Scratched plastic

[Nick]

I recently bought an aftermarket tank for my XR but it has a very rough finish. I need to sand it down and restore it. Does anyone have any tips on how to get those fine sandpaper scratches out and to restore the plastic to a shiny haze-free finish?
Cheers.
Nick

 

[BignTall]

Nick - The difficulty with plastics it's abilikty for paint to adhere. On a tank I would worry through osmosis the fumes making it even more difficult. They do paint plastics over here and it works for awhile but not permanent. On one discolored XR tank i just had vinyl seat cover material fitted and sewn up into a cover that worked quite well.

 

[Nick]

Thanks guys. But its a red plastic tank - so the colour is already there and it doesn't need painting. I came across this magic potion on the web http://www.pcracingusa.com/plasticrenew.php - it will solve my problems. I wonder if there is anything like it available locally?
Nick

 

[Robin Holmes]

Hi Nick, the answer is very fine "1200 grade wet or dry sandpaper" and then a "Sizal brush" used in the plastic window industry to polish out scratches. First use the fine sandpaper wet with a little washing up liquid and then use the brush if you can get one. Other than that use quite a rough toweling material and a lot of hard elbow grease. The sort of plastic used for tanks will not take paint.

 

[jon]

Nick,the tank is colour impregnated, so what about sand or bead blasting?