The original plan was to spray paint them, but they weren't bad enough to justify the time to do all the masking. Plus,I didn't want to worry about overspray on the neighbor's cars in the garage. Another NCLR member mentioned using black shoe polish (the bottle with a sponge end) to dress up old faded fender flares. I got around to trying it today and I'm quite impressed. It took all of about 10 minutes to do all four flares after an initial washing, and no masking at all. Maybe it helped that I have a Java black D2, but I don't think it would be much of an issue even with an Alpine white truck. The finish doesn't have any lines of overlap from the sponge and might be shinier than the originals. I can't compare since the PO had them installed. Even so I think a day in the dirt will make them look just right. I'll get an updated pic in natural light after they sit overnight. It will be interesting to see how the shoe polish handles up over the next few months. It's getting towards the rainy season (winter) here in S.F., and even though I live in the Sunset district, it's main foggy most of the time. The door handles could use the same treatment, but I'm afraid the polish will eventually rub off on people's hands so I'll keep them they way they are for the time being.

 

mmmmmmm, interested in seeing how this goes........

There is lots of automotive products over here that bring them up like that, the problem is they just dont last very long at all. Probobly 3 - 4 washes and they are back to normal........

If the shoe polish handles the rain / washing better I think its a good fix

 

Make sure your wife knows about it and doesn't walk buy too close to them wearing white clothes or jacket. Cause you might have to use that shoe polish to match the other eye

 

I bought some forever black from atlantic british. Has anyone used this product?

 

Forever Black works ok. After several months, you have to reapply.

I stopped reapplying after the 2nd time.

 

Steve, the club member who pointed me to the shoe polish originally, said that it should last for years. He did it back in his VW days. Not sure how long ago that was, before the Rover he was a Viper team mechanic.