Buell plastic scratch removal

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Thank you for this detailed tutorial Cooter. I have some scratched plastics but most need only be cleaned and prepped for primer. You are an expert polisher do you have a portion of your sanding process that one could stop and hand over to the painter for the base prime? I would like to take a load off the cost and do some of this myself with an extra set of skins in preparation for paint. Thanks again for your time and presentation here... excellent!
 
Cooter said:
For paint, I'd just use a DA sander and 240 grit then hand it to them. It's not like the parts will have dents! Buellybagger would know way more than me about paint though.
Click to expand...

Great thread cooter! If anyone doesn't already believe the merit of his sanding and buffing procedure it gets a big :up: from a professional painter.


For anyone wanting to prep for paint: just like when preparing to polish the parts, deep imperfections may require going to a lower grit and working your way back up. I would say for most paint systems that anything more coarse than 600 grit and a red scotch brite for prepping will require a coat of primer, then sand , then sealer or base (depending on paint system). plastics tend to get "furry" spots with coarser sanding, especially if you're lazy like me and use a DA so i usually just prep the parts for primer so I've got a nice uniform and most importantly "adhered" surface to apply paint to. But as with anything there are a million and one "right" ways to do things. So if you're paying a pro to do it, let them be your guide, they might do it a bit different than i do! :D

Again great buffing thread Cooter!!:very_drunk:CHEERS!

EDIT: yep 240 would be fine for primer, i go to 320, tends to leave less fuzzies. Also hand sanding instead of power will leave less fuzzy spots...
 
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I did this on my black "flyscreen" on my ulyses (windscreen snaps to this) and spent 2 days sanding it. Ended with using soapy water and 2000 grit wet/dry paper. Get all done and it still has dull appearance and is not shiny. Is that to be expected?

I tried clearcoating it with 3 different brands, all of them did this weird thing where they would kind of bead up and then it looked like ****. Prior to clearcoating, I washed it with a rag and soap then rinsed it. Then once dry I clearcoated it. But even if I do VERY light coats, it still gets a pebbled look from it reacting weird with the plastic.
 
Thanks for the kudos Buelly! I know you're a pro-painter and that means a lot:)

cknapp: If you want it glossy you are so close!

Since the screen is now wet-sanded with 2000 thats great! It will still be dull at that point. All you need to do now is follow the polishing instructions above ^^^^ and it will be as glossy as brand new:up:

OR

If you'd rather paint it (clear coat is painting), then re-sand the whole thing with 600 to give the paint something to 'grip' to and then you can paint it with clear coat. Several light coats is the way to go.
 
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Yeah I tried buffing. But I had bought a crappy orbital 1-speed polisher on sale for $15 lol. It didn't seem to do anything. The polish I was using was some kind of McGuires polish compound; maybe it was TOO fine? I also tried some stuff called "Wizards" it was some old crap my dad gave me a few years ago.

Anyway, I already clear coated it and it looks okay, still kind of ****ty, but I just wanted to be able to ride so I didn't care anymore haha. Maybe I'll strip the clearcoat, re-sand it with the 1500 or 2000 (can't remember what I used exactly) and then try buffing it with a better buffing machine.
 
The orbital thing would be good to put wax on stuff with but thats the very last step. I'd recommend an actual buffing/polishing machine with a cotton and foam wheel. Even a cheap variable speed one at Harbor freight is only $25.

You have to do it all in order. Using the wrong stuff can be a step back so make sure what you are using goes from coarse to progressively finer.

You were right there after wet-sanding with 2000! 10 more minutes of polishing with the right stuff and you'd be done!
 
I will certainly give it another go. I hate the clear coat, looks cheap and crappy.

Also, a side note, my stock windscreen had some pretty deep gouges in it as well. I tried sanding that but since it's clear, it didn't really work too well. Do you have any positive experience restoring those? For now, I just painted mine black and it looks okay...
 
What can you lose? It can't look worse:)

Because the solvent has eaten the clear plastic, make sure you spend the most time on step one (the coarsest grit). The more time you spend to get the nicest and most uniform finish at the first step, will save you massive amounts of time and effort as you go through the simple process.
 
Thanks @cooter!! I'm just now going through this process.
Also... if anyone has a Hero Blue Airbox cover that is still sexy... please hit a brother up. I want it.
 
flyscreen windshield plastics

A sunny day, a girl in tight leather in my riding group, hyperactive testosterone, a soy bean field.

20200318_175018.jpg

Following Coooter's procedure from the 1st post.*up to 2000 grit, with my own screw ups,

20200321_130243.jpg20200321_131330.jpg

Final at 2000 and Novus 2

20200323_133236.jpg

notes:
- 180 grit much too harsh
- skpping grits/steps makes the procedure longer and harder
- I have Novus 1-2-3 however I kept the matt black look as is for now
- Wet/dry sandpaper
- inexpensive variable speed 5" DA ; don't press too hard with the DA
- Skill during sanding/buffering is more important than tools/grits /pads/etc, following correct pressure and procedure
- tight leather pants are overrated
- thanks Cooter
 
slee said:
A sunny day, a girl in tight leather in my riding group, hyperactive testosterone, a soy bean field.

View attachment 13105

Following Coooter's procedure from the 1st post.*up to 2000 grit, with my own screw ups,

View attachment 13106View attachment 13107

Final at 2000 and Novus 2

View attachment 13104

notes:
- 180 grit much too harsh
- skpping grits/steps makes the procedure longer and harder
- I have Novus 1-2-3 however I kept the matt black look as is for now
- Wet/dry sandpaper
- inexpensive variable speed 5" DA ; don't press too hard with the DA
- Skill during sanding/buffering is more important than tools/grits /pads/etc, following correct pressure and procedure
- tight leather pants are overrated
- thanks Cooter
Click to expand...

She must've been hefty, saw you broke your dash too...
 

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