Best Product for Rubber / Plastic rejuvenation (Door Seals...)

[vas85]

Hey everyone,
Just been thinking lately of a way to make the black plastics / rubber within our cars with that rich and lively colour.

I.e. the Door Seals, the part where the Wipers are whcih is big piece of plastic, and any other part that can be detailed.

What is the best product to use, I have Meguirs Natural Shine (Vinyl and Rubber protectant) which for Rubber is doing its job, but the part where the Wipers are depending upon which angle you look either looks rich black or same fadey dark grey.

What do you guys use for your Supras?

 

[Sl1dewaysSupra]

I swear by Black Magic products. IIRC they are not water based like Armor-All. The stuff I use is a spray and it does great for old dry leather, vinyl and rubber.

 

[supra90turbo]

The wiper cowl cover is not plastic. It's metal.
Sand that thing down and paint it.
As far as seals go, once they're gone, they're gone. Buy new ones.

 

[starscream5000]

:werd:

 

[johnathan1]

I have been using armor-all stuff on the cowl, I apply it ALL the time, and it seems to be making it black again. Same thing with my front lip spoiler.

And for the Wipers, I just resprayed them using Krylon Fusion paint.

I hear you about the seals...lol...mine don't look faded, but they aren't as "hard" as they once were, lol...you hear a bit of wind noise around the windows, were the weatherstripping has started to shrink and not seal completely. One of the previous owners even stuffed a bunch of paper behind it to make it seal better.

I used some adhesive-backed black foam-rubber weatherstripping and layered it behind the weatherstripping, and the wind noise is gone, and it seals MUCH better!

 

[Clip]

krylon fusion sticks to damn near everything. i painted the wiper cowl cover satin black and it looks a lot better than if i just detailed it. its an easy job, just 6 screws or so and it pops off.

 

[KeithH]

For the seals (doors, sport roof, etc) the Miata group (oops that should have been MR2 group - oh well they're both little teensy cars right) - found something that was GREAT at making them all nice and soft again. I'll see if I can find out what that was again (but you have to buy it in large quantities IIRC) - if they will still talk to me after my Miata comment above.

Keith

 

[vas85]

Thanks guys for the replies, ill consider painting a few things I guess... and for the rubber seals aroudn the doors they are in pretty good condition just more after making them look as clean as possible as my cars always garaged and thats just 1 part I never tend to give careful attention to detail for cleaning purposes.

 

[ma70guy]

i have heard for plastic you can use the liquid on the top of all natural peanut butter jelly just put it on and let it sit for a little while and then wipe it off

 

[jdub]

^^^ That would be peanut oil

 

[starscream5000]

^LOL

 

[jdub]

Believe it or not, some of the fatty acids in peanut oil would work well as a conditioner on rubber/plastic
In fact, George Washington Carver came up with some plastics derived from peanut oil (among the 300+ other uses he developed) and it was the original fuel for a diesel engine.

 

[johnathan1]

Hmmm...so I should put peanut oil on my weatherstripping? Wouldn't that smell? How long should I leave it on?

LOL...Seems kinda weird, but hey, if it works...

 

[jdub]

It would smell, but not any worse than some of the products out there. Give it a try on the rear hatch seals

Silicone oil would work just as well or better though.

 

[johnathan1]

Silicon oil? Can I get that at AutoZone? I have been looking for it, but I can neer seem to find it...would also be cool to find in spray form.

 

[jetjock]

That would be silicone. Silicon is what integrated circuits are made from. It's also a fancy name for dirt . Lots of people make the mistake though so don't feel bad.

That said silicone spray is as common as dirt. As for the oil your local hobby shop sells it for use in the shocks and differentials of RC cars. Myself, I use a light coating of Dupont's Krytox on seals but I doubt you're gonna want to pay it's price. It pains me to use such a high tech product for that use but since I have a bunch and it works well in that application it's what I do.

For trim restoration the best product I've ever used in Forever Black. Unlike most it's a true dye and doesn't fade.

 

[johnathan1]

And where do we get that, Jetjock?

 

[jetjock]

What? Forever Black or Krytox? Google either term. Forever Black is pretty easy to come by. Krytox is harder and not cheap. I have several tubes of it from back in the days when I worked in Silicone Valley

 

[johnathan1]

You weren't kidding! :aigo:

http://www.thtgroup.com/dupkrytlvphi.html

 

[jetjock]

Lol yeah, it's spendy but perfluorinated lubricants like Krytox and Fomblin are right up there as the best in the world. It's so expensive the oils are sold by weight, like drugs, instead of volume. Spaceship stuff. As I said it pains me. Use silicone and be happy