molded plastic

[loodi]

so, i have a cabrio smart car coming in for a full detailing job. black and green.

the black is metal with black paint and clearcoat, like normal. going for a combo of 205-superfina-ultrafina.

but the green is platic, and is not painted. its plastic with molded-in color. so its palstic thats just green, no paint or clear over it.



and its in a seriously bad shape. very deep swirl marks and RIDS, some heavy water etching, bird droppings residue.. .you name it.



having almost no other manufacturer selling its stuff in the place i live but 3m, could i use the 3m plastic polish that is meant for headlights restoration in order to polish the green plastic on the car?

im supposed to pick it up tomorrow so i have no time to order any other product from other countries and the customer barely managed to find this hole in his busy schedule so im really supposed to do it tomorrow.



so, being a very light green color and in very bad condition, im afraid to go too rough on it and possibly damage it. never polished that kind of stuff.



should i go for the 3m plastic polish? or plastic cleaner? or megs plastiX? (i believe thats everything i can find tomorrow morning)

or maybe some of my regulars like 3m, megs, menzerna and mirka?

 

[loodi]

in case someone stumbles across this when searching, here is what i did in the end:

did a few test spots with megs plastiX, 3m plastic polish and plastic cleaner, then i decided to move on to my favourite combo:

205 on megs wool pad, followed by 3m superfina and then ultra SE.



that plastic was even softer than i thought, some places didnt needed 205 at all, i could've done it easily with the superfina on 3m yellow pad.



so there you go... same as any other clearcoat, just keep in mind this plastic is thin and can overheat easily. so its ok to keep a higher speed with the wool pad but beware of higher speeds with foam pads.

 

[Plyrunner]

I just bought a 2002 Chevy Avalanche that is in severe need of a good loving detail! Especially the plastic trim which covers a large percentage of this vehicle! The plastic doesn't look like it has had a good cleaning or protectant since it rolled off the showroom floor. Anyone have any suggestions on what to use to bring it back to life?????? The paint, other than a few scratches, looks pretty good but that plastic..............it needs TLC! It is not black so I can't use any of the stuff like Back to Black. Help, please!!!!