How do you polish plastic??
 

I was wondering about what was the best way to polish plastic?
What products do you need to use, and how do you go about it??
Some of the body kits out there retain the OEM rear end with the plastic polished, and I was curious about how I should go about it??

Thanks.

You're talking about the lower black "diffuser" and exhaust shrouds right?

Polishing that would first require that the texture be sanded out smooth, which would be an awful lot of work and would take quite a bit of patience to get just right. Then you'd need some polish:

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/compound4.html

... specifically formulated for plastic ... and some very soft buffs with lots of strands to keep the temperature down:

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/stringbuffs.html


After all that you're still going to have a black diffuser and shrouds ... just shiny.


I wouldn't consider all that work, particularly in the "mesh" areas. That would get insane. A better solution would be to build up the surface on these areas with a flexible, high-build automotive primer and sand that till smooth. essentially filling the texture. Then paint to match. A bodyshop will be "happy" to take your money to do this.

Your right, polishing the plastic seems like lots of work. Still, I might cosider doing the exhaust shrouds and back diffuser as I would want it black anyway. The mesh, I would leave, or replace with a metal substitute (maybe). I think I could live with a little texture as long as it's shiny, and it matches my bodykit.

Thanks for your advice and the links. I'll let you know what I decide to do...

spray it black and clear coat it...