S13 Silvia grille polishing / boredom. - Zilvia.net Forums | Nissan 240SX (Silvia) and Z (Fairlady) Car Forum

**mrmephistopheles** · 01-03-2008, 11:13 AM

Being an occasional insomniac, I'll sometimes find my hands to be idle and end up doing stuff like this to pass the time:

There was alot of built-up crud on the surface of the plastic, and it was pretty oxidized (more so than the pic shows).
I ended up using some Turtle Wax Polishing Compound which was roughly as old as me and full of bugs and rocks, a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (hey, it fucking worked) and then some Brasso.

Odd combination of products, I know, but 2 hours or so of work led to a nice shiny new-looking grille. I think there may be some yellowing on the inside, but I'm too lazy to crack it open.

Anyhow, my method was to get rid of most of the crud and such with the polishing compound, then attack the trouble spots with the magic eraser (which IS abrasive, so don't use it on plastics without expecting scratches).
The Brasso did a fine job of bringing up the shine on the newly-clean and smooth plastic.

On the car:

bejota180sx · 01-03-2008, 11:18 AM

a friend of mine cleaned up his dirty burnt header with lysol! lol it came up chromed up all over like new... ive used some crazy things to clean up stuff... that grill came out pretty shinny nice work!

KiLLeR2001 · 01-03-2008, 11:25 AM

I sometimes find myself cleaning everything with deep creep...

johngriff · 01-03-2008, 11:23 AM

Mequiars #10 and #17 Clear Plastic Cleaner and Polish and its a 20 min job.

firelizard · 01-03-2008, 11:27 AM

Might be the diffused lighting, but it still looks satiny. I'm wrong right?

**mrmephistopheles** · 01-03-2008, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by firelizard

Might be the diffused lighting, but it still looks satiny. I'm wrong right?

It's a totally clear and reflective surface now. You're seeing the light from the ceiling that I bounced the flash from. If you look close you can see the outline of an access panel and the vents from the AC unit.

BustedS13 · 01-03-2008, 11:31 AM

i used brasso to polish my 4th and 5th gen ipods. worked great.

Dutchmalmiss · 01-03-2008, 11:45 AM

Now you can rig something up with some LED bulbs and make something KITT-ish.

azndoc · 01-03-2008, 12:26 PM

I know what else you would like to polish there guy.

jspaeth · 01-03-2008, 12:36 PM

^ haha

Fibercus · 01-06-2008, 04:28 AM

Definitely an improvement, looks good!

ALEXTHESUS*PECT · 01-06-2008, 04:47 AM

shit looks great! it's the little things on a car that make a big difference in person!

**mrmephistopheles** · 01-06-2008, 05:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by azndoc

I know what else you would like to polish there guy.

Yeah I did this *after* I polished my knob. Nothing so short and hard has ever looked so good.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ALEXTHESUS*PECT

shit looks great! it's the little things on a car that make a big difference in person!

Pic on the car (taken from 2nd story 'cause I was too lazy to go down to it.)

mikefc · 01-06-2008, 12:51 PM

looks nice man

HyperTek · 01-06-2008, 04:23 PM

so how did u apply this? Ive used meguieres clear polish on my tails with rags and such etc.. probably could come out better

pic suxs by teh way, wasnt tryin to showcase the product lol

Bubba · 01-06-2008, 04:46 PM

And this one time I tried to *polish* something with Crisco, I almost died when I noticed the container said shortening.

ROIDMONKEY · 01-06-2008, 05:09 PM

nice , now fix the crooked problem

**mrmephistopheles** · 01-06-2008, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HyperTek

so how did u apply this? Ive used meguieres clear polish on my tails with rags and such etc.. probably could come out better

By hand with a torn up white tshirt.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ROIDMONKEY

nice , now fix the crooked problem

lol that's just unpossible.

01-03-2008, 11:25 AM	#3
KiLLeR2001 Post Whore! Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: オーランドフロリダ Posts: 7,955 Trader Rating: (46) Feedback Score: 46 reviews	I sometimes find myself cleaning everything with deep creep... __________________

01-03-2008, 11:23 AM	#4
johngriff Post Whore! Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Long Beach, CA Posts: 4,103 Trader Rating: (4) Rides Gallery: johngriff Feedback Score: 4 reviews	Mequiars #10 and #17 Clear Plastic Cleaner and Polish and its a 20 min job. __________________ [email protected]

01-03-2008, 11:27 AM	#5
firelizard Zilvia Addict Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba Age: 36 Posts: 705 Trader Rating: (1) Rides Gallery: firelizard Feedback Score: 1 reviews	Might be the diffused lighting, but it still looks satiny. I'm wrong right? __________________

01-03-2008, 11:31 AM	#7
BustedS13 Post Whore! Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Phoenix AZ Age: 40 Posts: 10,287 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	i used brasso to polish my 4th and 5th gen ipods. worked great. __________________

01-03-2008, 11:45 AM	#8
Dutchmalmiss Post Whore! Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: Socal (323) Age: 39 Posts: 3,501 Trader Rating: (14) Feedback Score: 14 reviews	Now you can rig something up with some LED bulbs and make something KITT-ish. __________________ Pignose, biaaatch.

01-03-2008, 11:13 AM	#1
mrmephistopheles Magnanimous Justice Distribution Service Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: BFE Age: 23 Posts: 14,372 Trader Rating: (9) Rides Gallery: mrmephistopheles Feedback Score: 9 reviews	S13 Silvia grille polishing / boredom. Being an occasional insomniac, I'll sometimes find my hands to be idle and end up doing stuff like this to pass the time: There was alot of built-up crud on the surface of the plastic, and it was pretty oxidized (more so than the pic shows). I ended up using some Turtle Wax Polishing Compound which was roughly as old as me and full of bugs and rocks, a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (hey, it fucking worked) and then some Brasso. Odd combination of products, I know, but 2 hours or so of work led to a nice shiny new-looking grille. I think there may be some yellowing on the inside, but I'm too lazy to crack it open. Anyhow, my method was to get rid of most of the crud and such with the polishing compound, then attack the trouble spots with the magic eraser (which IS abrasive, so don't use it on plastics without expecting scratches). The Brasso did a fine job of bringing up the shine on the newly-clean and smooth plastic. On the car:

01-03-2008, 11:18 AM	#2
bejota180sx Zilvia FREAK! Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 1,173 Trader Rating: (5) Feedback Score: 5 reviews	a friend of mine cleaned up his dirty burnt header with lysol! lol it came up chromed up all over like new... ive used some crazy things to clean up stuff... that grill came out pretty shinny nice work!

01-03-2008, 12:26 PM	#9
azndoc Post Whore! Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Los Angeles Age: 43 Posts: 9,487 Trader Rating: (47) Rides Gallery: azndoc Feedback Score: 47 reviews	I know what else you would like to polish there guy.

01-03-2008, 12:36 PM	#10
jspaeth Nissanaholic! Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Philadelphia suburbs Age: 40 Posts: 2,347 Trader Rating: (7) Rides Gallery: jspaeth Feedback Score: 7 reviews	^ haha __________________ Daily driven

01-06-2008, 04:28 AM	#11
Fibercus BANNED Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Canyon Country, CA Age: 44 Posts: 714 Trader Rating: (0) Feedback Score: 0 reviews	Definitely an improvement, looks good!

01-06-2008, 04:47 AM	#12
ALEXTHESUSPECT Post Whore! Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Soul cal!! Age: 47 Posts: 4,387 Trader Rating: (5) Rides Gallery: ALEXTHESUSPECT Feedback Score: 5 reviews	shit looks great! it's the little things on a car that make a big difference in person! __________________ *TEAM SUSPECT**

01-06-2008, 12:51 PM	#14
mikefc Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Chicago Posts: 462 Trader Rating: (6) Feedback Score: 6 reviews	looks nice man

01-06-2008, 04:23 PM	#15
HyperTek Post Whore! Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Cali Posts: 13,224 Trader Rating: (3) Feedback Score: 3 reviews	so how did u apply this? Ive used meguieres clear polish on my tails with rags and such etc.. probably could come out better pic suxs by teh way, wasnt tryin to showcase the product lol __________________ Keep it Classy

01-06-2008, 04:46 PM	#16
Bubba Zilvia Junkie Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Biloxi, MS Age: 41 Posts: 352 Trader Rating: (2) Feedback Score: 2 reviews	And this one time I tried to polish something with Crisco, I almost died when I noticed the container said shortening. __________________ Good at wrenching, terrible at electrical. Lord help me... HAHAHA

01-06-2008, 05:09 PM	#17
ROIDMONKEY Nissanaholic! Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: HollyFLORIDA Posts: 2,027 Trader Rating: (4) Rides Gallery: ROIDMONKEY Feedback Score: 4 reviews	nice , now fix the crooked problem __________________ TRUE thing: True ////OFFSET\\\\ is acheived without spacers Running on E85 570whp Precision 5862....laggy as fuck. hate it

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