Jump to content
IGNORED

System Case Finish Restoration


smiller

Recommended Posts

Has anyone cracked the secret of restoring the wrinkle finish to system cases after surface damage has been sanded out? I've seen a tip to use a soft blow hammer and a Scotchbtrite pad but unfortunately that doesn't seem to work for me at all. Has anyone figured out out to do a decent job of this?

 

I'm not sure if BMW could have possibly picked a more difficult finish to work on... virtually any effort you make to repair even the most minor dings and scratches just ends up making it look worse...

Link to comment

I sometimes work with many species of plastics and acrylics and my only thought would be bead blasting the surface with a number 00 or 01 grit glass bead. But how would you restore the sheen to the finish, as bead blasting would make the finish dull.

 

That's a tough one for sure and my mind is spinning on that one. eek.gif Maybe a hand rub plasitic polish after the bead blast process. confused.gif

 

Let us now what you come up with

Link to comment
But how would you restore the sheen to the finish, as bead blasting would make the finish dull.

 

That's a tough one for sure and my mind is spinning on that one. eek.gif Maybe a hand rub plasitic polish after the bead blast process. confused.gif

 

Perhaps a quick blast from a heat gun?

Link to comment
But how would you restore the sheen to the finish, as bead blasting would make the finish dull.

 

That's a tough one for sure and my mind is spinning on that one. eek.gif Maybe a hand rub plasitic polish after the bead blast process. confused.gif

 

Perhaps a quick blast from a heat gun?

 

A new case lid would certainly have the correct sheen and finish.

grin.gif

Link to comment

Since it's ABS and any sanding or blasting creates fiberous ridges of sorts.

 

Eric's suggestion in theory would work but ABS dosen't respond to heat in the way other plastics might. Be it burning, melting, charing, black smoking... you know

 

ABS responds to chemical reaction though using I think MEK in a spray gun would seal it back up. If it 's not MEK it's whatever the prep stuff for fitting ABS pipes is. That stuff.

Link to comment
Perhaps a quick blast from a heat gun?
Tried that actually (on my 'test' lid), thought that it might soften the material enough so that I could texture it. Found out that while the case lid appears to be single wall it is actually two thin walls sandwiched together and if you heat the exterior surface enough to allow for texturing the plastic it will also sink in a bit... and once that happens you're finished.

 

A new case lid would certainly have the correct sheen and finish.
I am no stranger to the 'new case lid' method... just getting tired of it. And of course it's overkill for the minor stuff.

 

 

I guess I will have to settle for the 'just live with it' method... smirk.gif

Link to comment

Someone here not too long ago posted that after sanding, they used a chore boy (or similar type material) to do this. The marbled texture was achieved by hitting the chore boy with a hammer, various forces, which restored the texture, and then applied back to black to restore the deeper color and sheen. Obviously the finish would need to be applied at some frequency to maintain the sheen.

Link to comment
Perhaps a quick blast from a heat gun?
Tried that actually (on my 'test' lid), thought that it might soften the material enough so that I could texture it. Found out that while the case lid appears to be single wall it is actually two thin walls sandwiched together and if you heat the exterior surface enough to allow for texturing the plastic it will also sink in a bit... and once that happens you're finished.

 

Quote:

 

But how would you restore the sheen to the finish, as bead blasting would make the finish dull.

 

That's a tough one for sure and my mind is spinning on that one. Maybe a hand rub plasitic polish after the bead blast process.

 

 

 

Seth, my suggestion of heat was to attempt to restore the sheen to a bead blasted dulled finish.

Link to comment
how would you restore the sheen to the finish, as bead blasting would make the finish dull.

 

 

Your local Honda dealer has a plastic conditioner spray designed to deal with scratches and damage to the Honda Element's plastic unpainted panels. Sprays on like a laquer clearcoat and "melts" into the plastic like polystyrene model glue. Works well on their panels, and I am confident it would work on the BMW luggage nicely.

Link to comment
Laffo IBA#34115
How is surface damage happening to everyone's cases, anyway?

 

Tipovers?

 

All of my case lid scuffs are from passengers dismounting and dragging their boots across the left case cover although I went through a narrow gate recently and caught the right one a little and then I caught the edge of a trailer once....

Link to comment

Not swinging my right leg high enough to avoid hitting to tops of the cases.

 

Ditto. Thinking of doing the Duplicolor temporary bra thing - at least it's a preventative of some sort.

Link to comment
I am not an anal perfectionist, but I have used scotchbrite followed by Mother's "Back to Black" to my satisfaction.

 

I tried that with high hopes, but wasn't sure how hard I could get away with hitting it before breaking something. I ended up producing a network of fine scratches which does serve to break up the surface sheen a bit (so it's better than nothing) but isn't really very close to the original texture. I know there is something out there that would work better, using the same general principal. With all the brainpower on this list, can it be an insoluble problem? smile.gif

 

Lee

2002 R1150RT

Link to comment

 

It is not a wrinkle finish. It is called "texturing", and is commonly used on most plastic injection molded parts to hide imperfections, and make scratches less visible. The premier company that applies texture to molds is Mold Tech (http://www.mold-tech.com/). Texturing is a metal etching process that is applied to the actual molds themselves.

Link to comment

I't tough to restore the lids but consider painting them to match the bike vs. buying new ones that may get scuffed again. With color matched lids if you scuff them it's a breeze to polish them out! Plus painted lids are much easier to keep clean and make the bike look finished.

Link to comment

What works for me is sanding down the scratch with 0000 steel wool in a circular pattern,washing and drying, and then spraying the area with Krylon satin black.

Link to comment

Back about 10 years ago I had paint overspray on the side cases of my K100RT. I bead blasted the cases and finished them with Semi-Gloss Laquer. I still have that bike and the surface of the cases has held up well.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...