Repairing Scratches/PinStripes on Fender Flares

Originally posted this in what have you done today… but making this it’s own thread so taco peeps can find it more easily.

I got some really bad pin striping on the fender flares (paint too but that’s another day) on a narrow trail. Looked all over TW for what others tried and never really found a great solution.

I had some Novus 1,2, & 3 plastic polish and decided to see how much I could minimize the trail rash on the flares. Actually came out better than my expectations. I could probably spend more time on them but it’s gunna happen again so tread lightly as they say.

The pics make it look better than what it is. The longer I look at it the more I want to do another pass but I’m resisting. All the texture is still there and is fine. I’m not pushing my luck. Yes I did eventually clean up the extra you see in the pics, I just got so excited it worked that I forgot to clean it up before taking a pic.

You need to follow the directions, depending on how bad, you may be able to get away without #3 but #2 just wasn’t doing enough (it was pretty bad). I did this all by hand and make sure you tape off your body paint…you’ll be upset if you don’t lol

I found that changing towels for each step worked best. Then after a couple of fenders I brought in all new towels. I found that removing the residue worked better with a wet towel, then drying it before going to the next step. Lastly I used my black and decker waxer/polisher with a wool pad to put the final buff on it. I averaged about 30-45 mins per fender flare but mine were pretty bad so lighter scratches probably won’t take as much effort.

 

Great info! Does this work on painted plastic fender flares, or only black?

 

Unfortunately no. Mine are unpainted but textured plastic (they’re called black over fenders). I think just the OR and Pro have them, I could be wrong. If they’re painted you would want to follow a painted method for scratches.

 

Is this an abrasive? I have just a couple minor scratches and 1 or two larger scuffs. Otherwise, my flares look fine. Would this stuff mar the texture of the plastic?

 

Not really. There are 3 levels of the polish so you can try the lighter polish first. It only takes another min or two to do the whole flare so it looks consistent. Mine look even better than the pics after I applied Adams Polish VRT to them.

 

Novus is good stuff. I used it on motorcycle windshields. It also works well on plastic headlight lens too. Anything plastic, not painted.

 

Turned out great, looks like I am going to have to try it.