fishman

I am currently cleaning up the engine compartment and was just wondering what you guys recommend for making all of the plastic looking like new? Armour All (or similar equivalent) is a good temporary fix but I wanted something more permanent. Will black paint work? May sound like a stupid question, but this is my first time detailing an engine compartment without an engine in it.

Tim :)

73 LS-4

I'd hate to put paint on all that plastic without some serious prep work on the plastic first. Remember that plastic will flex and any paint on it will have to as well or it will flake off and look terrible, somebody did this to the inner fenderwells ont he 86 and it was flaking off and it took me quite few hours to scrub it all out of there. I think your best bet is to simply keep it clean. Once you get it all clean it's simple to keep it clean with a damp towel as long as you keep up with it. Armor all and the like tend to build up on it overtime letting dirt stick to it till it starts to get nasty. I like the clean dry look better myself unless you do a really nice paintjob on it like some have done on here.

:cheers:
Pat Kunz

78Vette-SA

Cleaned all the plastic stuff (schroud, ducts, distrbutor cover, etc.) with prepsol then just sprayed it with Trim & Bumper black (semi glass in my case).

Looked like brand new when done and still does after 3 yrs. :steering:

fishman

Thanks,

I was kind of worried about using paint. I hope to have pics coming soon of my work in progress........ :cheers:

jetech

If you paint plastic use scotchbrite pads to scuff the surface and mek or acetone to clean before painting. It is also important to use a good quality paint. I painted my coolant recovery tank, I masked off an area on the front of the tank so I have a simi-clear window and painted the rest.

PB82CE

Also, don't forget that aluminum foil makes for a great masking tool around
hoses and hard to reach places!!! :yesnod:

fishman

After spending some time this morning getting ready to paint the frame and all of the metal parts, I used a lot of masking tape....foil would have been so much easier to wrap around the brake lines, fuel lines, etc.. I guess my wife will be wondering what happened to the foil in the kitchen :lol:

thanks for the tip.. :cheers: