Rear spoiler refurbishment

[RantA2]

Hello, I bought a year 2000 A2 1.4 petrol a couple months ago and I'm trying to repair and refurbish most things little by little.

I finally washed and waxed the car properly for the first time this weekend and the car looks really nice except for the rear spoiler. It looks like the black (paint?) has partially faded and some small spots of black has come off. The sealant between the rear window and the spoiler also looks a bit loose and the spoiler bounces quite a lot when closing the tailgate.

What material is the rear spoiler and what is the best way to try to refurbish it? Is it possible to remove it, repaint, attach and seal it again or should I just try to mask the surroundings and paint the spoiler in place or is there a way to get the spoiler look great without repainting?

Thanks in advance,
JR

 

[BearMcPear]

It's generally not advised to remove it, and the spoiler and bootlid are considered one part (8Z0 845 499 E/G).
Googling around a bit I found that It's attached with glue and bolts to the rear window, although I am not quite sure where those bolts would go. As yours is bouncing around though, maybe the glue has already deteriorated.
In terms of painting, plastic is generally difficult to paint, but I have had luck by rubbing black plastics with hardwood oil. As it's so cheap and quick, you could give that a go. It does then need redoing every 3 months or so.

 

[RantA2]

Thanks, I'll try if the oil works. I will preferably avoid repainting but any advice is welcome, surely there's someone in here who has refurbished the spoiler properly.

 

[BearMcPear]

Thanks, I'll try if the oil works. I will preferably avoid repainting but any advice is welcome, surely there's someone in here who has refurbished the spoiler properly.

This person probably has some experience.
Found it in thread on a2-freunde about handwashing or going through a car wash this morning when looking up spoiler removal.

 

[RantA2]

Yeah, I should probably get in touch before that happens to me

 

[A2Steve]

Halfords do a vinyl and rubber paint. Have used it in the past with good success.

 

[RantA2]

Thanks, I will try to find a close equivalent here. Did you just mask the surroundings and paint it in place?

 

[A2Steve]

Thanks, I will try to find a close equivalent here. Did you just mask the surroundings and paint it in place?

Yes and it came out well.

 

[steve_c]

Often, the first sign that something is amiss with the spoiler is when water gets inside it. The water can be heard slopping around, and as the quantity increases with time, the weight becomes quite significant.

The only way to deal with this is to drill two small holes in the underside of the spoiler, close to either end, and let the water drain out.

 

[BearMcPear]

Often, the first sign that something is amiss with the spoiler is when water gets inside it. The water can be heard slopping around, and as the quantity increases with time, the weight becomes quite significant.

The only way to deal with this is to drill two small holes in the underside of the spoiler, close to either end, and let the water drain out.

But what will you drink then if you need to drive through the desert?!

 

[Sylvester]

The rear wing is a rubber and plastic mixture, so difficult to properly paint it.
I'd resprayed it though, I'd preped the surface nicely, used halfords can spray. It held up ok for a year, but now it's peeling of in bits, so probably I'm gonna do it this summer again.

 

[A2Z]

But what will you drink then if you need to drive through the desert?!

Trust me, when you see what comes out you certainly wouldn't want to drink it

I have done this many times on different cars and a 5mm hole either end underneath as @steve_c mentions (where it isn't seen) is all that's required to open the flood gates

 

[BearMcPear]

My dad actually once told me he drilled a hole in the footwells of his Opel Kadett C after one winter having an ice skating rink inside the car.

 

[PlasticMac]

I too am surprised no suggestions have come in. In general, the paintwork on mine is very good. but the spoiler has spots where the material it's made from is showing through. I'm thinking it'll need painting, but what prep is needed and what paints (primer + matt?).
Masking will be fun, but what then?
Mac.

 

[steve_c]

I too am surprised no suggestions have come in. In general, the paintwork on mine is very good. but the spoiler has spots where the material it's made from is showing through. I'm thinking it'll need painting, but what prep is needed and what paints (primer + matt?).
Masking will be fun, but what then?
Mac.

It sounds like you need dye rather than paint.

Dying is discussed here:

Tech: Plastic Dyeing – The Permanent Solution and Alternative to Painting

Ever considered changing the color of your car's interior, but had no idea how to go about the process of turning the plastic parts another color? We took on the challenge – check out the results inside!

frontstreet.media

and you can easily buy the dye mentioned on eBay:

Rit All Purpose Fabric LIQUID Dye - Black | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Rit All Purpose Fabric LIQUID Dye - Black at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

 

[PlasticMac]

It sounds like you need dye rather than paint.

Dying is discussed here:

Tech: Plastic Dyeing – The Permanent Solution and Alternative to Painting

Ever considered changing the color of your car's interior, but had no idea how to go about the process of turning the plastic parts another color? We took on the challenge – check out the results inside!

frontstreet.media

and you can easily buy the dye mentioned on eBay:

Rit All Purpose Fabric LIQUID Dye - Black | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Rit All Purpose Fabric LIQUID Dye - Black at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products.

www.ebay.co.uk

Has anyone actually used it on an A2 spoiler though? I can't see how I'd get the spoiler into a pot on the stove ...
Mac.

 

[BearMcPear]

After @PlasticMac 's post, I will post how I would do it. I have not painted plastics, but do have painting experience of metals and also live in Finland.

In terms of the spoiler not being fully attached anymore, I would suggest using automotive double-sided tape (Bosch, 3M). It works very well at keeping trim in place, and I doubt the aerodynamic load on the wing is too high. Once the wing is attached solidly, I would move to painting.

In terms of properly painting it, what you would need is to roughen up the surface to increase surface adhesion of the paint. As it's attached to glass, I would personally be worried a power tool would introduce too much vibration and just use sandpaper. Fortunately it's a very easy shape to sand. Then you will need primer and paint. I have good experiences with car-rep's product line.

All of the things you would need you can get from Motonet. Hope this helps.

 

[steve_c]

Has anyone actually used it on an A2 spoiler though? I can't see how I'd get the spoiler into a pot on the stove ...
Mac.

Thankfully there are plenty of other options for dying plastic, many of which use an aerosol spray. For instance, here:

TRG Black Vinyl Dye Plastic Paint Aerosol 150ml or 400ml 317

TRG Vinyl Dye can renew or change the colour of leather, vinyl, plastic, rubber and many more material.In a simple to use aerosol can, you can simply spray onto your item.Like all our Vinyl Dyes, it is a true dye, not a paint. It seeps into the material and physically bonds with it, ch

www.vinyldye.co.uk

 

[PlasticMac]

After @PlasticMac 's post, I will post how I would do it. I have not painted plastics, but do have painting experience of metals and also live in Finland.

In terms of the spoiler not being fully attached anymore, I would suggest using automotive double-sided tape (Bosch, 3M). It works very well at keeping trim in place, and I doubt the aerodynamic load on the wing is too high. Once the wing is attached solidly, I would move to painting.

In terms of properly painting it, what you would need is to roughen up the surface to increase surface adhesion of the paint. As it's attached to glass, I would personally be worried a power tool would introduce too much vibration and just use sandpaper. Fortunately it's a very easy shape to sand. Then you will need primer and paint. I have good experiences with car-rep's product line.

All of the things you would need you can get from Motonet. Hope this helps.

Cheers, good, helpful advice.
Mac.

 

[RantA2]

Thanks for the advice. I think the spoiler is still attached to the tailgate quite tightly, it's just a bit loose as is the seal in between. I will try to attach it more firmly if it feels like it's loosening over time, there's more urgent things to solve for now.

I have painted quite a lot of different plastics with spray paints, I think some semi-gloss black Maston car paint could do fine. The cracked spots on the spoiler made me unsure what material it is as it seems like there's white colour showing underneath the quite thick black coating.

I tried using turtle wax plastic renew for the spoiler again as it worked really nicely for the other black parts. The first time I wiped it, it didn't seem to do anything but I repeated wiping the spoiler several times with quite a lot of plastic renew and let it affect for ten minutes and scrubbed it off. It worked for the faded colour quite nicely for now but I will need to repaint it in the summer.