly if you've used some product on it that makes it heat resistant (hi temp paint or something?).

The Video shows you how it works. That's completely unedited,with my retarded voice and lisp and all.

 

[Badbart]

My son got wax on the running boards earlier this year and it's still white in the places he got it on. Will this take care of that or should I do something else? The bumper and running boards are not faded, as it stays under the carport most of the time, but where the wax got on it looks pretty bad. Any ideas?

 

[fadyasha]

Sweet write up! This definetly on my to do list! Thanks for the brilliant idea! :wootwoot:

 

[IAFF78]

My son got wax on the running boards earlier this year and it's still white in the places he got it on. Will this take care of that or should I do something else? The bumper and running boards are not faded, as it stays under the carport most of the time, but where the wax got on it looks pretty bad. Any ideas?

If this trick with the heatgun doesnt take the white out then you might have to run to your local auto store and pick up the black dye for plastics trim pieces. I had a can but forgot the name. Just tell the store employee what your looking for and he will guide you in the right direction.


Kevin

 

[papo020]

Great write up!!! I've been looking for something more permanent then constantly having to shine them up with each car wash! I might just remove them from the truck entirely so I don't have to worry about possibly messing up anything with the paint.

 

[fadyasha]

Great write up!!! I've been looking for something more permanent then constantly having to shine them up with each car wash! I might just remove them from the truck entirely so I don't have to worry about possibly messing up anything with the paint.

I used to shine them too but then noticed makes the slippery. So stopped doing so and had to deal with the ugly faded color! I think will be doing this mod over the weekend !

 

[hijole1983]

thank you...

 

[Rubberman]

I used the Plasti-kote black spray can. Taped it off and sprayed. It has the built in primer and made for plastic. The stuff holds up. I did all that plastic even the pieces on the doors.