I have a black Bronco, and the black fiberglass shell has faded, of course. The thing is, a regular polish won't work because the surface isn't smooth. It's rough. I tried Meguiar's dash and trim foam on a small place, and it's not going to work. I'll be damned if I'm going to spray the whole shell, and have it turn purple or something.
The black paint is still very good, as it's always been garaged, waxed, etc. It would really look even better if the shell wasn't faded.
That's common. The only real long term fix is a repaint of the top in a newer epoxy type paint. Be prepared to spend around $1K for prep plus a few Hundred for paint. That rough surface is a beggar to get ready for paint. If you get quotes for about half that, you will be disappointed in about 2 years. Been There, Done That, Still Hating the Decision To Go Cheap.
I have heard that 303 Protectant will give the raw fiberglass a good sheen. From the pics I have seen from others over at ford-trucks.com I am going to pick some up and give it a try. What would give you the best gloss though would be to take it off and have it painted. Folks have gotten very good results with just rattle can rust-o-leum. It want to see if I can get what I want from the 303 before I go all out with the paint.
I found it at Murrays for about $8 for 16oz spray bottle. It definitely improved the look of the shell, but it is more of a before versus after effect. I need to give it a second going over because I was racing the rain clouds Friday when I first used it. The shell went from faded and oxidized looking (not /really/ oxidized but it had the same ashy effect) to darker green with a satin sheen.
I really like the 303; I probably went a little crazy with it but it did wonders to all the surfaces I used it on. Think of the 303 as keeping all the promises that Armor All and Son-of-a-Gun make and more :). It brought back the original look of the dash, steering wheel, side-view mirror shells, rubber window seals, spare tire cover and black plastic topper on the rear step bumper. I also sprayed it on the tires and they got a nice even flat black.
Bottom line as far as the fiberglass top is that if you want a darker hue with a satin sheen then 303 will work. If you want to pick your color and get a good gloss then you need to look into getting it painted instead. I still might paint it if but at least this monkey is off my back for now. From what others have said painting the shell is much simpler than painting car sheet metal - rustoleum from brush, roller or rattle can should do.
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