Interior / Exterior Visual TechThis section contains discussion related to visual modifications of the Toyota FJ Cruiser. Some items might include dash kits, roof rack modifications and other visual modifications.
Saw this on the Trucks tv show on TBS. They say to go over the scratch areas as well as the dented area with a heat gun. When the surface get a sheen to it you stop. Then you take a 3M scratch pad and rough it up till the shine is gone. The episode was the second chance silverado.
My wife manages a used car lot and they see lots of damaged plastic. She said that the interior guy heats up the plastic with a heat gun then presses a celulite sponge into it to duplicate the texture. She told me it works rather well.
There are some products similar to the older (for those that remember) vinyl repair kits.
The hard part is matching the texture. You have to create a mold from an unmarred area then apply a thin layer of color matched latex on a well prepared surface, release agent on the mold, press lightly and so on.
In short it is PITA and pretty much an art to match it correctly and if the surface wasn't prepared right it will eventually peal off. I've done it once with limited success. I'm eventually going the bead liner route. It will be much easier to apply and repair should it ever need it.
Prevention is better than a cure. For prevention in the future, a $5 moving blanket from Harbor Freight tossed back there works wonders. They are huge and really thick. Mine is 6x8.
Stacked 65 landscape bricks on it and not one scratch on anything.
I'd like to see that heat gun and sponge thing in action. Have your wife take a video the next time a guy does it. How do they keep the sponge from sticking to the soft plastic or melting itself when it comes in contact? Defintely interested in the technique.
Prevention is better than a cure. For prevention in the future, a $5 moving blanket from Harbor Freight tossed back there works wonders. They are huge and really thick. Mine is 6x8.
Stacked 65 landscape bricks on it and not one scratch on anything.
I'd like to see that heat gun and sponge thing in action. Have your wife take a video the next time a guy does it. How do they keep the sponge from sticking to the soft plastic or melting itself when it comes in contact? Defintely interested in the technique.
Actually the heat gun method could work really well. I would recommend a cellulose or natural sponge not synthetic. Synthetic will be more likely to melt from the heat gun. I think I'm going to give this a try.
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