# How to treat badly scratched plastic?



## DetailMyCar

I was detailing a Disco3 at the weekend, but it had lots of scratches from off roading etc, i managed to get the paint back to great condition but don't have any idea how you would go about repairing scratches on the big plastic wheel arches?

Anyone have any products they find that work, or is it simply not worth risking trying to repair and just replace them??

Like these:









Thanks


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## The_Bouncer

Think unless you can do a plastic trim repair ( can this be done ? ) then it has to be a case of 'best job' - advise client what can can't be done - work it your best and show end result. If the client can't live with it, then it has to be replaced


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## PRZ

have you tried something like meguiars plast-x? great stuff!


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## kstoilas

Consider trying a heat gun


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## alexandjen

kstoilas said:


> Consider trying a heat gun


I did this on my old Corsa, it restores the colour and masks lighter scratches but deeper scratches will still be visible


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## DetailMyCar

kstoilas said:


> Consider trying a heat gun
> 
> YouTube - Using a heat gun to restore automotive plastics


There's no fading or anything so a heat gun wouldn't have been of use, it's literally deep scratches in the plastic but i just hadn't heard / seen of anyone repairing this sort of thing so wanted to check if it was possible really....

Sounds like it's not which i can understand as you'd effectively have to sand them down to get to the scratch which would then mean changing the texture of the plastic as standard they have a sort of rough texture to them which would be odd if you smoothed it off in places.


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## SportWag

I have bought the Bumper Repair Kit to see if it is any good - not used it yet!

http://www.repairproducts.co.uk/page12.htm


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## lucky_paddy

Smart repairer/chipsaway can fix this:

If you want to do it yourself, the process is:

plastic filler to scratches
flat off
texture spray repair area
bumper paint (colour matched) to repair area and blend.

Remember to do test area first, or even better, practise on spare bit of trim.
If you have none of the above gear - cost approx £30-40.
Chipsaway or any reputable smart repair company should provide free estimates, and then decide haow you want to proceed.

HTH


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## SportWag

lucky_paddy said:


> Smart repairer/chipsaway can fix this:
> 
> If you want to do it yourself, the process is:
> 
> plastic filler to scratches
> flat off
> texture spray repair area
> bumper paint (colour matched) to repair area and blend.
> 
> Remember to do test area first, or even better, practise on spare bit of trim.
> If you have none of the above gear - cost approx £30-40.
> Chipsaway or any reputable smart repair company should provide free estimates, and then decide haow you want to proceed.
> 
> HTH


Is there a particular brand of plastic filler, texture spray and bumper paint that you would recommend for this?


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