Update: Best advice on this technique is to make sure you use a quality ($$) heat gun, cheap gun makes the fenders “streaky”. And… the fade returns just the same (only lasted 3-4 months).So after tying this would I recommend this approach?
NO, avoid.
If you own a Jeep or any modern vehicle you know that those plastic parts like bumpers and fenders start out a real nice shade of black when you pull it off that dealership lot. But starting on day two, they start that journey to the grey side as Mr. Sun points his UV ray-gun at them every day punishing the pigments till they just can’t hold their blackness anymore… and you end up with grey parts.
So I started looking for the cure to going premature grey. My jouney took me out to the internets where I read countless forum threads and Facebook posts on what others have done to solve this modern dilemma. Two approaches where out three, first was chemical treatment either through strange home-brew concoctions or commercial products.
Commercial products work great except in the real world some us who actually wheel our rigs offroad find out that these products are nothing more then dust magnets and double or triple the amount of deposit you would normally accumulate on an offroad trip. Also these products are only a temporary mask to the underlying issue of greying. Its like getting your hair dyed to cover the grey, sooner or later you are going to have to re-apply.
I have read articles of different home-brew techniques, by this I mean non-traditional products never intended for the application but reported to work. Exmaple would be individuals who reported that the product “De-Solv-it” worked great… I can report back to you and let you know this stuff does absolutly nothing…lol.
Another approach many people report using is Heat Guns to heat up the plastic wich turns it black again. This does work, but I have some warnings and recommendations. I bought a heat gun from Harbor Freight (yes the cheapo tool buying store), to try this theroy out. Be careful, and buy a better heat gun then the cheapo from Harbor Freight..lol. The low end guns throw a limited heat pattern thats a bit small and can leave results that are a little “Streaky”. But if you take your time you can get okay results.
I took a two pronged approach as I used a heat gun to get the fenders 80% there and finished them off with some commercial product, Mothers Back to Black. Combined techniques make for very black fenders again.
If you have tried something that worked well for let me know, I would love the hear stories of success that I can pass along to others.