Hi All,

I am in the middle of doing a cosmetic restoration on Fantic 245 and am ready to start on front and rear guards.  They have not gone to a state that justifies replacement, but there are some age related scratches as you would expect and age related tarnishing to the plastic.  I'm not trying to make them look new but respectable before applying new sticker kit.  Anyone else out there been up against the same task and how have they talked it?

Any advise gratefully appreciated,  Thanks.

 

This is the best tutorial I could find, it shows the whole process sped up, with captions telling you what grade of wet and dry to use. It's well worth a watch, especially as the results are so good.

I haven't done this myself yet, one day I'll get around to it.

My son recently restored a pretty ropey Fantic 200 tank using similar methods. The most important thing is making as stand as shown to hold the tank, worth the effort, followed by a good radio station and take your time. It does work .

Back in the day I used to use cream cleaner for sinks with a hard plastic brush and it did a reasonable job of cleaning the surface.

Rub it down as best you can then prime it with plastic primer and then 2 or 3 coats of 2k paint and it will look better than new remember to paint the insides of the mudguards first or it will look s-- t when you build it up

Has anyone tried 'Plexus'..?    It works extremely well on Perspex and Plexiglass, as it contains a plasticiser, which keeps the plastic supple.

I have some that I use on wind-shields and visors, but I don't have any other plastic motor cycle parts to try it on.

.

Practice first on some similar plastic. The scratches can be gently smoothed  by using a Stanley type blade held in the fingers. Protect yourself from cuts tape up the blade so only the knife edge is showing or use a suitable holder. Drag the blade along and over the scratch pretty much like a carpenters plane, in fact a miniature plane is ideal. This scraping action also removes not just the scratch but the faded colour. Wet and dry paper with a bar of soap rubbed onto the paper will help bring back the finish. Aerosol plastic cleaner from a hardware supplier will also help to bring back the finish. Cream cleaner for plastic window frames works really well. I used all of these methods on my 199A Bultaco 350 plastic tank, I also had to plastic weld the underside of the tank on the right side due to the exhaust melting the bottom. I presume that the last owner sat some one on the tank and hey presto instant fuel leak☹️My welding cured it?

Edited January 4, 20188 yr by section swept
Spelling

Careful use of a hot air gun can restore colour to `bruised` plastics.