Bringing grilles back to life?

[rix313]

What's the best thing to do to make the front grilles look as good as new? The dull almost grey look of mine let down the front of my car and I would like to bring hem back to life? Do back to black products work in the long term? Painting them?

[Sonatine]

G4 technics is meant to be good. I just wash and dry the plastic, sometimes warming with a hairdryer and then apply in layers. Last one I used was a in can from a supermarket, before that it was Poorboys trim restorer.

[brutus]

.. simply just chrome cleaner, would make a difference,

[scottybeemer]

.. simply just chrome cleaner, would make a difference,

on black plastic??

[brutus]

oops, had kidney in mind , sorry , yes spray 'em

[andysheep]

Sounds strange but i cleaned mine with a good degreaser then sprayed with wd 40 and left,iv allso used peanut butter a well know black plastic bumper restorer this treatments sound hincky but 6 months later my grills still look sharp ,just leave to soak in and polish after,paint never realy sticks with out lots of prep,i mean lots i will get slated for this but iv still got a shiny grills,just saying,,,,,

[viz007]

+1 for Gtechniq c4. I applied it to my wing mirrors in May and it still looks as good now. You can see video reviews on youtube

[Speedtouch]

If spraying them, use a plastic primer first, then the paint will stick.

But yes, otherwise clean them with a suitable plastics restorer, or even peanut butter!

[rix313]

Cheers guys I'll get them off the cat and give it a go. The G4 I've found is a glass polish I assume it's the same stuff? Either way the glass has a few scratches on any way and the headlights need bringing back up.

[viz007]

This one not glass polish.

[Cloggy Saint]

Is it just for plastics or willit revitalise shadowline trim too?

[rix313]

This one not glass polish.

Thanks for pointing that out! I was typing in G4

Is it just for plastics or willit revitalise shadowline trim too?

Thats a good shout. I got T-cut on mine years ago and it's still on there

[Cloggy Saint]

Would the Gtechniq work on a touring spoiler?

[Kos]

Yes

Not sure about shadow line though

[Cloggy Saint]

I was hoping you'd turn up! Thanks.

[rix313]

C4 has been brill. I bought the 'kit' from www.rollupandshine.com. This included the C4, cleaning fluid, some polishing cloths and application pads. To be fair the grilles came up nicely with the cleaning fluid but the C4 took them that step further and look great. Gave the kidneys a good clean up too as well as the scuttle plates. I'll take the bits to the workshop and do the bumpers and see how it goes on the shadow line as well.

I took some before and after pics but they are a mix of my phone and camera so varied quality:










What sort of foam do the grilles have from factory as the stuff on mine look a bit saggy now be nice to change it

[DanThe]

Looks great and much better than shitty paint

[redcar]

Looks great. I need to do mine also.

[viz007]

Lookss great! The best thing I found with c4 is that the grills will stay looking like that. Other trim restorers I had tried only had a temporary effect.

[redcar]

Will one bottle be enough to do all the trims on the car?

[viz007]

Will one bottle be enough to do all the trims on the car?

Yes from what I remember a few drops on a cotton wool pad (included) go a long way.

[rix313]

There's more than enough left in the 15ml bottle to do the rest of the car. The other thing that was super handy was a pack of cotton buds for getting in the hard to reach areas for both cleaning and application.

[Kos]

excellent work