This is something that a saw a year or so ago originally suggested in a post by ncranchero, but also has been around the internet for a long time, VERY popular among the Jeep guys, so no credit should go to me.
I thought this to be a very interesting and alternate method apposed to painting, which will fail and crack over time, to restoring the 1st through 3rd Gen plastics. I used a heat gun at first, but did not like how long I had to hold it on the plastic, nor did I like the pattern it was laying down on the fender. It might be due to the quality heat gun I was using (not very high). I switched to a propane torch and really liked the results! I thought I'd post up my findings to the Forum to help anyone trying to fix up their truck. I plan on doing it to my front and rear bumpers tomorrow, I'll post that video as well as some before and after pictures.
All you have to do is simply CLEAN the surface with acetone, lightly sand if needed making sure no road grime is sticking to your plastics. Then heat it until it returns to the color it originally was. Sometimes you will make the mistake of not heating it too long and it won't fully return to its original, in that case just apply more heat. DO NOT over heat as it could begin to deform / melt the plastic!!
EDIT- As Flounder states below; Take your plastic off, don't torch/heat your paint! Especially the dipped chrome on the rear of the 1st/2nd Gen Quarter panels!!
This is my uncle's '05 TJ I'm working on; sprucing it up a bit as a present from the family for him when he returns from his final deployment this year. (He is actually retired 101st Airborne but is now working as a contractor for the Army)
I thought this to be a very interesting and alternate method apposed to painting, which will fail and crack over time, to restoring the 1st through 3rd Gen plastics. I used a heat gun at first, but did not like how long I had to hold it on the plastic, nor did I like the pattern it was laying down on the fender. It might be due to the quality heat gun I was using (not very high). I switched to a propane torch and really liked the results! I thought I'd post up my findings to the Forum to help anyone trying to fix up their truck. I plan on doing it to my front and rear bumpers tomorrow, I'll post that video as well as some before and after pictures.
All you have to do is simply CLEAN the surface with acetone, lightly sand if needed making sure no road grime is sticking to your plastics. Then heat it until it returns to the color it originally was. Sometimes you will make the mistake of not heating it too long and it won't fully return to its original, in that case just apply more heat. DO NOT over heat as it could begin to deform / melt the plastic!!
EDIT- As Flounder states below; Take your plastic off, don't torch/heat your paint! Especially the dipped chrome on the rear of the 1st/2nd Gen Quarter panels!!
This is my uncle's '05 TJ I'm working on; sprucing it up a bit as a present from the family for him when he returns from his final deployment this year. (He is actually retired 101st Airborne but is now working as a contractor for the Army)
Use a quality heat gun: I purchased a 60 dollar one from Home Depot and it barely did the job. I assume the blowtorch would work better but I wasn't playin around with that. 
