Refurbishing crinkle plastic parts

Sooty09

Sooty09

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The last few BMWs I have had are covered in crinkle finish plastic parts.
Although they look good once damaged or scuffed seem impossible to refurbish. On my GS800 the hand guard touched the air inlet and left a smooth mark. On my GS1200 I have just scuffed the tank side panel adjacent to the BMW roundal.
Has anybody had success repairing this type of finish?
 
Sooty09 said:
The last few BMWs I have had are covered in crinkle finish plastic parts.
Although they look good once damaged or scuffed seem impossible to refurbish. On my GS800 the hand guard touched the air inlet and left a smooth mark. On my GS1200 I have just scuffed the tank side panel adjacent to the BMW roundal.
Has anybody had success repairing this type of finish?
Click to expand...

harley do small touchup pots of crinkle finish paint for the engine and it works very well, that might be of use for you.
 
You can buy vinyl repair kits that have a paste, dyes and a load of different textured paper. I repaired a score in my GSA fuel tank with it to pretty good effect. It's not invisible but it's pretty good. Frost does the kit by the way.
 
Polypropylene is pretty much non-stick so hard to paint. But there are tack primers that can be used under the flexible plastic primer. Clean the plastic, repair any damage, use the tac primer followed by normal plastic primer and finally paint.

This is a complex process for car bumpers. Refinishing specialists might have other options.

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_6456660_paint-plastic-car-bumper.html
 
Another thought - How about the tack primer with a graphic film wrap over the top? If it gets damaged just replace the film.

Sorted :)
 
I have used primers specially designed for plastics and they seem to work ok, the overpainted and lacquered surface ends up glossy rather than matt/crinkly but it looks ok and the paint seems to last.
 
I once did a polyprop top box to see if its possible. And yes, it works well, but any damage to the new paint is a nightmare to repair. The paint will peel off where its been hit. It wont go further unless you scrape it, but the paint edges stand proud and cant be flatted smooth.

Also if the polyprop is damaged there is no filler that will reliably stick. It would have to go over the tack and paint primer which makes flatting down a problem. Its all too easy to rub through and you are back with the damaged paint problem.

So -
Bad news (1) Any future damage to the paint and the whole lot will have to be stripped.

Bad news (2) Damage to the original base plastic can't be filled and filling over the tack & primer layers is fraught with problems

Good news Polypropylene is not affected by Nitromors.

If I ever need to refinish mine I'll go with film wrapping or eBay.

BTW, how would you remove the BMW logo badges?
 
My badges are stuck to the pressed metal tank front trim using a double sided adhesive tape. The damaged badge prised away from the metal easily. The old one had two tabs so it lined up in the correct position, my new one has no tabs so its a challange to set it right, probably only get 1 shot.
 
Sooty09 said:
My badges are stuck to the pressed metal tank front trim using a double sided adhesive tape. The damaged badge prised away from the metal easily. The old one had two tabs so it lined up in the correct position, my new one has no tabs so its a challange to set it right, probably only get 1 shot.
Click to expand...

Offer the badge up to the tank.

Using something like a white correction marker, mark the edge of the badge and mark the tank with a simple line, say at 3o'clock. Mark the other side at 9 o'clock. It should now be reasonably easy to line up reasonably neatly.
 
A pair of eyebrow tweezers (dont tell the Mrs) at 9 o'clock and 3 o'clock allow you to see what you are doing as you lower the badge into place.

Gaffa tape stuck face to face leaving two tabs to stick to the badge front face can also work. Use the tab to align the badge, press down when ready and peel of the gaffa tape.
 
I did a pretty good job on a scratched pannier once. Sanded out the mark, then poured on some thinners and stippled the sticky plastic with paper or rags.

High risk strategy, but it worked for me.
 
Thanks for all the advice, badge back on and level. New plug cover fitted, hammerited the rocker box so its all looking reasonable. I purchased a second hand side panel but its different from mine, its smooth plastic and in a worse state than mine. The dealer will take it back and explained to me almost all this type of BM panels available second hand have the same damage, they almost always roll over onto it in a minor spill.
Ill try a bit of thinners on mine to mask the damage.
I have just seen a set of red painted tank panels on ebuy, Iv never seen any other than black.
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
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