Rescuing Prius Fascia

[aerohead]

Fem bot S clobbered the front of her car at a drive-in theater. About $1,100 to replace and paint-match.
I watched a You-tube, spent $5 at Harbor Freight for a trim-tool set.
30-minutes to remove.
Leaned up, and damaged area resting on a foam pad, I used my 30-year-old heat-gun, my right foot, and a piece of wood to soften and reshape the thermoset plastic, doing all the work on the 'back' side.
In two hours it was back on the car.
I didn't get all of it, but what remained would have required heating the painted surface, and straining the finished surface, which I thought would ruin it.
I picked up some 3M rubbing compound/ light scratch remover ( $12 ) this morning.
$ 17 out of pocket, a few minutes of electric power, and 2-hours of 'honey-do' time. Actually, she won't know about it until Sunday.
The most difficult part was removing the electrical connectors from the auxiliary driving lights ( I've got a gimped up left thumb, and it's makes the whole hand practically useless ).

[Piotrsko]

Now that you have it done, any easy way to yank the whole driving light assembly or does it come out the front? At least you may have been able to use your right hand on the connection

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by Piotrsko

Now that you have it done, any easy way to yank the whole driving light assembly or does it come out the front? At least you may have been able to use your right hand on the connection

With the shortening daylight, and starting late in the day, I didn't think beyond the immediate task of dent removal and re-assembly.
I'm guessing that those lights are held from behind, in tension, and do come out the front once the fasteners are removed.
The plastic electrical connectors required prying up on a springy, reed-like catch with one hand, while wiggling and applying pulling force with the other, and not breaking anything.
Ten years ago it wouldn't have been an issue. Decades of framing, carpentry, and occasional hammer blows have rendered the thumb deformed at the thumbnail, with a recurring infection, requiring lancing, drainage, and a good soaking in hydrogen peroxide at regular interval.
The wood in these old, vintage homes that I worked on turned to 'iron' over their lives. And the best US Steel couldn't stand up to a lot of it, requiring structural screws and a hammer-drill.

[aerohead]

A retired cotton sock and the rubbing compound did the trick with most of the 'skid-marks' from the collision. The base-coat, clear-coat came through it essentially unscathed.
And I test-rubbed a bit of one oxidized headlamp enclosure, and it looks like the rubbing compound will freshen that up as well.
A two-fer!

[Piotrsko]

You'll find that even though it is clearer now, it will re fog rather fast because the plastic is losing volatile organic additives. A good coating of clear something will extend the life. I am a believer in one step floor wax from an industrial purveyor but clear gloss spray cans work well.