"Showroom New" Trim Restorer- info & experience

[atilla_the_fun]

Hi Guys, I ordered 3 bottles of this product two weeks ago for 53$ shipped. I applied this thursday with assistance from my girlfriend and my father. We used a foam roller and foam brushes as per the instructions. The original color for our VXs is full BLACK, not a mixture. It dries a lighter matte black than the color it looks as it goes on.

I have to say that I DO NOT RECOMMEND this product to anyone looking to have a professional looking bumper restoration DONE WITHOUT SPRAYING.

After using this I have the following reservations:
-This may be sold as a dye, but it is really a PAINT. It goes on like a paint, it streaks like a paint and it dries like a paint. It may have dye like properties - but it cannot really be classified as a "dye."
-This stuff cannot be applied to the VX bumper without streaking. Foam brushes should NOT be used - the foam roller will put the paint/dye on OK but because of the heavy curves of our cladding, it must be used along with brushes around the edges and the bolts/lights and this will result in some ugly looking borders.
-The product may be of high enough quality that it can be used to cover our cladding, but it MUST be sprayed (thinned according to the instructions) for an EVEN coating. Using rollers and brushes is a really horrible way of doing this.
-The product is NOT GAS PROOF... yeah, well this was probably obvious, but it really delineates the difference between a dye and a paint. On my way back to MN from Virginia today, my girlfriend overfilled the tank and had gas streaking down the cladding. She went to blot with a paper towel and to my surprise it came off full of black - the paint was coming off - something I wouldn't suspect a dye to do.



-THE MIRROR AND ROOF RAILS/SPOILER CAN BE DONE, BUT IT GOES ON COMPLETELY AS PAINT ON THESE PLASTICS. They aren't porous and the brush strokes on the mirror holder/door part look really horrible. You may be able to spray this plastic, but I reccommend a real plastic paint, or base/clear for these parts

-DO NOT TRY ON THE HOOD INSERT. This really shows the quality of the dye/paint as it goes on blotchy, streaky and looks like a 2$ walmart paint quart.


_____
For the price of buying a sprayer/thinner and the SN, buy gatorback. Aerosolized sprays will go on MUCH nicer than anything put on by a brush.

I can post pictures if people are interested, but I just got back from a 22 hour drive and I'm going to bed.

[VX KAT]

Oh no, I'm so sorry to hear that! Have you done a 2nd (or 3rd) coat yet? It definitely gets much better after the 2nd and 3rd light coating. Oddly, even though it says it dries completely in like 2 hrs or so, I found it looked better on day 2 and day 3 (no kidding)....

Spraying would definitely give a more uniform application, I just wasn't skilled enough to attempt it. I did succeed to be streak free in many areas, especially when I used the sponge covered in terry cloth as an applicator. But I've got to add I got the back door and bumper completely streak free with the foam brush, and again with the the terry covered sponge. I didn't have the issue around the edges of the lights.

I didn't try it on the mirrors or the hood insert....definitely won't do it now.

Doesn't gasoline have similar properties/components to turpentine and mineral spirits, which you can use to clean up this stuff? So isn't that why it came off on the paper towel?

Would really like to see some pics of what you've described. Sure hope another coat improves it for you.

[mike nomy]

Hi Guys, I ordered 3 bottles of this product two weeks ago for 53$ shipped. I applied this thursday with assistance from my girlfriend and my father. We used a foam roller and foam brushes as per the instructions. The original color for our VXs is full BLACK, not a mixture. It dries a lighter matte black than the color it looks as it goes on.

I have to say that I DO NOT RECOMMEND this product to anyone looking to have a professional looking bumper restoration DONE WITHOUT SPRAYING.

After using this I have the following reservations:
-This may be sold as a dye, but it is really a PAINT. It goes on like a paint, it streaks like a paint and it dries like a paint. It may have dye like properties - but it cannot really be classified as a "dye."
-This stuff cannot be applied to the VX bumper without streaking. Foam brushes should NOT be used - the foam roller will put the paint/dye on OK but because of the heavy curves of our cladding, it must be used along with brushes around the edges and the bolts/lights and this will result in some ugly looking borders.
-The product may be of high enough quality that it can be used to cover our cladding, but it MUST be sprayed (thinned according to the instructions) for an EVEN coating. Using rollers and brushes is a really horrible way of doing this.
-The product is NOT GAS PROOF... yeah, well this was probably obvious, but it really delineates the difference between a dye and a paint. On my way back to MN from Virginia today, my girlfriend overfilled the tank and had gas streaking down the cladding. She went to blot with a paper towel and to my surprise it came off full of black - the paint was coming off - something I wouldn't suspect a dye to do.



-THE MIRROR AND ROOF RAILS/SPOILER CAN BE DONE, BUT IT GOES ON COMPLETELY AS PAINT ON THESE PLASTICS. They aren't porous and the brush strokes on the mirror holder/door part look really horrible. You may be able to spray this plastic, but I reccommend a real plastic paint, or base/clear for these parts

-DO NOT TRY ON THE HOOD INSERT. This really shows the quality of the dye/paint as it goes on blotchy, streaky and looks like a 2$ walmart paint quart.


_____
For the price of buying a sprayer/thinner and the SN, buy gatorback. Aerosolized sprays will go on MUCH nicer than anything put on by a brush.

I can post pictures if people are interested, but I just got back from a 22 hour drive and I'm going to bed.

FINALLY!!! I'm definitely not happy that your results weren't as expected, but I do feel slightly vindicated now, as far as my support for GB. I didn't want to say it earlier, but a true dye product is something that the cladding would have had to be dunked into and let to sit, while the dye stains it... not a roll on or spray on application. it is mearly another top coat, just like GB, only difference is that for a few extra bucks and alot less work, GB comes out perfect. When I sprayed it on, i coud actually see and hear it bubbling, bonding to the cladding. and after only 1 coat, it looked amazing. after the second coat, it looked flawless. i also did my mirrors, which now look like they did in '99. I didn't do the roof rack because it was the end of the season, and was getting windy, so i didn't really want to risk it going everywhere else, not to mention that i did it at work, in between appointments, so time was kinda limited. with that said, the cladding came out flawless. I really recommend trying it.

[VX KAT]

It worked well for me, wasn't the easiest to get a perfect finish. I was the guinea pig, and it took me 3 coats to find the best applicator. and then ......I decided I wanted it a tad darker....thus application #4.

What's great is now other VXers have two more excellent choices for their cladding!