Heat Gun on faded trim

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JackWagon
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Joined: Tue Mar 31, 2015 10:48 am
My tercel:: 1986 Toyota Tercel Wagon FWD

Heat Gun on faded trim

Post by JackWagon »

Before I use SEM aerosol trim paint, I thought I'd try my heat gun on the faded interior trim. I used this technique on my MG Midget convertible. It takes some patience and careful attention to just wet the surface. If you leave the gun in a spot too long it will melt the texture. The pieces still require bit of cleanup before and after. I use Griots interior cleaner and the vinyl/rubber dressing which has a bit of protectant. Some of my pieces are too far gone and will need to be painted to unify the color and for that, SEM products have worked well for me.
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Seat trim before and after
Seat trim before and after
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Petros
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My tercel:: '84 Tercel4wd w/extensive mods
Location: Arlington WA USA

Re: Heat Gun on faded trim

Post by Petros »

I read about this on some forum, and saw a demo on youtube. The idea is that if you can heat the platic to just below the melting point it will reestablish the bonds that have broken down from sun light. it is a way of "restoring" plastic to its original strength and flexiblity. I have tried and it works great, but as noted you must pay close attention. I use the color as a guide, as you move the heat gun over the surface you can see the color returning to the material, so you want to keep the gun moving just as the color changes. I move it like a paint brush, in uniform rows in small areas at a time, or sometimes in a circular motion, always keep it moving. You go back over it for any places that you did not get quite hot enough so it is all uniform in color.
'87 Tercel 4wd SR5 (current engine swap project)
'84 Tercel 4wd (daily driver, with on going mods)
'92 Mazda MPV 4wd (wife's daily driver)
'85 Tercel 4wd DLX auto(daughter's daily driver)
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ARCHINSTL
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My tercel:: Goldie is a 1986 SR5 attualmente con Weber/also owned the first T4WD in STL in late '82
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Re: Heat Gun on faded trim

Post by ARCHINSTL »

Here is another way of resuscitating plastic bits: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=8109&hilit=plastic
Tom M.
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