[Andrew John]

My door handles have faded with the sun exposure. Black wagon, therefore is driving me nuts and extremely noticeavle, also rear hatch/handle area has faded. What are the options to revive? Any suggestions..Besides painting? <BR>Thanks

 

[[email protected]]

You could paint them, body color or matte black, and that could remedy the situation. I also considered getting newer S70 handles, but never looked into it that heavily. They should bolt right on though.

 

[TurboWagon66]

Get some good black detailing cleaner/protectant stuff. Also put on some ArmorAll or Formula 2001 protectant everytime you clean the car. They will never look black but they will look a lot better.<P>

 

[S.R.]

This question seems to come up from time to time, because it is pretty common on the 850 series for the door handles and bumpers to fade badly around the sunbelt area.<P>I have heard very good things about the following products. They are specially made for this sort of problem. They will have to be applied more than once to restore the look of your car.<P><B>Forever Black</B> $12.97<BR> <IMG SRC="http://store4.yimg.com/I/classic-motoring_1650_423399"> <P>This product is an actual dye that permanently restores black plastic, rubber, and vinyl. It will not wash off and it is not just a silicone dressing. I have heard this is the single <B>best</B> product out there.<P><B>Black Again</B> $6.95<BR> <IMG SRC="http://store4.yimg.com/I/classic-motoring_1647_1465674"> <P>This product is probably the best way to protect black parts of your car that have no sun damage.<P><B>These all can be found at:<BR><A HREF="http://www.properautocare.com/exterior-trim.html" TARGET=_blank>Proper Auto Care</A></B><P>-Drew<P>

 

[Prospero]

I was toiling with the same issue on my 850 as well. I resolved it by painting them the body color along with the trim and mirrors. The handles come off in <30 min (for all four). They can be painted with "Black Satin" self-etching matte black paint for $5.99 a can. It takes a couple of hours to do but you will never have to mess with them again. Just be sure to prep the handles real well with good "Prepsolv" or equiv. Good luck!<P>Prospero

 

[fhdt5r]

I have always thought about getting my 850 mouldings painted and then getting some 70 handles. Has anybody done it? I've heard that it's definitely do-able, i just don't know how.

 

[Prospero]

I have painted all of my trim so far. You do not need to replace the door handles, as they are perfectly paintable with good prep work. It goes for the trim, mirrors, and bumpers. It's all paintable, just be sure and prep everything well and use FLEX in the paint AND primer or it will flake off. Be sure to get an invoice from the shop doing the paintwork and verify that the FLEX is used and get it in writing. Many shops will say that they will use it and then not add it. Before you know what hit you...the paint is cracking and flaking off. Anyhow...sorry about the tangent. The whole job is a weekend project and the materials will be about $300 and labor is about 8 hours to do it right. I pulled all items to be painted off of the car. This will give the cleanest look and allows even coats. Insist on pulling everything off and keeping the car out of the booth. Most shops will not be happy about it, but it will be very noticeable at the end. I did all of the labor myself and helped spray the parts in my friends shop. It will take several coats over the primer to get rid of the texture on the bumper tops followed by wet sanding and buffing. I used Dupont “Chroma” single-stage paint and used the factory paint codes. The match was not 100% at first however after a month the paint darkened and it looks great. Good luck.<P>Prospero <BR>

 

[Simon Linton]

I've never understood the sense of body colour painting bump strips - it means that every time they fulfil their function (protecting the metalwork) you have to repaint them.<P>I realise it looks great UNTIL they get hit in a supermarket car park, but that's not an uncommon event.<P>Keep on using the Back to Black, mate - it's cheaper in the long run.

 

[[email protected]]

Actually, the strips themselves don't sun bleach that badly. The ones on our R are in great shape. The real problem with sunfade are the door handles. I always thought about doing S70 door handles and painting them to match the car, I just never got around to it.

 

[JHEIII850Turbo]

If they're rubber, I use Tire Black products on my bumper. I'm not sure if it protects, but I am sure that it keeps it "looking like new"<P>Good Luck<P>