Proof of how severely my cladding has faded!

[VX KAT]

How are we supposed to make recommendations on the next form of treatment when we dont know 1) Why your cladding has such unique color/fade properties and 2) has responded so poorly to other treatments such as R/R? Seems to me the current state of the cladding and its history is pertinant when choosing a new treatment.

You can shrug off relevant observations if you want, but they are only intended to help make an educated decision.

Grif- I was making a joke of how prolonged this has gone on and how obsessive/consumed I've become about it. I know I'm driving many folks crazy about this and was thinking I should just give up pretty much. I MORE than appreciate any and all thoughts/suppositions/theories/recommendations, I just think I've kinda worn out my welcome. And I totally agree, investigation, information etc is needed to make an educated choice. Investigation of facts was what I did for a living...which is why I'm so neurotically thorough, anal retentive....
Believe me, I sincerely appreciate any and all help....you all know about 500 million times more than I do!

[ZEUS]

Oh yeah, I fergetted...Zeus is a God....he's pretty smart!

OK, oh smart one, which coating/paint stuff should I pick for my cladding??

HAHAHA! Who luvs ya baby!?
I'd say which coating to apply is a personal preference. I coated mine with Dupli-Color bed coating... it streaked cuz I am lazy but it faded to look more even. I wanted and liked the textured look tho! Still had to treat it to keep it a dark color because it lacked UV protection however. 2 years or so later when I was giving it a high pressure shower the water actually started to flake it off in the most sun-damaged places. So I would def suggest using an adhesion promoter and whatever top coat you use should be UV resistant. Then be careful with the high-pressure water... P.S. Don't let your husband hate Dub cuz he's beautiful.

[Mile High VX]

Have you considered that one of the PO's may not have liked the dark cladding, for whatever reason, and actually treated the cladding to be lighter. The line around the grill area would be consistent if they taped off the hood without removing the cladding.

If you did what Mike did with the Gatorback using the light grey color and painted the cladding bolts I think you would come up with something very close to what you have.

Just a thought...

[VX KAT]

Have you considered that one of the PO's may not have liked the dark cladding, for whatever reason, and actually treated the cladding to be lighter. The line around the grill area would be consistent if they taped off the hood without removing the cladding.

Yeah, I think that's most likely. There's definitely no "coating" on it of any type now, maybe somehow they bleached it ?

[tom4bren]

Didn't Armorall usta cause a lightening of dark plastics after long term usage. I'm wondering if the PO usta Armorall the crap outta the cladding to keep is shiney & purdy ... & now you're paying the consequences.

[VX KAT]

Didn't Armorall usta cause a lightening of dark plastics after long term usage. I'm wondering if the PO usta Armorall the crap outta the cladding to keep is shiney & purdy ... & now you're paying the consequences.

I think I recall that too from back in the day...also that it badly dried out the surface....at least mine doesn't seem to be dried out or chalky at all.

My local Chevy dealer never heard of GB ...so I gotta check out the dealers in the "big city", see if I can find it in stock before I give up and order it online. Tom, thanks for your offer of a piece of cladding. Any chunks are welcome for my experimenting. Think I'll try bleach on one.

Contacted TEN36VX yesterday who used Duplicolor over 3 yrs ago. Said it still looked great, but did have some that chipped off.

[tom4bren]

Tom, thanks for your offer of a piece of cladding. Any chunks are welcome for my experimenting. Think I'll try bleach on one.

KAT,

I'll try to remember to grab it tonight so I can box it up tomorrow. PM me your shipping addy.

Tom

[RickOKC]

I'm expecting bleach won't do anything at all since the stuff I used to remove the Bondo Black didn't seem to harm the cladding. I could be wrong (ABS light) but SuperClean seems to be much harsher. That removed a layer of skin from my hands and left light spots on my fuel door.

[Ldub]

Here's my opine on the subject at hand...

IMO, all darker colors have come with lighter cladding, & all lighter colors have cladding that's closer to black.
I've always noticed it on Ebonies, & would assume it carries through to Foxfires, Dragons, etc...

Check it out next time you see an Astral or Ironman next to an Ebony or Firefox.

Who?...What?...ME stir the pot?...Naaaaaaaaaa...

[Mile High VX]

And if you try and buy touch-up paint on line they list 3 exterior trim colors in various shades of "grey" from a lighter color to one that's almost black and all listed as "bumper" color...

[Luna X]

Sue.......

If you put ANY type of "coating" other than a tried and true basecoat/clearcoat, I'm personally gonna come up there and take your toy away from you!!!

[vt_maverick]

Sue.......

If you put ANY type of "coating" other than a tried and true basecoat/clearcoat, I'm personally gonna come up there and take your toy away from you!!!

Sounds like she's been waiting for you to come up there and take a look FOR AWHILE ANYWAY... (poke poke)