Wet Sanding and Buffing Plastic

S

strum456

Oldtimer
I recently purchased a used quad that has black plastic... Probably not the best color for something that gets all scratched up with tree limbs.

Has anyone ever tried to wet sand and buff this type of plastic? It seems to wet sand fine, but it looks hazy after buffing. I even thought of using some Universal Clear with some adhesion promotor, but I'm not sure if that would be a good idea or a bad idea. I would appreciate any input.
 
i've done this with plastic that was beat up and I just wanted to save it, but like you said might be a little more on the hazy side..
I would stay away from painting it, a quad will take some abuse and the paint probably won't hold up..
although with that being said I painted one last week.. 46980_1409117961863_1649902220_1121304_7368540_n.jpg
 
The difference is that this one shouldn't get to beat up being it's only for straight line racing.
 
I'm not sure if that's much of a banshee anymore but I sure would like to take it for a pass.
 
I tried buffing first. It doesn't seem to do much except make what still had a little shine hazy looking. It seems like the plastic is too hard to buff or something. Maybe there is a buffing compound better suited for plastic? I know there are a ton of companies making coatings to "restore" the plastic, but I'm guessing it is not going to hold up.
 
Maxima has a plastic spray shine stuff, but I think it's loaded with silicone so I haven't stocked it.
 
This is just an idea; perhaps you can try applying heat to it with a heat gun. Thermo plastics will remelt when the right amount of heat is applied. I would carefully try it in a small spot and see if it works. Just move it back and forth and see if it reflows.
 
I think you're heat gun idea would work for some localized deep scratches. What I have are very fine scuff marks all over. The quad is a 2007 with only 10 hours of use on it. Apparently the guy I bought it from strapped something to it that rubbed the plastic. He must have wiped the mud off dry too. It just bugs me because I have a basically new quad with these darn scuff marks all over it.

Does anybody know why I am getting the "hazy" look after buffing? I'm using 3M Microfinishing Compound.
 
I did some searching on the internet about the plastx. There are some posts on other forums stating that it makes it "hazy". Have you personally tried this stuff on quad plastic?
 
I have used it on other forms of "plastic" (instrument clusters,headlights,tailights,washing machine doors,toys, etc,etc,) unfortunately there are many types of plastics/acrylics/polys. I have never tried it on quad plastic but it has worked very well for me on everything I have used it on, but it is for more minor defect removal and final buffing to shine. If it is causing "haze" I would look at what buffing pad/buffer combination they are using, (as in a too agressive pad).
 
The problem with these plastics is they don't cut away cleanly, grit particles plow along them leaving a raised edge. It's the same problem that makes these plastics look fuzzy or hairy when they are sanded with coarser grits.

I think if there is a chance of getting them shiny, it would be with very fine compounds, slow speeds, and a lot of time.
 
Crash,

I appreciate you chiming in. From what I have read so far, you are exactly right. I think most ATVs have low density polyethylene plastic, which like you said is very soft. Like everything else, there are so many people on the internet that give out bad advice. I have read post after post by people who claim to have done exactly what I tried with buffing compound and had their plastic come out "like new". I guess it depends on what your expectations are.

It looks like there are companies that make compounds specifically for soft plastics like polyethylene. Formax offers a white buffing stick called p-22 plastic glo that is to be used with a cotton string buff. I am thinking of trying that, but I am reluctant to shell out $50 on something that might or might not work.
 
I've had mixed luck buffing plastics on wheelers. Same is true about fixing cracked plastics. The biggest problem I have found is that all plastics are not made equal. Some buff ok some dont buff worth sh*^. I've repainted a dozen or so with Krylon for plastics with mixed results as well. Heat will help some of them and wreck others. It's pretty much hit and miss. The older plastic gets the worse it gets to work with. When I'm done I may write a book on the subject of wheelers plastic what to do and what not to do. It would be about 100,000 pages long and all in fine print lol
 
its a quad, take it out and ride the hell out of it.its gonna get more scratches and scrapes.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top