Body and paint folks

[NC Tom]

The plastic body panels on my wife's Honda are showing their age. Anyone know how to restore them without going to a professional?

 

 

[89 MJ]

The clear coat is coming off. The only way to fix it is with a repaint. 

[Billabob]

Problems like this get significantly harder to fix once you've worn past the clear coat since you can't just buff down and re-clear. You MIGHT be able to scuff up the surface and clear coat over that but it will require some skill and a paint gun, this route will at least keep the paint wear uniform across the whole car and prevent any further damage. If you're going for looks, paint touch ups can be done for much cheaper than people think but having a shiny new quarter panel is going to look very out of place.

[NC Tom]

29 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

The clear coat is coming off. The only way to fix it is with a repaint. 

The parts that are bad are plastic. I was wondering if there is a way to remove the old clear and just reapply some sort of DIY friendly clear. I don't think repaint is needed since the color goes all the way through. 

[Pete M]

what about painting them black as a contrast color?

[NC Tom]

11 hours ago, Pete M said:

what about painting them black as a contrast color?

I thought about black or dark gray, but I thought it might like too much like a patch.

 

Does Acetone remove old clear coat?

[Pete M]

I'm sure it'll look weird at first simply because it's a change, but it's common now a days for manufacturers to black out the B and/or C pillars.

 

 

[NC Tom]

On 2/15/2023 at 9:34 AM, Pete M said:

I'm sure it'll look weird at first simply because it's a change, but it's common now a days for manufacturers to black out the B and/or C pillars.

Agree. However, all the plastic parts are pealing the clear. Bumpers, pillars, roof deflector, license plate area. It if was just the pillars, black it is, but I don't think all the others would look right. I don't want my wife looking like she commutes from the ghetto! 

I'll keep looking around.