Scratches in Plastic

[captcueball]

My Pt is a cargo carrier...I use it to haul around my sculptures, tools and materials and such...so I've acquired some small scratches and scrapes in the dark plastic in the cargo area...anything I can do to make these abrasions any less noticeable...My PT is not a show car...but I like to show it some love..and do my best to make it look the best it can while still being a "working" man.

any suggestions?

[chris15]

Would you mind taking some pics possibly? Are you referring to the plastic panels on the interior of the car, or are you referring to the bumper guard that's on top of your rear bumper?

[Candyman]

Hey their captcueball,

I agree, if you could please post a couple of pic's of the damage, I would be more than happy to see if I could help figure out a plan to repair it.

Candyman

[captcueball]

will do ...
but yeah it's the plastic panels in the interior

I'll upload pics when I get home

[soonercruiser]

Agree! If you post pics we can make recommendations.
Even with my light hauling, golf clubs, and custom step pad, I get dark scuffs on the light tan interior vinyl. Most of the time an abrasionless powder, like Barkeeper's Friend, or Bon Ami on a soft cloth will rub them out. But, if you have deep scratches, you will likely have to sand them out first.

[Duster]

He's talking about the hard plastic cargo panel.


Well...sanding the scratch down aside, I can't see what you can do.

Anyway, since the thing is textured, anything that you may try will be as noticeable than the scratch itself.


Anyone?

[808]

I see what you mean, Duster, about the textures. You're talking about this ripples right? Yeah that would be noticeable to have flat spots.

Well as soon as captcueball posts up some pictures, it can be judged better..

[captcueball]

Duster is correct..they are scratches on the dark interior panels of textured plastic..
I really don't mind if they are smooth as long as they are not white...
I believe that sanding them will make the surface look white..unless there is a way to paint the resurfacing to match.
like I said before...it's not a show car...but it has taken a little more abuse then I would like..
the Cruiser does me good and i have alot to thank it for..
time to show it some love and fix her up a bit.

again thanks for the advice and sorry for the delay in the pictures.

[Duster]

Those panels aren't painted but made of deep colored plastic.

So even if you sand them down, you're not supposed to see any other colour than grey.

I'd be a little bit concerned about the "fluffy" look of sanded plastic that may look whitish though...but if you use the proper (small size) grit at the end to flatten all the thing down, everything should be ok.

[soonercruiser]

.....an then, lots of paint stores will color match, and make you some spray paint bottles.