Delica Canada | Mitsubishi Van Club

wetcoastnewbie wrote:
Just ordered these. I think they will go on my own van....Until my rolled steel winch bumper is finished...

May I ask how much they set you back? They sure look cherry.

Josh

Kuan wrote:Schwa,

Instead of painting the plastic, try using a heat gun to slowly warm it, I read that it restores the colour. I read that on the UK forum and remember that some members there had good results with that. It should be more permanent than paint too.

Thanks, I'll give that a shot, and while I'm borrowing my friend's heat gun I'll see about removing the "Exceed" from the sides...

I used a little ArmorAll on my front plastic piece, turned the whitish grey to a deep dark grey again.

The heat gun worked! Well, it doesn't get rid of the bits of white from overspray, but it darkened the plastic without wrecking it.

Before:



After:



Mounted:

That was just from a heat gun , and nothing else? WOW, I'm So impressed. really that looks brand new now. WELL DONE!!!!!

That is truly amazing!! I wonder what causes the colour to return with heat. Should have paid more attention in Chemistry.
I tried Armour All and it looked good for a few days but then reverted back to the fade.
Keep us posted if this solution is longterm.
Never would have thought of that one....
Sean

I suspect the UV bleaches the pigment in the plastic, but just the very top layer, so the heat gun melts the surface and it re-sets to it's original colour as if it were fresh from the mold. The only thing I can think of that may be a problem is if it dried the plastic out and causes it to crack or something...