Plastic resto - the good the bad and the ugly..

[John Smith]

Hi guys,  starting my first restoration and am looking for info about plastic restoration. Ive got a 81 RM250X which needs a bit of work on the tank and guards, the sidepanels and not really restorable.

Anyway what are people using, how are you doing it and what tools do you need?

I had a crack this afternoon with some 250 wet n dry on the underside of the tank with some success and a lot of elbow grease... but would like to know what you guys use.

What drill/buffing attachments / cutting polishes/ how to finish it off with a shiny finish.

Thanks

[pokey]

Start with the back side of a hacksaw blade and start scraping,. you will get the idea after a while. When you have good consistent colour start smoothing with various grades of Wet and dry and finally  buff with a compound.

All depends on how "used' the parts are as to what you start with.

[John Smith]

Buff with what? Cutting polish and buffer wheel on a drill ?

[LWC82PE]

Use this on lambswool buff in electric drill

[pecrazy]

I've had good success with different grades of wet sanding, finally ending up with 1500, then use buffing compound and a buffer like buffing a cars paint work for the first time. Oh and I always use a flat sanding block on big flat areas like the tank.

[kdx Geoff]

I got a good result cleaning up my kdx tank.

I started with an unloved tank. All the crud has helped protect this tank from UV damage.



I scrubbed the tank with fine steel wool and hot soapy water to remove the crud.


l scraped the tank with a half a pair of scissors. l find them easier to hold and use than a blade.


I wet sanded with an orbital sander 360 than 800. l found that the sander didn't level all the scrape marks so l had to use a rubber rubbing block to get the tank surface flat again. Wet 360 than 800 again. It didn't take long to sand the high points off. I've not wet sanded over 1200 but some people will go to 2000.


The buffing.
Wool buff pad and lots of the polishing compound. l was conscious of burning/ melting the plastic so l kept the pressure light.
Different pad for the polish, lots of polish and low pressure.



Another clean pad for the final polish. I tried a foam pad but it didn't work as well as the wool pad.


Total time investment for this tank was around 13 hours. There is some fuel staining low on the tank but it is a 33 year old tank.

[John Smith]

Thanks for the tips guys, really appreciated. Now back to the garage and get sanding !

JS

[Rossvickicampbell]

there is a Face Book page - mx plastics - has how to do it vids etc - they are really good.