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refinish trafficator plastic?

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maxwedge5281

maxwedge5281

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i am in the process of replacing the hotrod wooden dash in my 59 100/6 with an original dash recovered and with speedhur gauges! my car is a v8 conversion. my trafficator works fine and is in good condition but the "plastic" of the trafficator is faded. i would like to improve the shine or luster of this part. i have reduced the overall diameter of the wheel to 13.5 inches and had it wrapped in leather. the banjo spokes look nice and shiny...but there it is...the faded trafficator on the non adjustable steering wheel! any help with a solution is appreciated and perhaps a picture of the refinished look. i suppose i could buy a new one but prefer not too!
 
Comprehensive trafficator repair pdf:
https://www.healey6.com/Technical/Trafficator Repairs.pdf

Scroll down to p. 17 for refinishing with india ink and shoe polish.

I went to my neighborhood shoe repair shop and bought a bottle of "Angelus Leather Dye" in black. Comes with an applicator tip and is like concentrated Sharpie ink. Followed by lots of black shoe polish.

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High temperature Gloss Black Spray engine paint PlastiKote OK- :encouragement:
 
Scuff the surface and paint it with paint designed for plastic .
 
I don't know what material is used for the non-adjustable trafficator, but I varnished my adjustable Bakelite one. Looks more original than painting black.
 
as an aside, should the finish...shine, sheen or whatever....of the steering wheel hub match that of the trafficator? i suppose that i should refinish the trafficator first and then match the steering wheel hub to that. the leather on the steering wheel is not shiny. rather low luster black!
 
maxwedge5281 said:
as an aside, should the finish...shine, sheen or whatever....of the steering wheel hub match that of the trafficator? is there a particular shade of black to be used on the steering wheel hub to match up to the refinished trafficator?
Click to expand...

I believe Henry Ford said " you can have any Color you want as long as it's black"
 
another question i have....looking at pictures of healeys on the internet, some have rounded control heads and some are flatter in appearance. all of the round ones i saw had a chrome turn signal switch whereas the flat control heads had black turnsignal switches. what determines the type of control head? do the adjustable steering wheels differ from the non adjustable steering wheel or is it determined by model? my steering wheel is non adjustable. thanks for all of the help and comments thus far!
 
maxwedge5281 said:
another question i have....looking at pictures of healeys on the internet, some have rounded control heads and some are flatter in appearance. all of the round ones i saw had a chrome turn signal switch whereas the flat control heads had black turnsignal switches. what determines the type of control head? do the adjustable steering wheels differ from the non adjustable steering wheel or is it determined by model? my steering wheel is non adjustable. thanks for all of the help and comments thus far!
Click to expand...

Yours is the non-adjustable variety, which has a flat shape with a sharp edge.

You can see them both in the Moss catalog or online on the "Steering Wheels; Control Heads" page.
 
thanks for all the help. i think that i will try the black angelus dye and black paste polish suggested above. and, then match the steering hub finish to the trafficator finish.
i have ordered the black dye and should receive in a few days. thanks again for all the help!
 
Has anyone tried using that "Back to Black" stuff made for refinishing exterior black trim like bumper ends and such?

My BN2 has a 100/6 trafficator in it which is faded pretty bad and my plan was to try that stuff as I have a bottle of it. Just thought I'd ask...
 
WaltCasten said:
Has anyone tried using that "Back to Black" stuff made for refinishing exterior black trim like bumper ends and such?

My BN2 has a 100/6 trafficator in it which is faded pretty bad and my plan was to try that stuff as I have a bottle of it. Just thought I'd ask...
Click to expand...

B2B has no black pigment or dye - suspect it would "protect" the trafficator against other treatments. The thing about the shoe dye/wax combo is you can add coats until you get a deep black lustre that's more than skin deep. Better than any paint on bakelite.

PS - there is a lot of information online about restoring bakelite. Brasso is often mentioned for polishing.
BackToBlack.JPG
 
I have not found one of the products that restore black trim on today's cars to be very effective. Very spotty results and they don't last long before they fade again. I haven't tried B2B so maybe it's better.
 
Oops, Back to Black isn't what I have, sorry. It is a product called "forever black" and it without a doubt has black dye in it. It's not available at your FLAPS, I mail ordered it from Bavarian Autosport some time ago. I used it on some black plastic (license plate bracket) on my late model s-type Jag and it lasted for years.
 
Probably more than a decade ago, I just used some black (Kiwi solid) shoe polish__still looks great!
 
steveg said:
I see Forever Black is available on Amazon. Ordered a kit for my "Real" car.
Click to expand...

Be careful with it, meaning treat it almost like paint. I usually mask off around what I apply it to.
 
i refinished the trafficator yesterday. i will probably add a few more polishes and maybe a waxing in the next week. i still have not painted the hub of the steering wneel. i reduced the diameter to 13.5 inches and had it recovered in black non-glossy leather. i was pleased with the result of the refinish using the black dye and shoe polish method suggested in previous threads. i also recovered the dash and am in the process of installing speedhut gauges and a new aftermarket wiring harness. you cerainly do not want to have to buy the trafficator unit for a non adjustable steering wheel....1100 dollars at moss! i might still do a finish shine...not sure if i want it too shiny!
 

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