After being snowed in with 15+ inches of snow today, I decided to try the "renew" plastics polish on my ATC250R's tank and shrouds. The tank had some white fade starting and its has a lot of light scratches. Well, it seems to do a fine job so far. I am still applying thin coats but really looks nice to me. We will see how it holds up to gas spills, sun, and abuse. I have all new stickers so it should look real nice here soon. I should have taken some before pics, sorry. I bet this stuff will really make faded Pilot plastic shine.

Gary

looks good - now go shovel the driveway. Do i sound like your wife? Could you post some pictures of the product you used (the bottle). Where did you buy it and how much? Do you polish by hand or buffer?

The product is called "Plastic Renew" from PC Racing and my bottle cost $18.95. It says to wet sand the plastic by hand with course then fine sand paper, apply product with a paper towel in slow smooth motion(no bubbles), let dry for 5 minutes, apply a second coat, allow to dry, buff with steel wool to polish, then apply 4+ more coats for final finish. The stuff looks and smells like the tile floor wax we used in the 80's when I was a new Airman buffing the hallways for the Air Force. Probably is, just costs a lot more in the fancy small bottles.

After 21 years in the military you would have thought I could follow directions, but noooo. I used a couple of different power sanders,dry, but being careful not to push hard and melt the plastic. Worked great. I used 220, 320, and 400 grit. Next I buffed the plastics with steel wool to a very smooth finish. I then rinsed/washed/wiped the plastic to make sure it was clean and then started applying coats of the renew. I didn't like the idea of using a paper towel so I cut some packing foam into small squares and that also worked great in thin coats. When I did happen to leave some bubbles, I flipped the foam over and that wiped them clean. I will do the front and rear fenders next and will get before and after pics.

I was just told that stickers do not stick well to this product so I am going to sand the area clean of renew, apply the stickers, then reapply the renew. We will see if that works.

I do have several semi faded pieces of Pilot plastic in my garage to experiment with on my next trip home. If you can hold on for a couple of weekends, I will try it.

Got a couple of coats of that ceramic alum 1200 degree paint on the exhaust pipe. It held up great for the last 2-3 years.

Any more questions, fire away.

Gary

Looks good to me ..

you guys with all your 3rd gen atc's make me sooo jealous. those things never come up for sale out here.

Did you ever use the meguires PlastX during the process?

Not yet, but I think a polish/wax job when done couldn't hurt anything.

Front fork seals are leaking bad so that's next and the front boots are cracking up so I guess I better do them too.

Toys, its a never ending job, or is it just mine?

I don't think your alone on that one :) I have at least 5 projects ready and waiting.