Restoring roofrack side rail bars after Isopropyl damage

[DACLR4]

Hi all,

I was given some extremely poor advice on cleaning the roof rails on my beloved LR4. I applied 70% isopropyl alcohol to the left side rail. I am beyond angered at myself for not researching the effects of IPA on plastics before doing this. I'm looking for advice on how to fix this. I don't think a black trim restorer would work because I'm pretty sure the alcohol has ripped the paint clean off. Does LR sell any black paint for plastics? Or can anyone recommend any that would match the color closely?

Thanks for reading, and I hope I can save someone else from applying alcohol haphazardly like this.

 

[TrungH]

I would just unmount them and repaint them with rustoleum or krylon fusion in a satin black. You'd be hard pressed to match the color of UV exposed plastic.

 

[Ric in Richmond]

I really like SEM line of trim paints. Tough and goes on nice!!!

https://www.semproducts.com/products/refinish/trim-paints

 

[ktm525]

I would just colour with black sharpie in place.

 

[Shaggy]

I would just colour with black sharpie in place.

That wouldn't last long.

 

[TCM75]

I know this is too late, but here is a post about the product I used to clean my stained roof rails:

https://www.landroverworld.org/threads/roof-rails-premature-aging.29524/#post-179399

I'm fairly certain the rails are black anodized and you may find a plating shop that would be willing to strip and re-anodize. I don't know how much new rails cost but my guesstimate is that it could be done for less than $300 depending where you are.

I don't have experience with painting anodized surfaces but if others have had good success with it, you probably want to try that first. Re-anodizing will mean removing the components from the vehicle.

 

[cperez]

This is good to know. I have never had to use isopropyl alcohol on that part before and I will avoid it now. Last Christmas I festooned my LR4 with LED Christmas lights. I attached them by using 3M adhesive plastic clips around the perimeter of my roofline. At the end of the season I took everything off and used Goo-Gone to remove the adhesive residue. I used it in moderation along with a soft plastic scraper and there were no bad effects on the finish of the paint or the racks. FYI.

 

[DACLR4]

I know this is too late, but here is a post about the product I used to clean my stained roof rails:

https://www.landroverworld.org/threads/roof-rails-premature-aging.29524/#post-179399

I'm fairly certain the rails are black anodized and you may find a plating shop that would be willing to strip and re-anodize. I don't know how much new rails cost but my guesstimate is that it could be done for less than $300 depending where you are.

I don't have experience with painting anodized surfaces but if others have had good success with it, you probably want to try that first. Re-anodizing will mean removing the components from the vehicle.

You're not too late at all. I'm still contemplating what to do. The pieces damaged by the IPA were the two plastic connections at the front of the rail. The metal section is completely fine. So, I don't think I need re-anodizing, just repainting of the plastic pieces.

It's interesting that you bring up your rails being discolored as well. My undamaged right rail looks like this. I only applied the IPA to one rail. I actually have a bottle of that Flitz polish laying around somewhere

 

[DACLR4]

I really like SEM line of trim paints. Tough and goes on nice!!!

https://www.semproducts.com/products/refinish/trim-paints

Ric, have you used any of SEM's prep products, and would I need any for repainting just the plastic on my left rail?