"Showroom New" Trim Restorer- info & experience

[yellowgizmo99]

well I got one day friday to do and was going to do the second coat next day and of course rain came in early so no second coat, will be trying sometime this week after work. I think they are calling for rain every day except wednesday and thursday. Looks good so far, no pics as of yet. for those that used the sprayer what did you use for thinner? OK I found, Mineral Spirits is what is used.

[DaveMcKenz]

Thanks to VX Kat. I was working on my soundproofing project. The weather was nice, 50 degrees and dry. I washed the car, wiped down the cladding with isopropyl alcohol. I thinned the SN with mineral spirits just a little, maybe 25%. I used a 4" foam brush and a throw away bristle brush for tight spots, cladding screws, etc. I have a proton yellow vx, so I used plain black dye. After one coat, the vx looked great, a couple of steaks and misses. The second coat really smoothed it all out. I used approx. 6 oz. of product, and the vx looks great! I could not be more pleased.
Thanks, Sue for being the Guinea pig.
Dave

[VX KAT]

Thanks to VX Kat. I was working on my soundproofing project. The weather was nice, 50 degrees and dry. I washed the car, wiped down the cladding with isopropyl alcohol. I thinned the SN with mineral spirits just a little, maybe 25%. I used a 4" foam brush and a throw away bristle brush for tight spots, cladding screws, etc. I have a proton yellow vx, so I used plain black dye. After one coat, the vx looked great, a couple of steaks and misses. The second coat really smoothed it all out. I used approx. 6 oz. of product, and the vx looks great! I could not be more pleased.
Thanks, Sue for being the Guinea pig.
Dave

Sounds like it will look great, the Proton with blacker cladding is awesome!
Don't recall anyone else cutting it with mineral spirits when applying it with a brush.....
Is there an advantage to thinning it out with brush use? Maybe less streaks or something??

[VXorado]

So I want to have black cladding to match my black hood, what do I get? Gatorback or Showroom New? Have we make a collective "forum decision" on which one is better?

[VX KAT]

So I want to have black cladding to match my black hood, what do I get? Gatorback or Showroom New? Have we make a collective "forum decision" on which one is better?

IMO, Gatorback is much smoother and uniform looking, BUT it will chip off when abraded. I found that SRN didn't really "chip" off when it got trail rash, but did show something like scratches from it, and you can just touch it up lightly with a rag. I think Grif, didn't you find that to be true? That's the ONLY reason I decided not to try GatorBack....so anybody that encounters trail rash....might want to seriously consider that. However, I THINK I recall Mike Nomy said he also could also touch up the GB with just spraying more on.....I think....I'd have to re-read this thread.


Oh, forgot to mention....hubby did drip just a few drops of gas on the cladding .. ...and because I had previously advised him to NEVER rub it with any type of rag...he left it and it came right off at home, no residual at all......well, maybe a few days off my life, but no visual evidence that the cladding ever got gas on it. (but hey, how can I be upset with my hunny doing me a favor and getting the gas that day ) ..

[DaveMcKenz]

Sounds like it will look great, the Proton with blacker cladding is awesome!
Don't recall anyone else cutting it with mineral spirits when applying it with a brush.....
Is there an advantage to thinning it out with brush use? Maybe less streaks or something??

Thinning 15-25% with mineral spirits is standard for varnish especially the first coat. It brushes and flows much easier. I found this to be the case with SN, and got very little streaking if any. It just felt right.
Dave

[Hiredgoon]

I have an update as well. I've noticed that the cladding is much more prone to being stained by spilled gas than it was before applying the dye.

Just something to be careful of.

[Grif]

I have an update as well. I've noticed that the cladding is much more prone to being stained by spilled gas than it was before applying the dye.

Just something to be careful of.

Interesting.

I found just the opposite to be true. I've only dribbled gas on the cladding twice. Once before SRN dye and once after. Both times i was able to get it wiped off quickly and effects were minimized, but after the SRN dye, it seemed easier. I have no idea why. YMMV I guess.

[Grif]

Gatorback is a bedliner, it is very thick and replaces the surface of the cladding with a tough abrasive resistant coating. Your cladding surface texture will not be the same after Gatorback.

SRN is simply a thin layer of dye. It does not affect the texture of the original cladding. It just dyes it back to it normal darker color. It does not alter the plastic properties of the original cladding but since surface scratches often manifest themselves as lighter in color, SRN does a great job at hiding them.

Gatorback will entirely coat cladding with a full new surface, new texture with different properties of the original cladding. It does not look like original cladding, or act like it. And yes if your Gatorback coat does eventually get scratched or damaged, you can simply spray another coat to "fix" it. (at a much greater cost than SRN)

Hardcore trail riders might benefit from Gatorback or similar bedliner products, but I prefer SRN because it adds no thickness, retains the look, texture and feel of the original cladding, and does a good job of re-mediating superficial scratches from trail brush. Furthermore, when Gatorback does chip off (which it can) you are dealing with a much deeper surface to repair and may require multiple coats of gatorback to get it back into repair. With the SRN dye there is nothing to chip, to fix, you simply wipe on. Its simply a surface dye, not a re-coating with a different plastic like Gatorback is.

[VXorado]

Thanks Kat & Grif, that sums it up pretty well. I think I'll go with the SN mostly because i'm worried about the GB chipping off from tight trails & becoming a pain repairing it.

[PA-99]

Ran accross this today while looking for something completely unrelated. Thinking about trying it on a junk yard piece before my VX. Anyone have experience with this process?

http://www.raptorforumz.com/showthre...t=14043&page=2

Jeff

[VXorado]

Ran accross this today while looking for something completely unrelated. Thinking about trying it on a junk yard piece before my VX. Anyone have experience with this process?

http://www.raptorforumz.com/showthre...t=14043&page=2

Jeff

Are you referring to Line-X? If so, Line-X is a professional application that isn't DIY like other spray on bed liners. IMO Line-X the best stuff around but you pay a lot for it and it will change the cladding texture to "rough." The local Line-X shop in CO will spray all the cladding for about $500. I had my hood insert sprayed with Line-X after I installed a reverse hood scoop...luv it!

This is my favorite Line-X'd VX (actually my all time favorite- way to go Patrick Cooper)

[PA-99]

Are you referring to Line-X? If so, Line-X is a professional application that isn't DIY like other spray on bed liners. IMO Line-X the best stuff around but you pay a lot for it and it will change the cladding texture to "rough." The local Line-X shop in CO will spray all the cladding for about $500. I had my hood insert sprayed with Line-X after I installed a reverse hood scoop...luv it!

This is my favorite Line-X'd VX (actually my all time favorite- way to go Patrick Cooper)

That Line-x exterior is about as cool as you can get. Won't have to worry about parking at the end of the row with that. I did know that Line-X was not a DIY project, but did not know about the pricing. That is quite expensive just for the cladding. I'm going to try the dye in spring and hopefully see the same results as others!

[VXorado]

On another note... I did buy "Showroom New" in black & i'm waiting for some warmer temps to apply it. The currently cold & snowy

[Mile High VX]

On another note... I did buy "Showroom New" in black & i'm waiting for some warmer temps to apply it. The currently cold & snowy

Let me know when you're going to do this...I'll come and "help"...

Been thinking about doing this as well.