In the mid to late 70’s through the early 2000’s auto manufacturers were using black textured plastic for just about everything. Side trim, bumper covers, window trim, interior accents, etc. When the car or truck is new this textured plastic gave a neat contrast to the painted metal and colored plastic adjacent to it and was sort of the “style” in during that time. What manufacturers didn’t think about was the durability of the black coloring in the trim and over time UV light tends to dull the trim and will give them a gray, chalky appearance. Now that these vehicles are becoming “classics” more and more people are looking for ways to save and restore these plastic parts. We feel that we’ve found a great solution to bring the original deep, black appearance back to these pieces. Read our process using Eastwood Plastic Resurfacer below.
Tag: plastic trim
How to bring Faded Plastic Parts Back to Life
Like everything in this world, trends are seen throughout styling over the years. Whether it’s the clothes worn or how they were designing cars, you can usually look at something and tell what era it’s from. For many years chrome or heavy metal bumpers were the norm on all cars. These bumpers had no plastic and you could usually polish them up if they ever faded over the years. In the late 1970’s-late 90’s rubber and plastic found its way onto bumpers more and more until modern times where a bumper is made 90% of plastic. With cars from the late 70’s through the 90’s now becoming “classic cars” more people are turning to restoring or refreshing them. This means trying to bring back a faded old black plastic bumpers or trim is a major issue on these cars that was never a problem with traditional “old car” restorations.