Restoring plastics

[Mudrig150 328]

I have a bunch of plastic stuff that needs repair.

 

I have a steering wheel that is super faded, I want to keep the original patina but the fading is driving me crazy and the roughness makes it uncomfortable to use it to steer.

 

I have a handle knob, it's supposed to be orange but it's turned brown from sun exposure. The browning goes pretty deep.

 

What would be the fixes for these issues?

[rmaynard 16,292]

VHT Vinyl dye.

[WHNJ701 4,165]

depends on what it's off of, if its replaceable throw it out and find a better one.  or if it's an uncommon steering wheel,  I already sat for hours with a dremel grinding out cracks then filling and sanding then repainting.  

[76c12091520h 3,895]

On a lot of the old plastics, you can use a heat gun to bring the colors back out; just don't get it too hot! Won't help with any texturing issues though.

[ZXT 2,401]

52 minutes ago, 76c12091520h said:

On a lot of the old plastics, you can use a heat gun to bring the colors back out; just don't get it too hot! Won't help with any texturing issues though.

 

That's what I was going to suggest. I've used it on numerous plastic things, generally plastic trim on cars with great success. I took a heat gun to the plastic trim (bumpers, tailgate) on my 99 Dodge Ram that had baked in the Texas sun for 19 years, and it brought the color back. When I traded the truck for my Porsche back in July, It had been about a year since I did it and it still looked very good. 

 

I've been around quite a few old cars, and I've known of numerous people who have taken JB weld or some other epoxy of their liking and filled cracks and pits on steering wheels. After it has dried, they sand it down to a smooth finish, paint it, and you can't tell there was ever a crack.

 

The best thing you can do on ancient plastic is seal it completely. If you coat whatever it is you're working on in some sort of epoxy, smooth it out and paint it, it'll last a very long time. 

Edited December 7, 2019 by ZXT