It can be clearly seen that the black parts had faded into some sort of dark gray and the rubber cover had layers of dust in between the grooved design. Washing or wiping off the dust is the easy part, but what to do with the faded lettering and bringing back the color? Painting with an off-the-shelf spray can is always an option but doing it that way presented a problem in itself because of the textured finish of the plastic surface. The paint would smoothen it out and once done, cannot be undone.
On a visit to the US last year, I came across a product called Forever Black which is used, as the name implies, to restore the black to a car's plastic, vinyl, or rubber surfaces. There are two unique things about it. First is that its permanent, unlike other products which last a few days to a few weeks at most; and the second is that it is a dye rather than a paint. Being a dye, the consistency is much thinner than paint and application is the same as using liquid shoe polish. In fact, it comes in a container very much like liquid shoe polish. The thin consistency preserves whatever surface finish is present despite repeated applications. Its a little bit pricey but I have seen its effectiveness when I used it to restore the black bumper trim on Winny. After 6 months and counting, the dyed rubber still looks good as new. This is how the shifter cover turned out:
There's no argument that the change is significant, but my only problem now is that the dye has also covered the lettering. I knew this was going to happen but still proceeded because I thought the overall result would outweigh the consequence. In the meantime, I was wracking my brain in thinking of how to bring back the white letters. I had thought of having stickers printed or having a plastic strip fabricated with the letters already on, but they will surely detract from the original look. It also crossed my mind to bring it to a sign maker who would have the skill to trace paint the letters.
In the end, I decided to do it myself. The risk-taker in me thought that I had little to lose since if it did not turn out to my satisfaction, I could just re-dye the whole thing and then move on to the next possibility. I bought a white permanent paint pen (a dangerous weapon in somebody with shaky hands) and just gave it a go. As expected the first coating was very uneven but after another few coats, the letters were starting to look good. Gaining confidence, I continued to outline the borders as close as possible to their edge and it helped that the letters were actually raised from the surface. However, there is no way to overcome an unsteady right hand so an increasing number spillovers came up and ruined the effect. I was about to give up when it hit me to try scraping off the excess. Because there was a thicker layer of paint in the intended areas, I thought that if I could somehow find a way to cut off whatever should not be there, then problem solved. A small tool with a sharp edge should do the trick and for this my miniature screwdriver for eyeglasses was perfect. Using gentle pressure, I was able to outline what needed to be removed and the task was made easier as the paint and dye did not bond together as closely as would have paint with paint. Unveiling the result to the world:
Among all the things I have worked on, this by far has given me the greatest satisfaction simply because it was something I have never ever done before and thought it was beyond my abilities, large as they may seem :). To have it come out the way it did was a just tremendous personal accomplishment.
Professionals need not worry for now...
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