Is it a bad idea to paint my argo?

[Mike T]

My 93 argo has changed from its original green to a light avocado, almost white. Might have been okay in 1970 on a refrigerator but i'm not crazy about it. I would prefer the original green. It also has "Swamp Thang" lettered on the hood, another thing I can live without. I've had some success painting ABS plastic by wiping down a paint prep/degreaser, then a plasic primer, followed by the color coat. I found a rustoleum color fairly close to the original green, Has anyone had much success painting your Argo?

[bcsteve]

I think someone here had a technique with a heat gun to rejuvenate faded plastic?

[Mike]

Here is a link to that article that Jeff wrote. It's a great tip: http://www.6x6world.com/forums/gener...eler-body.html

Here is a thread I started on Painting a 6x6 Body

Now let me add my 2 cents. I painted my Max body because it was faded badly. I have done it twice and I have a hard time getting any paint to stick. You can take your fingernail and scratch it right off.

A few rides through heavy woods and it starts to chip off pretty bad. However, I still think it looks better now then it did when it was faded. If you get up close to it though you can start to see the chips and scratches.

I would try what Jeff recommends with the heat gun first. If you don't get good results doing that then use paint as your last resort.

[Mike T]

Thanks, I'll give the heat a shot, and go from there...

[Roger S]

I wonder if you could add color back to the polyethelene, like a tinted amourall, if it existed.

[liflod]

If the oxidation is real bad that you can scratch with your fingernail, I would try to get it off using Scotchbrite and soapy water before you hit it with the heat gun. The oxidized plastic seems to melt with a different texture than the normal plastic.

[Mike T]

After looking at it again, it doesnt really seem to be oxidized, the plastic is quite smooth, not dusty like with typical oxidation on plastic. Its like the color just faded away. Looks like paint is going to be the fix for now.

[Robio_8x8]

specialty marine paints

There are some specialty marine paints used on flexible surfaces in highly corrosive salt water applications that may work well for this application.

Is there some kind of die or stain out there that would permeate the pigment of the plastic instead of just coating it?

[liflod]

Did you try the heat gun? Hold it till it looks glossy and then move on. It will bring some color back.

[Robio_8x8]

That sounds good but what if you want a colour change

Did you try the heat gun? Hold it till it looks glossy and then move on. It will bring some color back.

I saw an Argo that was an unpleasant brown and wondered how much trouble it would be to change it.


I am calling it an "unpleasant brown” because a more accurate description may be offensive to some

[Mike]

Mike, listen to liflod's suggestion. Try the heat gun first. If I had it to do over again I would certainly try that before having to deal with the paint. The color is impregnated in the polyethylene so it should pop back out.

Once you paint it, it would be a pain to take all of the paint off especially since the surface is not smooth. I didn't know about the heat gun trick before I painted mine. Sure wish I did.

[Mike T]

Well, I thought I had every tool or machine I ever needed, but no heat gun. Actually i'm going to need one anyway on another car i'm about to restore. I'm going to see if a buddy has one. The other issue thats making me lean toward the paint is the black lettering on the hood. I removed it but that exposed the original darker plastic under it. The skull and crossbones, and "swamp thang" on the hood is not something I want to see forever

[lager99]

I wonder how Krylon spray paint would work. It is meant for plastics & takes about 48hrs to cure.

[Mike]

Do you mean the Fusion paint? If so that's what I used on mine. It said it worked on flexible plastics but it didn't do too well.

[lager99]

Do you mean the Fusion paint? If so that's what I used on mine. It said it worked on flexible plastics but it didn't do too well.

Ya, that's the one I was thinking. I tried it on an R/C car and it cracked bad too...though I crashed it a lot.