Faded bumpers

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scarecrow

Faded bumpers

Post by scarecrow »

Does anybody know how to bring back the original colour of a bumper, or is it gone when it's gone?

Thanks
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Tim Leech
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Post by Tim Leech »

They are painted after all so you could always try t-cut.
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Post by jonathan_dyane »

Roverman wrote:They are painted after all so you could always try t-cut.
Not all of them.

Most BX's left the factory with colour-impregnated bumpers, AFAIK the only ones with paint were the two-tone variants, and bumpers replaced after a knock (replacements were grey and to be painted to match the car).
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Post by Matt H »

Not all are painted... Mainly the high-spec ones and most of the later run-out models as well. My 14 had the plastic ones on... I found nothing better than Autoglym Bumper Care. It's the only Autoglym product I by these days.
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Although, someone once told me to try Peanut Butter :?:
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Post by BX Bandit »

I didn't think painted bumpers faded tbh. I have the classic faded pink effect that once was venetian red on the actual body work but the painted bumpers have remained red!
But i did have non painted bumpers on my TGD an this is what I did:

The best trick I found lasts about 6 months! You need to get a gas torch, like the ones used for soldering copper work for house water. You need to move the torch over the bumber moving approx 1 foot in one second. Don't hold over one spot otherwise it'll burn the surface quite quickly.

It will have two other 'side effects'.
It will 'dilute' any graining that is in the surface of the bumper, making it appear more glossy.
It will quite quickly burn the black coating on the trim strips.

I would suggest removing the bumper from the car and the trim strips from the bumper. I have only tried this on venetian red bumpers.

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Post by retrodriver »

Halfords wet look tyre shine rubbed on with a cloth, cheap as chips and works pretty well as its resistant to water. Brings my blue-ish ones back nicely for a while.
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Post by scarecrow »

[quote="jonathan_dyane"

Not all of them.

Most BX's left the factory with colour-impregnated bumpers, AFAIK the only ones with paint were the two-tone variants, and bumpers replaced after a knock (replacements were grey and to be painted to match the car).[/quote]

That's a very handy tip, thanks for that. And I'll try the autoglym too cheers for that. Not too sure about the peanut butter idea - my dog is partial to peanut butter, so there's potential for labour-saving there...

Yes - t-cut, it's been a very long time since I did any t-cutting - not good on a hot day, but very satisfying!

Thanks for the tips
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Post by scarecrow »

I'm intrigued by the gas torch method - but knowing me I'd burn the bumper.

I think tyre shine is going to be my first choice here - purely on the grounds of cheapness.

Cheers
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Post by mat_fenwick »

How about a hot air gun? It might be easier to do it without damaging ther surface...but not as much fun as something that involves naked flames!
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Post by Matt H »

The heat gun was amazing on the AX GT (apart from the one section that had been painted to match the faded stuff :lol:) , but I never tried it on the BX. Might be worth a go.
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Post by BX Bandit »

It really does work a treat. I'm not convinced about T cut. I've not tried it but any time a polish or T-cut gets into the grainy areas of plastic it doesn't come of!
An electric hot air gun (as suggested by Matt) is a good idea. It's worth a try. The alternative I guess is to paint them.
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Post by scarecrow »

I've got a hot air gun - somewhere. I'll experiment on the scrapper - thanks
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Post by Alastair »

I use hot air gun for such things....works well
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