Spraying black plastic scuttle grill trim

[Razorsharp]

The plastic grill trims on my car are almost white now and despite a few coats of Autoglym bumper care, still look pretty poor.

I was thinking of using satin black Plastikote spray, but have no experience of using it.

Can anyone let me know what the best product is to spray these with?


Thanks

[E30BeemerLad]

remove them and give them a going over with a hair dryer or heat hun, obviously don't melt them but a bit of heat does often bring them back

[daimlerman]

I've used a satin black aerosol with decent results on most of the black exterior trim.

[johnt0709]

Yes - I used plassticote primer and a satin black paint - they look brand new

[Ranchero]

My scuttle grills have gone grey also. What is the procedure for removing them?

[ImysE30]

Screwdriver and a piece of cloth to protect the paint.

[Blitz]

What I found that you need to apply autogylm serverel times some times.

[shonky]

If you are strong you can pull em out without the aid of tools

I took them out and sprayed them with Satin black and they now look like new.

The whole job took about 30 seconds in total (excluding removing the wiper arm)

[cecotto479]

ATF does the job.

[Razorsharp]

Thanks for the advice everyone.

As my wife and kids are out all day Saturday, I'm going to go down the spraying route.

I'll let you know how I get on and post some pics (if I remember to do the before shots!)

[octanejunkie]

Don't forget to use a plastic primer, unless you want the paint to be flaking off a few months down the line.

[Brianmoooore]

Screwdriver and a piece of cloth to protect the paint.

NO! NO! NO! No wonder there are so many rusty scuttles around!
To remove the grilles you slide them downwards by about 5mm, compressing the spring clips at the bottom, and then lift the top outwards. They are replaced by reversing the procedure.

[harry_p]

if you decide to paint you'll also need to thoroughly clean them with some sort of solvent to get rid of all the silicone or oil based products that have been put on over the years otherwise you'll get fisheyes in the paint.

the heat gun trick is my new favourite way to revive old plastics, you have to get it just right to darken them without melting, but once theyre back to dark grey it just takes a quick wipe with bumper care or similar to make them look brand new again.

this is the mrs mk2 golf rear bumper half way through a heat gun treatment