How to bring color back on faded plastic? Also seat?

[ilikeaero50]

Hello, I just got my 86 aero50 and am taking on the maintenance, minor pperformance upgrades, and cosmetic restoration all at once. I tried using rubbing compound on the oxidized red plastic on the front inside (where the key goes etc.) and no luck. I'm thinking that the best think to do is repaint it with vinyl paint? Krylon has a "fusion" paint that is supposed to be o.k. for plastic. the exterior shiny plastic actually came out pretty nice with the compound. I'll wax that and call it good.

Also I bought the red vinyl material for the seat from a fabric shop and removed the remains of the original seat cover, before I start stapling the new material on, are there any tricks to it? My current thinking is to fold over the material where it will be stapled and us a power wide-crown stapler to staple it down. I'm planning on using one pice and making tight folds in the very front and on the back. The folds will be visible but shouldn't look bad if tight and because of where they are located. let me know any thoughts or ideas please. I'm just winging it. I was thinking I would start stapling on the middle on one side, stretch it to the other side and staple there, then do the front, then the back. Thanks for any help.

[Dio89Elite]

There are paints that are specifically for 'plastic' and those will usually work with decent results. I thought Krylon had a line specific for plastic that wasn't the 'fusion'.

That sounds about right for the replacement of material for your seat. Just take your time and stretch as much as possible to eliminate visible folds. If you're handy with fabrics, a multi-piece replacement can be made to fit better but a one piece replacement should suffice for the most part.

Before you go ahead with the replacement of the seat cover, after taking off the current cover, this would be a good opportunity for you to look at the condition of the foam (or whatever cushion material that is present) and to gauge how well it currently meets your needs for comfort. The addition of material(s) to increase comfort can be done prior to the replacement of the seat cover material.

[ilikeaero50]

RIght on. I used pigs feet to fill the holes in the foam. : ) actually I cut the foam feet off an old pig stuffed animal and put them on there followed by duct tape. It seems pretty smooth and is better than a big hole that's for sure.

[evilone]

Get a pint of "boiled linseed oil" (Home Depot or Lowes) and a pint of paint thinner. mix them 60:40 (thinner:linseed), stir. then while wearing gloves, squirt the mix onto a clean, lint free towel or a wax/foam pad and then wipe it all over the plastic parts as if it were tire shine.

That's for the plastics, not sure about the seat.

[maddog]

use scratch away to bring back panels, if that doesn't work wet sand with 380 grid and repaint

[noiseguy]

If painting, Krylon Fusion. Make sure to degrease the panels and smooth them up before painting. Grey build primer, 400 grit wet-dry.

Grey bumper paint works great on floorboards. Durable, good color and gloss match.

[Mystic]

not the panels but the floorboard and inner legshiel plastics can be heated with a heat gun to restore them to their previous shine. it works great just be careful the plastic can warp. basically it melts the oxidation

[bradthreee]

I've used carnauba wax with good results on red faded plastics.

[ilikeaero50]

Wow, those are some neat ideas. I've never heard of the heat gun technique before. Maybe I'll try a small inconspicuous spot. I'm very familiar with painting cars as I have painted many over the last 20 years or so but always want to pick up new techniques. I have a great video on how to do custom paint jobs/ candy paints if anyone is interested.

Re the seat, I ended up recovering it with red vinyl and it looks pretty darn good. To a non-spree conissuer it would look original. It is smooth and flat with the only someowhat unsightly thing being the folds on the front and back. I love the bright red color though as it looks original for this scooter.

At the moment I'm thinking I'll need to repaint the front fender as it's the only outer plastic where the shine wouldn't come back. The red inner plastic is ultra, ultra faded so I think it is probably beyond the spray shine type treatments.

[Mystic]

the heat gun should clean the red inner plastics up nicely. i was suprised myself how easy it was to do and how well it looked afterwards