Shiny, Happy Fenders

What do you do on a cool, windy morning in the fall? It is too windy to rake leaves.

Let’s see, abundant and cheap electricity, a heat gun and faded 18 year old Jeep fender flares, now that an idea.

The problem with the black plastic Jeep fender flares is they fade to a dark gray haze in a few years. You could paint them if the stuff would stick. All of the vinyl stuff like Armor All, baby oil, etc. just soaks in and turns back to faded black before your eyes.

I read on a Jeep forum where you could take a heat gun and rejuvenate the finish on these fenders many times. It beats replacing them at a cost of $125.

I gave it a try this morning and it seems to work. First I cleaned the fender with Windex to remove as much dead plastic as I could. Then I evenly heated the surface until the underlying plastic became shiny. I then cleaned it again and repeated the process.

Finally I gave it a good coating of Amour All and a final coat of WD 40.

They turned out great. I will see how long this lasts, but for now this is a good cosmetic fix and a money savor on the fix up.

I ordered my 2 inch lift kit this morning. This will raise the overall stance of the Jeep and is supposed to improve the handling. Plus it is another nice cosmetic touch.

5 comments:

none said...

I read strong vinegar is good for that and dull rubber seals.

Your method looks really good.

Michael said...

We've spent another day on the Land Rovers. The only visible change is the front panel, where the headlights and radiator grill reside, as well as the radiator behind the panel, are gone, leaving a gaping hole in front under the bonnet.

We didn't actually get the engines out and swapped, but every nut, bolt, wire, hose, tube and whatever else is under there connecting the engines to the rest of the rover is disconnected. Tomorrow when the engine crane arrives, we're ready for the swap. Then we have to reverse everything we did today (except we don't have to drop the disabled engine back in the junker and re-connect it).

Michael said...

When we're done, the Orange Rover, re-christened today "The Great Pumpkin", will cosmetically look just like it did before we started, worse actually, if you look under the bonnet, because the engine we're dropping in has experienced a little more weather and is rustier, on the outside. BUT... it should run!

Anonymous said...

Your ingenuity allowed you to save money for a brand new fender! Good job!

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