quadtrx...are those before and after photos of the fender after the torch? it almost looks like new plastic!! I also have some scratched fenders on my son's 400ex, did you use a propane torch, and how far away do you keep the flame? did you just keep applying heat until it looked shiny, or did you have to clean and polish it afterward? I would like to get a shine like that on the fenders, I sanded down the scratches, now just need a way to get the shine back. Would a commercial grade heat gun work? I got one that will melt solder at close range, that should be equal to a torch, shouldnt it? Let me know exactly how you did that, looks like good results !!

 

yes I sanded down fenders (even were not scratches) and then took a torch propane torch (blue tank and screw on top) and then were the blue flame stops hold it a bought a 1/2 inch or so away. you have to get a feel for it at first if you go a little and stop and it turns white ish dont worry go over it some more. then i took some polish and applied that, wasnt plastic polish so plastic polish may make it look even better.

 

I don't think a heat gun will work because it heats up a huge area and the entire plastic would melt. A torch can be pinpointed to just skim the surface where the scratches are.

 

PIC: Armour All'd seat n fenders, did this about a week or 2 ago, havnt touched it much since, and it still looks like that. (better than it was)

 

(Put your mouse on pic for better view): Armour All

 

I used the torch method on my DS650 to get rid of the sanding scratches from the previous owner when he painted it. It would have worked better, but it still had paint in the deep scratches and it made a mess. You have to be careful not go get too big of area too hot or the plastic will curl and warp and is hard to get back to the correct shape again, I just kind of flashed the torch over it, it melts the polyethylene pretty fast.

 

I never sanded it - It just looked sanded. I did a small test piece by sanding and heating and you really have to watch what you’re doing with the heat. In fact the piece melted out of shape a bit - not worth it. The smaller the pieces the more risk. Large intact pieces may work better. The Future floor finish brings on the shine with a thin acrylic shell.