Cladding Restoration

[CatFish]

*I do NOT recommend Forever Black*

I applied the product to the VX and waited a week before washing it, I went to the car wash and washed it as I normally do (run of the mill do it yourself high pressure car wash) after I rinsed it I noticed some area looked discolored so I drove home and waited to see how it looked after drying it. Well it looked like crap, some of the product washed off and it was then splotchy grey and black. They claim it dies the plastic but it did not on the VX. I cleaned and prep'd it better than they instructed so I do not believe that was why it did not color the cladding. I plan to remove it all at some point and just live with it the way it is, I am not impressed with the results.

I have been testing a product and I know some others have also been trying some restoration products too, so I am starting a new thread about this because most of the threads I found are so old the products used in them are no longer available so I am going to post what I found here and hope others will post their recent finds here or links to other recent threads I may have missed.

I am only testing the products that claim to dye the plastics and rubbers because I have tried at least 10 different reconditioning type products and none of them lasted longer than a few months on my VX.
My cladding was very chalky when I got it and all the products that did not add color or have a dye in them lasted less than a few months, I think some of the products made mine look worse the cladding would get streaks and spots on it after a rain or snow and stay that way until I reapplied some more product.

I am trying Forever Black and have tested it on a spare piece of cladding. I did use a degreaser and then after that I cleaned it the cleaner they provided to be sure all the layers of grease and silicone products I tried on it were removed before using the dye. Here is the youtube product video. It says permanent and then says should last years which is longer than to so called permanent hair die I use, I think the permanent refers to not being able to wash it off or remove it once it is applied. After I dyed it and I did spray cleaners and degreasers on my test cladding, scrubbed it and rinsed it then I rubbed it dry with a towel and none of the color came off or changed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNfQUq8soBg

My PhotoBucket with more pictures of the cladding and the product packaging. http://s920.photobucket.com/user/Red...?sort=3&page=1

Before applying any products.


First coat and section, you can see some white spots and scrapes next to the first section, the dye does cover them completely in the next picture.


Second coat over the first one, I cannot see the line from the first section I did.


I left it oustide for a few days in the snow and let the snow melt on it to see if it streaked like the other products did.


I did one more section and put it on as tin and light as I could to show a very thin coat.

This picture shows from left to right, no product at all, a very thin light coat in the middle and a good coating on the right.

I am going to do the VX based on my findings, I think it looks good and as bad as the VX looks I have nothing to lose. I will post before and after pictures of the VX when I do it and try and remember to post a picture every 6 months or so to see how it compares to the initial application.

I think this stuff is similar to the showroom new used in this thread.
http://www.vehicross.info/showthread...light=cladding
I could not find showroom new anywhere so I moved on to the forever black.

[ALC1717]

If You Spray The Cladding With Gatorback Paint In A Spray Booth Then Bake It On - You Never Have To Apply Any Of These Black Products To The Cladding - Just Wash Normally !

[Mile High VX]

As long as you don't mind changing the texture and look of the cladding you are correct.

[ALC1717]

I Had My Entire VX Cladding Sprayed With Gatorback & It Did NOT Change The Texture !

[JMNY]

Someone on the forum gave me this tip a few years ago for the hood insert and it really works great. Dont use the chipstick unless you have really deep chip - I just use the color magic. Just be careful by the body... have a proton and this stuff is really dark. I apply really slow by hand - especially by the body paint. Wait five minutes and take it off. You will get some black powder flakes...I slowly take those off and even use a blower to get rid of the tiny pieces that remain because of the yellow.

http://www.amazon.com/Turtle-Wax-T-3.../dp/B00062ZJ4O

Just keep in mind a few things - wear gloves - this is a black dye and it will dye everything including your hands - and some people say put a wax sealant on it afterwards. I leave my VX in the garage and it doesn't see rain - so not sure how it holds up to constant weather changes, washes, etc.

[Mile High VX]

All I know is that I've got some spare pieces from a member here that have the aerosol Gatorback applied and it's a very different look than my untreated cladding. Maybe yours being professionally done makes a difference.

[ALC1717]

I Did NOT Use A Spray Can. I Bought A Qt Of Gatorback Paint & My Friend That Owns A Body Shop Painted The Entire Cladding In A Spray Booth Then Baked It & Left it Over Night In The Booth to Dry. It Did NOT Change The Texture At All. The Spray Can Is Only Good To Touch Up If Needed !

[TonyVX]

I Did NOT Use A Spray Can. I Bought A Qt Of Gatorback Paint & My Friend That Owns A Body Shop Painted The Entire Cladding In A Spray Booth Then Baked It & Left it Over Night In The Booth to Dry. It Did NOT Change The Texture At All. The Spray Can Is Only Good To Touch Up If Needed !

Did you remove and clean the cladding to apply the Gatorback or did you leave it on the vehicle? Is this a standard way to apply the product? When I look on their page it just says roll/spray it on. If I don't have a friend with a spray booth (which I don't) I suspect the local body shop will look at me sideways if I ask them to do this.

[CatFish]

Pleas show us pictures of the Gatorback treated cladding with a close up too so we can see what it looks like.

[ALC1717]

[disasterlady]

[Ebony1433]

Just a thought..I've been applying "Wipe New" once a year for 4 years now, and it's so much better than anything I've used previously.
It also takes the scratches in your cladding to the same finish as the top of the cladding....I bought the last bottle at Bed, Bath, and Beyond in Spring 2015 for $19.99....literally, just apply once a year, and forget about dealing with the cladding for that year.

[bssage]

that is the look I'm going for.

How many coat's did you apply?

Do you think it works with mirror's, luggage rack, hood insert?????

[disasterlady]

I use Forever Black and haven't found anything I like better FOR THE PRICE. I did use Rustoleum's plastic black spray paint and it was fine, but I liked ( and others ) the FB glossy look better so I have covered the paint with it. I reported on the FB product several times over the years on this forum. It DOES sometimes chip or wear along the bottom from road debris that hits it after a while. I just touch it up with FB. I have gone a few years without doing that off and on.

[CatFish]

The forever black it the product I posted about testing in the original thread starter post, The tests I did was just to see how the forever black reacted to the cladding and how heavy it would need to be applied to restore the cladding. I like the way my tests turned out and plan to do the whole VX this weekend, I do plan to try it on the other plastic that has faded like the mirrors and roof rails.

I am not going to put it on the hood insert because it is fiberglass and painted and the Forever Black was not designed to be applied to paint and probably will not work and look worse.

Forever Black is meant to be used on plastic, vinyl and rubber only according to the packaging.