Anyone repainted their plastic lid?

[shaggama]

My plastic top lid has tons of scratches and scuffs from gigging.   It's a 1980 so its the squared off version.  Anybody have tips on painting/restoring so it looks great and will last?   

[David Aubke]

In the past, I've tried and failed to restore harp covers. But since the cost of aftermarket replacements have gone up significantly, I think I'll need to revisit it soon.

I'm hoping to try some products from Eastwood.
1. Plastic Resurfacer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-oMcu3Fkro

2. Graining Cards - included with their dashboard kit, these are for restoring the texture in small areas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YyNVHFiCxg

I'm not holding out much hope for a flawless restoration but I don't know what else to try.

[Ben Bove]

The flat top version would be pretty difficult to get in and out of the ribbing to restore it.  On the rounded versions, I've sanded down the grain of the plastic and had them painted.  This would be a real pain on the ribbed versions.

Unless you're looking to buy a replacement lid on ebay that's not as bad, I might recommend a few creative solutions:

Modify your case lid similar to the dyno case mod: the case is cut into 2 pieces, so the flat top becomes the case rather than the lid.  This would also hide the top of your scratched lid.

Cover in a textured material like truck bed liner spray, or something that would uniformly hide scratches.  Haven't tested this before but just thought of it.

[shaggama]

All good points.   I wondered about sanding and repainting. 

The Eastwood Plastic Resurfacer looks like a viable option.  I was also thinking of a truck bed liner spray.  Might look great and give it texture as well.  I'm not to keen on doing the Dyno mod. I never really liked the way that looked.    Thanks for the comments!

[jasonlim9090]

Sanding and repainting is viable. But it's irreversible so if you are unhappy with what u just did and continue to sand it again and again, you will end up throwing away your lid. so be careful

Cheers,
Jason
www.singaporepianohub.com

[Amptech]

Pardon me Gents, if I may chime in.  Has anyone looked into having it done by an auto body shop?  They paint plastic ALL THE TIME, they have the special additives to make it slightly flexible, etc.  Just a thought..

[Student Rhodes]

I've gone the body shop route several times. It's no different to them than re-painting a dinged bumper.
They sand it, fill it, apply adhesion promoter, then primer, color, and coats of clear.  I posted about it years ago, but I wouldn't know how to direct you to the link.

The guy I used specialized in fiber glass painting/repair -- dune buggies, boats, vintage arcade games--  and shoots sparkle paints all day.  Can't say it was cheap.  The cost was slightly more than buying a new Vintage Vibe sparkle top, and I had to provide the harp lid.  Used lids are plentiful and inexpensive.  Since you're going to have the whole thing re-surfaced, you can get away with buying a really scratched one for cheap. 

The Sparkle Top in my avatar is on one of my Eighty-Eights that was done in this way. 
(Fender never really did an 88 Sparkle Top for the public.)

[Ben Bove]

Yes as Ray mentioned, he referred me to his guy and I also went to a quality paint shop that does strictly autobody.  Both results came out great.

Autobody shop sanded flat, prepped and 3-stage painted:


Ray's Fiberglass guy, great work:


More pics of the two are available at my site.

[jimmymio]

In the past, I've tried and failed to restore harp covers. But since the cost of aftermarket replacements have gone up significantly, I think I'll need to revisit it soon.

I'm hoping to try some products from Eastwood.
1. Plastic Resurfacer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-oMcu3Fkro

2. Graining Cards - included with their dashboard kit, these are for restoring the texture in small areas.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2YyNVHFiCxg

I'm not holding out much hope for a flawless restoration but I don't know what else to try.

Yeah I know its been a few years but.... has anybody tried either of these products for the lid? The replacements have gotten very expensive especially when shipping is added.