How to Restore a Hardtop and Fender Flares

In January 2019 I purchased a 1997 Wrangler Sport that had been very lightly used for the past 8 years or so.  It had essentially just sat outside in the sun and gotten a bit cooked.  As such the black hardtop had become a faded grey and the fender flares had also dulled and become a flat grey.  The hardtop and fender flares were need of restoration.

Hardtop Restoration

  The factory hardtop still seemed solid to me but it was in desperate need of being cleaned up and brought back into shape.  I poked around on Google and the various Jeep forums and most everyone I found that had done anything about their hardtops to spruce them up had decided to repaint them.  That seemed like overkill to me.  The hardtop seemed good yet, just a bit faded and oxidized. After all, my goal here is to flip the Wrangler for a profit so I’m trying to spend the least amount necessary to cure what ails it.

I kept digging online and came across a couple people who said they had used an oxidation remover for gelcoats (like on boats) and that it had worked pretty well.  With that tidbit of information I began hunting for a gelcoat oxidation remover to use and I found Meguiar’s Oxidation Remover 49.  Having seen Meguiar’s products everywhere in automotive I figured it must be decent stuff (even if it was designed for boats) and ordered a bottle for $8 on Amazon.  Two days later I had it in-hand. 

It works!  I had about 20 minutes that evening to test it out so I started at the back corner of the hardtop and rubbed the product in by hand and then wiped off the remaining residue and this is what it looked like.  I was able to finish the back and both sides within the 20 minutes and it was a night and day difference. A dramatic improvement.  Once the weekend came I headed out to the driveway to finish the job.  I first took some time to hand wash the Jeep to get all the loose dirt and grime off of it before I started applying the Oxidation Remover to the hardtop.  What I found worked best was to use three seperate rags:

1. Apply the Oxidation Remover and rub onto the hardtop
2. Wipe off the excess remaining compound
3. Wipe clean and buff completely dry

I had initially only used two rags but the hardtop was not coming as clean as I thought it should be, once I’d wipe the excess compound off.  Adding in the third rag did the trick.  A very dramatic improvement. And all for $8 and a little bit of effort.

Fender Flare Restoration

The second task for that Saturday was to also restore the faded fender flares on the Wrangler.  In classic fashion the fender flares had turned a very light chalky grey, like you pretty much see on all older Wranglers.  I had picked up a package of Rust-Oleum Wipe New last year for an F-150 I used to own but had never used the product on it.  I’d already spent the $15 so I figured I ought to get some benefit out of it and the Wrangler was in desperate need of some help.

The process is very simple.  Two application towels are provided with the kit and you simply dose the towels with the small bottle of liquid.  Once the towel is moist you simply wipe the towel from one end of the fender flare to the other in one continuous motion.  It took about four passes per fender flare to cover the entire surface but with each swipe I could immediately see the transformation.  I probably went over each whole fender flare about three times each to smooth out the overlapping lines and obtain a uniform coloring.  It was extremely simple.  Once I had the fender flares done I still had a good amount of product left so I looked around the Jeep for every other remaining faded plastic component that I could restore.  I used it on the backs of the side view mirrors, the rubber/plastic winglets on the side windows, the front bumper ends, the rubber hood bumps, the hood windshield sprayers, the tire carrier brake light housing and the rear license plate mount.  It was really fun to see the color and life come back into each of these components.

The Final Result

For a grand total of $23, and a couple hours on a Saturday, this was the final comparison of before I had done anything to the Jeep and the final state after restoring the hardtop and fender flares.  Time and money well spent.    (I had also cleaned up and repainted the side view mirrors before this; another huge improvement).