Need some help with Interior plastics

[Twister]

I've got some scratches on the plastic trim on my seats. I need some ideas to try to get rid of them. The plastic trim has some grain to it but not too much. I've used interior dressing to see if it would hide the scratches and it does nothing. I'll try to get some pictures tomorrow.

[Accumulator]

I hate to be a bummer, but IMO you can't do much if anything about it. Abrasion might make things worse instead of better and there's no way to recreate the grain. Note that some plastics aren't dyed all the way through and are often yellow/white under the color, so be careful. If the scratches are already very light-colored, a bit of dye (SEM makes good stuff) might help. But generally it's the sort of thing I just live with.

[Twister]

I didn't think about it not being dyed all the way through. I was wondering if anyone had a way to "fix" the scratches but I don't want to make it worse. I was thinking of trying a plastic polish before I read your post. I'm reupholstering the seats on the car and these platic parts have to be taken off the old covers and reattached to the new cover. I just hate to go through all this work just to have it look not as good because of the scratches.

[Twister]

Here is a picture of what I'm working with. The piece is sewn onto the cover. The only way I know I can get a new piece is to get a new cover and I think they are discontinued. I wouldn't worry too much about it but I'm trying to get this car to show quality

[Accumulator]

I think I'd try to track down some NOS ("New Old Stock") pieces while you still might be able to find them. Other than that, I'd accept the imperfection as just the way stuff is with a car that's actually been used. I consider such stuff "patina" and FWIW, so do some show judges.

[Twister]

Thanks for the help. I'm trying to see if I can still get the parts. I know I checked on a part the other day and it was discontiuned, maybe I'll have some luck with this piece.


Do you have a link to the SEM product?

[Accumulator]

Originally Posted by Twister

Do you have a link to the SEM product?

Sorry, but no, I don't I looked it up a few years ago (when I bought a car whose interior was redone with that stuff) and I found it with a normal websearch, so you oughta be able to find it OK.

FWIW the car in question did look OK but I didn't own it long enough to judge the long-term durability of the SEM dye.

[Twister]

Thanks for the info. I'll google and see what I find. I did find the part I need but it's not cheep. I did find a place local that dyes interior plastics. I might give them a try and see what happens