Artificial aging - plastic reservoirs (1 Viewer)

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

Joined
Sep 19, 2016
Threads
29
Messages
206
Location
Austin, TX
Now that I have a mix of shiny new OEM "clear" plastic and nasty old yellow plastic reservoirs in my engine bay, has anybody had any success getting them to match a little better? First step, obviously, was to soak the old stuff in dawn and hit it with a scotch brite. That made it look a LOT better, but they still (rightfully) look like they came from two different time periods.

I know it might be counterintuitive to make new stuff look old, but has anybody found any methods that work well? I did find an interesting article on a guitar website here that gave me some ideas for the new stuff.


This is not my photo, but it does a good job highlighting the difference in appearance:

IMG_02121_2048x.jpg
 
Soak it in motor oil maybe?

I think I saw someone rejuvenate an older one to new looking with soda blasting but I can't remember where I saw that. I'm interested in going from old to new as I'd rather not find/buy three new reservoirs.
 
Ive found that once they start looking old ... they are on the verge of cracking anyways so might as well replace. But that’s in my climate (AZ)
 
While the plastic is impermeable to water, it's surface is permeable to chrmicals and petroleum vapors. As the plastic ages, it becomes more and more brittle until it literally crumbles when touched if it's old enough. There's no way to rejuvenate those old plastic containerrs. Cleaning them only hastens their demise. They look like they're molded out of HDPE which doesn't last forever.
 
Now that I have a mix of shiny new OEM "clear" plastic and nasty old yellow plastic reservoirs in my engine bay, has anybody had any success getting them to match a little better? First step, obviously, was to soak the old stuff in dawn and hit it with a scotch brite. That made it look a LOT better, but they still (rightfully) look like they came from two different time periods.

I know it might be counterintuitive to make new stuff look old, but has anybody found any methods that work well? I did find an interesting article on a guitar website here that gave me some ideas for the new stuff.


This is not my photo, but it does a good job highlighting the difference in appearance:

IMG_02121_2048x.jpg



Is this the look your going for ?

Both these 60 series bottles are still tough as nails and zero. Signs of aging no cracks

Just patina and mineral staining,,,,,,,,,,

A666D745-B433-4A14-A40A-A40D07F55774.jpeg
8375B4E6-6B86-4034-B363-CAEBB6D237BF.jpeg
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Back
Top Bottom