[starquest]

I'm beginning to research restoring the trimwork on my vehicle. These are all exterior parts of the car. The car is a 1987 Chrysler Conquest. All original trim is disscontinued from the manufacturer and there is no aftermarket...thus leading me to restore my current trim. Fortunately I have 15 years of junkyard collection parts for this car, so I am able to use the best pieces that I have....however none of them are in good enough condition to justify installing on the 9 year restoration of my car.


So basically I have two types of items in which I would like to restore:

1. Rubber coated trimwork (ie window trim). This basically is a carbon steel sheetmetal framework that has been coated with a thick rubber. For the most part, I have a full set of trimwork that isn't ripped or cracked or rusted. However the surface of the rubber is old and weathered.

2. ABS Plastic. These pieces of ABS plastic are not painted and never have been painted from the factory. THey are dyed a satin black color originally and again are weathered and faded from age.


My preliminary research is pointing me to SEM products to restore these parts. Basically to re-dye them or paint them. What are some of your thoughts? SEM has a couple of technical manual on trim/plastic restoration but they are essentially very vague and basically just push using a million of their products. I was hoping to find some better info on the proper techniques of restoring this type of trimwork....or maybe even finding a company that would restore them for me. Also SEM mostly references restoring interior components with a few statements saying that their products work on exterior as well. I'd love to hear some feedback on others who have used their products.

Thanks,
Kevin

[DanTwoLakes]

SEM products are a great choice. They do make a product specifically for exterior trim parts. Here's what you need: CLICK HERE For ABS, you can use Classic Coat aerosols, Color coat aerosols, or the Trim Black. It helps if you use # 38363 Sand Free as an adhesion promoter on the ABS parts.

[starquest]

Thanks! That is very helpful. I didn't see the trim black product when I was browsing their website last night!

Also, my local paint jobber is an SEM dealer. Cool!

Kevin

[DanTwoLakes]

Their web site is very tough to navigate. They also make a Charcoal Trim Metallic, a gloss version of Trim Black, and a clear for trim and wheels.