Also, what would be a good clear coat I could spray over it to stop it from fading? (damn sunlight)

 

Xlr8n....A BIG THANKS! I had several scrapes and scratches on the black trim panels in my cargo area from hauling stuff. Tried different trim paints and plastic protectants to try and hide but nothing ever looked right or blended in. Got out my heat gun and hit the spots, and like magic they're gone! Looks like new!

 

That is a superb trick and it works well, however, it should be noted when attempting this procedure that it is absolutely vital to make sure the part you're heating actually does have pigments impregnated all the way through, if it's just top-coated with color the heat may actually serve to make the problem even worse.

 

Well I bought some Herculiner.
After hours of reading, the census seems to be that it's definitely the best thing to use for what I'm doing with it. And I'm going to just use the Herculiner UV top coat after. From what people say it has to be applied every 4-6 months but works great and keeps it looking like the day it was put on.

 

So I'm trying to strip the chrome off the plastic grill. I read on a ton of forums that heavy duty oven cleaner will get chrome off plastic with no problem. Just spray it thick and let it set for 30 minutes, rinse, repeat.

I gotta say, my chrome must be steroid chrome, cause it's not doing ANYTHING to it but making it very shiny...
I'm nearing the end of the second 30 minute spray and nothing.

The can says to let it sit for at least 6 hours (for oven cleaning, obviously) but maybe I'll give this a shot and see what it does for this chrome lol.

 

After letting it sit for over 8 ours it still hasn't done anything at all.
Looks like some of the chrome may be starting to bubble up or something...that's about it.

Am I supposed to scrape it or something??

 

Well, after about 5 hours of sanding, I'm ready to spray the Herculiner. I bought a cheap paint gun that can spray thick stuff like bed liner from Harbor Freight. It should be here wednesday or thursday. I'm going to spray it then.

 

Here's a couple pics I took of it finished.
I did: front a rear bumper, chrome grill, door handles, hood "vent", side view mirrors, plastic trim that runs along the roof, fender flares, lower doors, chrome GM emblems and H3 emblems.

Pics suck as I took them with my old iPhone but you get the idea.

Between sanding, cleaning, and masking I have about 12 hours invested then about another 2 - 3 hours of actually applying the product.

 

Looks like it worked, makes for a tough looking ride, but not sure I am keen on the textured finnish of it, I would have just used 'Mother's back to black' or Maguires trim restorer to keep the original trim on my H3 looking good (I have used both products and currently stick with the Maguires stuff, takes about 10 minutes to wipe on after a wash and looks great.

I think the paint you have applied will still need maintenance as well, so will be no different in the end.

But I must say I am starting to like the 'no chrome' look on these h3's, looks tough

 

Yeah, ditching the chrome made the biggest impact on the look of it.
Being all black makes it look 10X more aggressive tho. Numerous people have said that since I finished it.