Polishing plastic

[withac]

Okay, so I pull the bow-tie off my grill last night and clean it all up to paint it. The outside/front looks like someone tried to buff it with a fine grade steal wool so it has a flat finish not a glossy one. Is there any way to polish that up or am I S.O.L.?

 

[Yuke2K]

Well, I would say that you can start with progressively finer grades of wet sanding paper to restore the smooth finish, then maybe try some plastic polishing compound on a mothers powerball or similar rotary ball polisher. Flitz polish works great on pretty much everything, and leaves a protective coat.

I don't know how much finish thickness you have to work with since I've never seen one of the chevy emblems up close, but that seems like it would be your only option to restore a decent finish.

But, if you're trying to paint it, wouldn't you want to leave a little bit of a rough surface? Paint needs a toothy surface to adhere to....

 

[withac]

Well, I would say that you can start with progressively finer grades of wet sanding paper to restore the smooth finish, then maybe try some plastic polishing compound on a mothers powerball or similar rotary ball polisher. Flitz polish works great on pretty much everything, and leaves a protective coat.

I don't know how much finish thickness you have to work with since I've never seen one of the chevy emblems up close, but that seems like it would be your only option to restore a decent finish.

But, if you're trying to paint it, wouldn't you want to leave a little bit of a rough surface? Paint needs a toothy surface to adhere to....

Nope, you paint the back side then the paint never chips and if the plastic is still shiny you have a glossy finish without an over coat.

 

[Yuke2K]

Nope, you paint the back side then the paint never chips and if the plastic is still shiny you have a glossy finish without an over coat.

Ahhhh, gotcha. That makes sense. In that case, you can probably follow the procedure I outlined above, and end up with really good results. Use the finest grade of sandpaper you can find, unless there are deeper scratches and stuff that you need to get out first. Shouldn't take much sanding to get the emblem ready for the polish. Once you take some flitz (or whatever polish you want to use) to it, it should really shine up.

 

[withac]

I used 1000 grit wet/dry sand paper then took my orbital buffer and Meguiar's #83 Dual Action Polisher to it. Maybe not showroom new look but da 'Ho is a 2000 and I'd say it looks like what you'd expect for an 8 year old ride. Maybe I'll try and post up a pick when I get it put back.