What can I use to polish the scratches off my dashboard? :/

[caririgdon]

I have a 2001 new beetle and I notice when I got it it had scratches on the dash, but not the part that's always in the sunlight. Just around the CD player and the AC settings. I was trying to find something that was the same substance as what was coming off under my finger nail when I lightly scratched the surface. I was thnking about trying black shoe polish to make the surface smoothe....but i'm a little scared. Lol.


I also noticed that my door side panels are sagging and coming out as if the glue was gone....how might i fix that? Or maybe what kind of glue could i use to make it stick?

[02newmag]

i doubt there is anything that could neatly replace it. i expect most users will tell you to peel all of it off as underneath it looks more or less the same but hard plastic.

[D2Beetle]

It is some sort of rubberize coating and the only thing you can do is remove it. If it were me I would just leave it be.

Shoe polish will not work, the first time it gets hot in the car it will melt and run; although it will look shiny after you buff it off.

[Volkswoman]

The rubberized material was peeling off by the driver door handle I hated the way it looked so I just scraped it all off. The little residue left I cleaned off with goo gone, then rubbing alcohol. It left just a smooth black plastic. Looks better than the rubbery goop with scratches on it. By the way, has VW changed this alwful design on later NB's? I would hope they have changed some of the horrible interior design flaws in later models. I'd love to upgrade from my '99 eventually and would love it if they have made some interior improvements.

[nighttrain1974]

Get some fabric and trim it. Leather always looks good.

[connieray]

I am in the finishing stages of painting all of my dash pieces that are plastic with the goo on them. Looks good, should finish tommorrow. That is the only way I could figure to get rid of the scratches.

[CASilBug]

I'd buy a dash cover. I bought a silver one to match my car's color and the ugly scratch on the dashboard is out of sight and out of mind.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Ppl, read! You're giving good, valid answers, but not to what the poster is asking, i.e. dash cover - not on the vertical surface the OPer is asking about, i.e. scratches in the rubberized coating - not in the plastic.

As to subsequent changes in design, seems they kept moving this rubberized $hit around from year to year. I have it on the top, flat surfaces, but only the side panels, not the center panel that houses the heat/ac outlets, radio head, controls, etc. Also the ends on my assist handle. Still in the door pull bezels.

What an absolute stupid concept for a finish, but as I don't remember this finish, noticable to the touch, on my '00 when I bought it new, I'm of the belief it is a degredation of the finish over time, caused by, most probably cabin temperature heating from sun, etc. and/or a possible reaction to ultraviolet light.

MOAV

[Audiomechanic]

Originally Posted by MyOtherRidesAVette

Ppl, read!

I was thinking the same thing.

To answer the OP's question, 70% or higher isopropyl alchohol rubbed on with a soft cloth (like an old sock) will remove the outer layers of the "soft touch" paint, effectively polishing out the scratches. The alcohol is not strong enough to actually remove all of the paint, but will help in scratch removal.

For removing the paint, try DOT3 or DOT4 brake fluid. It's plastic safe but will strip paint like a mofrapie. Be sure to remove the plastic pieces you want to strip from the vehicle. DO NOT USE CHEMICALS THAT REMOVE/THIN PAINT INSIDE THE CAR OR ANYWHERE NEAR THE CAR FOR THAT MATTER. Also, experiment on a piece of plastic that is inconspicuous and easily removable and cheap to replace if you mess it up. A piece such as the flower vase trim piece would be good.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Thank you!

x2! to doing this out of the car with a solvent, but the alcohol should be fine, if it cuts this rubbery $hit. Alcohol is not going to hurt plastic, or paints. It's actually a good cleaning agent and drying agent for many things. I use it "denatured" alcohol on vinyl all the time to remove a lot of different kinds of stains.

When in doubt, get a a few more opinions...

[SMG]

I wouldn't use brake fluid on anything you want to paint. 99% isopropyl will peel the rubber off fine.

I've been toying around with the idea of getting my dash pieces wrapped in satin blank vinyl. You'd get a similar finish and it would be replaceable.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

How about Krylon "Fusion"? Lots of colors and finishes. Or a good quality bonding agent for plastic before the paint, lot of paint options once you solve the bonding issue; moddled, hammered, etc.

Going to be tough to wrap into voids and the like with vinyl!

[Audiomechanic]

Originally Posted by MyOtherRidesAVette

Thank you!

x2! to doing this out of the car with a solvent, but the alcohol should be fine, if it cuts this rubbery $hit. Alcohol is not going to hurt plastic, or paints. It's actually a good cleaning agent and drying agent for many things. I use it "denatured" alcohol on vinyl all the time to remove a lot of different kinds of stains.

When in doubt, get a a few more opinions...

Alcohol seems to "thin" the "soft touch" (read: rubbery $hit) paint, but I didn't have much luck stripping it all off even with denatured (99.9%) alcohol. It seemed to "smear" the paint around and turned the cloth black, which effectively removed the scratches but not all the paint.

[Audiomechanic]

Originally Posted by SMG

I wouldn't use brake fluid on anything you want to paint.

Why not?

Not being "smart" with you, I genuinly don't know. So I'm askin.

I didn't have much luck with alcohol in actually pealing or stripping the paint off. Even 99% wouldn't take it all off.

[SMG]

Spraypaint is very hard to get looking decent. The conditions have to be perfect and when you finally pull it off it never lasts. They have climate control systems in paint booths for a reason. The stock dash would be easy to wrap.

Here's a dash piece from another car wrapped in black carbon fibre vinyl, and that stuff has a reputation for being hard to apply:

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by Audiomechanic

I didn't have much luck with alcohol in actually pealing or stripping the paint off. Even 99% wouldn't take it all off.

I questioned that myself! Notice the "if" in my post just above.

[Audiomechanic]

Originally Posted by MyOtherRidesAVette

How about Krylon "Fusion"? Lots of colors and finishes. Or a good quality bonding agent for plastic before the paint, lot of paint options once you solve the bonding issue; moddled, hammered, etc.

Going to be tough to wrap into voids and the like with vinyl!

You know, I was talking with my wife the other night (since the bug technically is "her" car) and brought up the "hammered finish" paints. I personally think it'd look cool as heck to paint all the black "rubbery $hit" coated pieces in the black hammered paint and then go over that with a matte clear coat to reduce glare.

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by SMG

Spraypaint is very hard to get looking decent. The conditions have to be perfect and when you finally pull it off it never lasts. They have climate control systems in paint booths for a reason. The stock dash would be easy to wrap.

Here's a dash piece from another car wrapped in black carbon fibre vinyl, and that stuff has a reputation for being hard to apply:

I'm curtainly not advocating rattle cans, in lieu of properly painting many items that involve primers, sanding, and paint with catalytic hardners which give it durability. I haven't used Fusion but suspect that as it is designed for plastic it has an agent which actually impregnates the plastic causing the bond. That's why I suggested a bonding agent primer for any other type of paint. The durability is all in the preparation and quality of products used. I can state from experience though, that with fan spray nozzles, I can get paint application results that rival a gun. It also takes a week or better for paints to cure, not just the dry to touch that is indicated on the label. It is this curing that creates the ultimate bond and durability. Everyone gets in a rush and wants it "right now". The are also paints that are cured with ultraviolet light. It's like when you have paint work done to the body, no wax for thirty days! Why do you suppose that is! And there are dryers and hardners added to that paint and clearcoat.

What I see you proposing (I thought you were talking about real vinyl, not vinyl surfaced contact paper) presents it's own challenges. Thermo-formed, adhesive backed, vinyl aftermarket appliqués are one thing, but while it looks great, vinyl faced contact paper is thin, nicks easily, telegraphs dirt and/or imperfections underneath, and always has edges, which from handling, such as on the door of the bezel you've shown, will easily become frayed and loose. They won't stand up long to direct heat from the sun either.

MORAV

[SMG]

I think vinyl would be tougher than the original rubberized finish but any place you are touching all the time wouldn't be a good place to use it obviously. Personally for the door handles I'd peel the rubber crap with alcohol and call it a day.

For the dash though it would be an ideal solution I think and the edges can wrap around the back and you'll never see them. Don't think of vinyl wrap as something you lay down flat and that's it. Think of shrinkwrap tubing, it works in a similar way, you can wrap just about anything in it.

Check this out. If you're impatient skip to 2:30

YouTube - Carbon Fiber Vinyl Wrapping w/ HEAT GUN (Complex Curves) by DECALFX.COM

[MyOtherRidesAVette]

Originally Posted by Audiomechanic

You know, I was talking with my wife the other night (since the bug technically is "her" car) and brought up the "hammered finish" paints. I personally think it'd look cool as heck to paint all the black "rubbery $hit" coated pieces in the black hammered paint and then go over that with a matte clear coat to reduce glare.

There actually are specialty primers made specifically for the purpose of priming plastic (not just any old primer like for metal), and clearcoats with catalyst (2 part) that you actuate in inside the rattlecans, also for the purpose of not having to have professional gunning equipment, for the purpose of painting small parts. I can give you a link if you need or would like it. Dashes are mat finish, and dark, for the purposes of anti-glare, but I have seen the center section in a NB done in gloss and it was sharp! I'm not sure just the center section would be a highly objectionable glare issue.

I know I have to do something with my "sides", everytime I have the top down, if is a major effort cleaning them, the rubbery $hit seems to attract everything, and it "sticks". Just bought a mini California Duster for dashes to try and see how that works.

People who can't get quality results with today's rattle cans, are either buying inferior products, the wrong product for the application, not painting in the right conditions, don't know how to apply spray paint (it is an art), or a combination of all.

PS - I think hammered would be killer! Done sparingly.