Berlingo in disguise..

[Gadgetman]

"...not that I'm sure anyone here reads or cares..."
I do.

Especially since I need some black trim restorer anyway.

The Gtecniq C4 stuff is very good for what I've seen on other's vehicles that have used it. The thing that always put me off was the expense of it. Looking at all the 'fixes' for the 'grey trim syndrome' on line, I came to the conclusion that all you seem to be mainly doing is putting the oils back into the plastic to restore the 'blackness' which then eventually dry out again and start to go back towards grey again. So basically not wanting to spend 'loads-o-money' I just tried cleaning the trim up with IPA and then going around with a lint free cloth and applying copious amounts of normal black shoes polish [the traditional paste stuff, not the liquid] bought from the cheapie high street shops [I think they were about 49p a tin] and buffed it with another clean cloth. I think I used about two whole tins on the first application which looked good [all back to black] and lasted about 9 months before I repeated the process and then after that it used to last about a year. The Berlingo used to sit outside all the time, so I don't think that was too bad and a cheap solution that looked just as good as other's such as black trim restorers etc that I had used in the past.

Is that the 'hard' paste from KIWI, or the 'softer' mess from Boston?

[BlackPartner]

About 5 months ago, 1 of the 2 heater control bulbs died on me...  not a huge problem, the last man standing did enough to illuminate things and during the summer, it rarely gets driven in the dark...

Last week however, I was plunged into darkness, at a time when I'm going to work in the dark and coming home the same..

So...  a bit of a search on here... a bit of youtube videos and I set too on it today..

Out ya come ya little buggers:

   


In these go:

   


And hey presto!!:

   

[BlackPartner]

Voila!!

   


Had the workshop to myself again today at work, so decided to cure the passenger door rattle...

Had a search on here, and a Google, so was hoping it would just be the common M6 bolt at the bottom of the window mech.. and sure enough, it was....

Door rebuilt, stereo cranked up and it seems to have solved that 1....

[Drummond]

The ol plastic trims have been looking tired for a while now, Gtechniq C4 has always been my 'go too' for this sort of thing but after a hefty Google session on 'detailing world' forum the guys there seemed to get quite excited by this stuff:
…
time will tell how long it lasts, but I'm impressed so far...

Although that magic bottle is pricey AF, I’m on the bandwagon praising it. I applied it on my previous C5 which had black cladding like a modern SUV, but of course in grey at that age. Yes it did freshen up the look like any cheap stuff. But the difference is that the Gtehniq stuff effect lasted for one and half year until I sold the car! Whereas the usual cheapo bumper care washes off in the first rain. Disclaimer: I don’t wash my car with heavy degreasers, dunno how it would cope that treatment.

40€ for a bottle size of nail polish is hefty, but I still have half a bottle left after that one car.

[BlackPartner]

Yeah.... initial results were very good with the solution finish product...

But it hasn't lasted that well, I think in the spring, I'll give everything a good scrub with isopropyl and got back to the Gtechniq C4...