[optiquest242]

I believe the plastic on my 91 Si parking brake handle was originally black but it looks slightly greenish now and the plastic is not smooth (looks like its pitting or deteriorating).

Is this a known problem? I've seen several crx's with the same problem so I'm assuming it is. Some of the others I've seen have handles that are gumming or cracking.

It doesn't look like you can buy this piece without buying the entire brake unit. Here's the part #2 and as you can see you have to buy the whole thing which is somewhere around $58 new:



So my questions are: Is this normal? Has anyone restored the handle or have good ideas on how to go about it? Should I look at buying a replacement, perhaps from a civic or different model that doesn't have this problem?

 

[bil]

Yeap, common problem, there's a thread on the forum about it. some folks paint theirs.

You could also fab a replacement pretty easily, it's basically a plastic tube.

 

[optiquest242]

After reading a few threads I ordered some forever black which will be here tomorrow. I'm planning on putting on around 10 coats waiting around 15-20 mins inbetween coats. If the forever black works well I'll also be using it on other interior parts.

There's some stuff called "VHT Penetrating Color Dye" at the local auto parts store, has anyone used this or had any experience with it? I was told that forever black works better but this stuff says for use in interiors and forever black is designed for bumpers, trim, tires, etc.

 

[optiquest242]

Got the Forever Black in the mail and put on over 10 coats. Looks much much better!

I also tried some of the forever black on my rear speaker grilles. I've heard of other people painting theirs but then it feels all rough, this took awhile to apply due to the fact that I used the regular small applicator tip to do it.

In the future I would apply the forver black to a large sponge and apply it to the grilles to save some time. The grille on the right has the forever black, the one on the left doesn't (yet).



In the not too distant future I'm going to use the forever black on my interior to give it a darker, newer look.

 

[Its me DUB]

Nice...looks real good.

 

[optiquest242]

In the not too distant future I'm going to use the forever black on my interior to give it a darker, newer look.

Cancel that. I applied forever black to a rear interior plastic piece and left it for a few days, after coming back to it and cleaning it up with some citrus cleaner the black came completely off. It was dry and looked good but apparently didn't penetrate the plastic.

I bought some of that VHT and I sprayed some on a test piece. I'll see if it suffers the same fate as the forever black did.

 

[Baker]

When it comes to repainting the interior plastic and bringing it back to life, Kylon Semi-Flat Black hasn't failed me yet.

Adheres and dries fast and lays down very nicely.

 

[optiquest242]

When it comes to repainting the interior plastic and bringing it back to life, Kylon Semi-Flat Black hasn't failed me yet.

Adheres and dries fast and lays down very nicely.

What happens when you armor-all it? Also I've always heard that painting interior pieces ends up with chipping/flaking. Have you had either of these problems and how old is your oldest application?

 

[Baker]

Honestly, I don't use armor all except for on the dash I take a damp towel and wipe down the rear plastic, let it dry and clean it with Windex Multi task cleaner.
The paint on my rear plastics has been on for over a year and no problems with chipping or cracking yet.

 

[optiquest242]

Ok after letting the VHT piece dry and cleaning it with the citrus cleaner, it actually stayed on! I then armor-all'd it and it looked great. I took some snapshots to compare the before and after. I used a cover piece I had that looked blue when I started.

Before:

After:

So I think I'll be using the VHT to restore the back interior pieces. I'm using the black satin (SP-942) not black gloss color.

 

[KevinEF7]

Never been a fan of spray painting interior plastics as it does always scratch easy

ive used Mothers Back To Black with good success.

I recently was told that tire shine, known as blackener, works aswell but I havent tried

 

[optiquest242]

Bump of a 6 year old topic, lol.

Just to clarify, I didn't actually use spray paint, it was spray dye for vinyl and plastics. Works great. The things I sprayed back then still look good.

Back to Black works well too, but I find that I get the best results with the VHT dyes. I haven't tried blackener but I did try black again, which is only temporary and I wouldn't apply it to surfaces my hands go on, as it would rub off.

 

[vtecn8ive]

Never been a fan of spray painting interior plastics as it does always scratch easy

ive used Mothers Back To Black with good success.

I recently was told that tire shine, known as blackener, works aswell but I havent tried

6 year bump!!

LOL
:rofl:

 

[y49si]

Never been a fan of spray painting interior plastics as it does always scratch easy

ive used Mothers Back To Black with good success.

I recently was told that tire shine, known as blackener, works aswell but I havent tried

6 year bump!!

LOL
:rofl:

I encourage old threads be bumped, at least he searched and this was a great detailed thread by opti!

 

[Triunn]

How do you suggest prepping to interior peices for yhe VHT dye? How many cans do you suspect will be needed to to most of the interior?

 

[optiquest242]

Looks like imageshack is starting to delete my old pictures. I guess I will have to re-upload them and edit all of my old postings (lame).

Anyways check out this other old thread where I show some of the interior plastics I restored with vinyl dye. I used SEM Vinyl Prep after cleaning and drying everything. VHT also makes a vinyl prep product. Both of them work well, and you don't need to match prep with dye brands, just go with whatever is in stock.

 

[94eg!]

88/89 CRX had a greenish hue to it's black color interior. NH83L Off Black. Painting everything a true-er black can ruin the pieces and de-value the car. Depends on your personal wants & needs of course. Just throwing that out there for everyone.

The 90-91 Interior had a more neutral-black interior color. NH167L Graphite Black. These parts even seem a little blue-ish next to the older NH83L Parts.

I know cause I have a NH167L dashboard in my NH83L interior and I bugs me ever so much.

 

[optiquest242]

My ebrake handle that turned green was out of a 91. The ebrake handle plastic starts to rot and turns green. As far as the off colors of the interior, I am with you. I try to keep my parts from the same years and from the same color codes. But if the options are have a slightly off black from the original, or have a super faded blotchy or rotting green colored interior, I think anyone in their right mind would choose the former.

 

[KevinEF7]

Had no idea it was a 6 year old bump lol

I do want to get rid of my greening handle though

I want to make a damn wood one

 

[Derek]

The "VHT Penetrating Color Dye" that you mentioned, would that work well to change my horrible blue interior to black or is it more for retouching up the same color?

*edit*
Poop nevermind saw in your other thread where you answered the above question. Yes it will. Can you post a picture of the can you bought? I want to make sure I get the same stuff.