working with side covers

[goggles]

I have several questions about side covers.

1. Is the original color painted on them or part of the plastic?

2. What type of plastic are they made of?

3. Has anyone found something which will polish the plastic and help remove scratches?


Thanks in advance!

[Steve]

1. Paint.

2. ABS

3.

.

[harley10]

Now i got a good laugh out of that, funnnnny

[Redman]

I have several questions about side covers.

1. Is the original color painted on them or part of the plastic?

2. What type of plastic are they made of?

3. Has anyone found something which will polish the plastic and help remove scratches?


Thanks in advance!

1. THe ones I have worked with (82 650G, 80 850G, 82 1100GK, 86 Honda Shadow 500) the color is in the plastic. There is an outer layer that is harder so can shine/polish it. The inner layer is about same color but not exactly, and is softer, I suspect so the whole thing has some flexability to it. The stripes are decals (one decal even if two color stripes.)

2. ABS.
I have not done it but have seen other posts about being able to repair by cutting up other ABS plaastic into small pieces and dissolving in MEK solvent to make a paste / slurry.
twr1776 has posted recently about some other product that worked well, some powder and some solvent.

3. I have used a product called Plastix, available in autoparts stores. Is a plastic cleaner. Is a fine grit polish. If polish too hard and too long in one place, you can grind away the top surface and get into the material inside that is duller. But that is hard to do, but I did once, was rubbing back-n-forth on one spot trying to take out too deep of a scratch (more of a gouge). So keep buffing in a circlular motion.


.

[oldgrumpy]

I have several questions about side covers.

1. Is the original color painted on them or part of the plastic?

2. What type of plastic are they made of?

3. Has anyone found something which will polish the plastic and help remove scratches?


Thanks in advance!

........................there,s a dealer that was mentioned on our site selling basic gs1000 side covers with no decal holes ,,,i think 50 bucks regards oldgrumpy

[goggles]

Thanks for the replies.

I have an 1980 GS550L so I do not think the gs1000 would work. Besides just wanted to clean up the ones i have.

[cableguy]

I've read on past threads that Lego pieces dissolved in acetone make a good slurry.

[wera90ex]

[QUOTE=goggles;1830956]I have several questions about side cover

3. Has anyone found something which will polish the plastic and help remove scratches?

You didn't specify color

[exdirtbiker]

I think I just found that Powesportspro has 79 GS1000L sidecovers available for $50 each. new.
prob not painted = wrong color ???

[Road Rash]

I've used ABS cement to make repairs and fill hole in ABS bike parts. I think all it is is ABS disolved in a solvent.

[ddaniels]

I'm not sure about the side covers for the '80 550L, but the ones I've dealt with had primer and paint on them. Is the bottom of your scratch the same color as the outer surface? Probably hard to tell without making it bigger.

[tatu]

Ordinary metal polish is good for plastic.

[mharrington]

I have done a few sets of plastic side covers and other ABS components. I sanded the parts down to the bare plastic. Washed thoroughly with a scotch brite and dish washing liquid. Wiped down with a wax/grease remover and primed. I used a filler primer and wet sanded with 600 grit until scratches were filled. On another component I used a spot putty over the primer- applied it with an old credit card.

[retcol]

Beautiful job, I love it!

[goggles]

If I was going to paint that is obviously the way to go. Just trying to clean up some side covers I got off ebay.