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fading rubber/plastic trim on 850

Help, Advice and DIY Tutorials on Volvo's P80 platform cars -- Volvo's 1990s "bread and butter" cars -- powered by the ubiquitous and durable Volvo inline 5-cylinder engine.

1992 - 1997 850, including 850 R, 850 T-5R, 850 T-5, 850 GLT
1997 - 2000 S70, S70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70, V70 AWD
1997 - 2000 V70-XC
1997 - 2004 C70

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duane
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fading rubber/plastic trim on 850

Post by duane »

Does anyone know of a good product I can put on the black trim of my wagon? Ive tried a couple, Armorall ect but after a day it looks just as bad.

thanks

White850Turbo
Posts: 923
Joined: 11 April 2004
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Location: Plano, TX

Post by White850Turbo »

Many people have had success with cleaning the bumper very well, masking the paint off, and using a couple layers of black Kiwi shoe dye. Make sure it's the dye and not the polish. It comes in a tall skinny container.
-Sean

1995 850 Turbo (Extensively Modded)

1998 S70 T5 (Almost Stock)

bobsnow100
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Post by bobsnow100 »

Hello
I just recently painted my rear bumper which had faded pretty bad. I went to an automotive paint supply store and they have many different color bumper paints. They have a paint color sheet which you can put next to your car trim to match it really close. I first cleaned my bumper off with wax and silicone remover and then taped it off and sprayed it, looks great.

l33tDad
Posts: 120
Joined: 31 March 2006
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Location: Looney Bin

Post by l33tDad »

This may be a dumb question, but are the bumpers supposed to be black or grey on a '93 850? I always thought grey, but maybe they're REAL faded or something. I'm going to try the shoe dye trick this weekend, but don't want to get the wrong color...
1993 Volvo 850glt

225,000 miles and counting

MadeInJapan
MVS Moderator
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Post by MadeInJapan »

I second the black shoe/leather dye by Kiwi...comes in a little bottle with applicator. Did my wife's '04 last year and still holding up. Use a rag and not the applicator...wipe as you go to keep streaking off of the paint. It's a bit hard to get off after it dries. You might need a second coat on the areas you can see has a lighter coat....good luck- go slow and you'll be happy with the results.
'98 S70 T5 Emrld Grn Met/Beige Tons of Upgrades Mobil-1
'04 V70 2.5T Red/Taupe Some Upgrades Mobil-1
'07 S40 T5 AWD 6 speed manual! Silver/Black Stage1 Heico & Elevate
'07 S60 2.5T Blue/Taupe- my kid's Volvo

galerie
Posts: 73
Joined: 16 October 2004
Year and Model: 1995 850 GLT
Location: Maryland

Post by galerie »

l33tDad wrote:This may be a dumb question, but are the bumpers supposed to be black or grey on a '93 850? I always thought grey, but maybe they're REAL faded or something. I'm going to try the shoe dye trick this weekend, but don't want to get the wrong color...
Mine are grey, I have a 1995 850... I bought this bumper dye from IPD and put it on this past weekend, looks a lot better but will probably need 2 more coats. I wanted to keep the same color grey on the bumpers/trim. I didnt wan't black which is what the kiwi dye will do.

http://www.ipdusa.com/ProductsCat.aspx? ... RootID=629

cosmicdust
Posts: 52
Joined: 2 May 2006
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Location: Dunlap, IL - USA

Post by cosmicdust »

Hey, I'm going to the store right now!

My '99 Black Beauty needs a pick-me-up!
1998 V70 AWD/GLT Turbo

io
Posts: 27
Joined: 14 June 2006
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Location: Newfoundland, Canada

Post by io »

There's a product made by Mother's called "Back to Black" (small red bottle). It's for restoring fading rubber and plastic bumpers and trim. I tried it on the fading roof trim strips on S70 and it worked well. BTW, you can use it on trim pieces that are colors other than black. I'm in Canada and I bought it at Canadian Tire - a home improvement / hardware store but you can probably get it at most stores that sell Mother's products.

Nick
1998 S70 T5

JRL
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Post by JRL »

If you want to do it RIGHT and a job that it will last, re paint them with bumper paint.Comes in spray cans and it the correct color gray/black.
The longest part of the job is to carefully mask everything off, scuff with a scotch pad, (if a black product or anything else was used, also use some thinner to make sure it's off) then spray a couple of THIN coats.
The actual apint time won;t be more than 5-10 minutes. Your rub strips and bumpers will look almost brand new and will stay that way for years

chax
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Post by chax »

This isn't permanent, but will last a week or more: rub peanut oil on bumpers/trim. It's available at most grocery stores. I tried Mother's "Back to Black:" almost no change. Armor-All only helps a little, and not for long: just makes your faded plastic shinier.

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