LureheadEd

Just got a '04 FX4 about 2 weeks ago... The plastic is really faded...After trying a few different products, I read about the "heat gun"...I've been working with plastics for 40+ yrs., thought I'd give it a try on the cowling before I bought a new set...Not new looking, but a whole lot better...

Slobra

That's amazing! I wonder how long that will hold up, a while I'd imagine. What kind of heat gun did you use?

ophidia

How did you do this with a heat gun? The plastics on my wife's Mountaineer look like that. Might be an easy touch up.

LureheadEd

I used an old Black and Decker Heat n Strip gun...There are some Youtube videos to watch...Apparently those guys have done it a few times...Patience is the key, it won't go as fast as they do...Try to get it to change color slowly by lightly heating the surface first, then go over it again and again...DON'T HURRY IT ! You will MELT the surface if you leave the heat on one spot too long...Especially at a crack or break in the plastic..I'm not sure, but I believe what the heat is doing is causing the plasticizers to rise to the surface...The more faded the longer it takes...And the surface plasticizers that are gone did not "evaporate?" at a constant rate, so the the finish still has a variable surface ...The average person would'nt notice, but us owners will.. It does not look new, but sure beats buying another set...I'm sure if I put some sort of treatment on it, it'd look better, but there's just to many corners for me to waste time on it, especially after it washes off...I'd rather see how long this lasts, then redo it if I have to...Total time (with the grandkids bugging me) was a bit over 3 hrs...

Oh, the washer spray hose Y splitter just crumbled when I was taking the hoses off, just replaced with a Tee...And don't heat the spray nozzles too much, it will distort the spray pattern...

And different plastics with different formulations will respond at different speeds, test a small out of the way area before you start...I'm sure this will work any plastics with imbedded color, definitely not on painted surfaces so be very careful about overheating them...