Painting bumpers.. Success stories??

[Deedee91]

I've been hunting about for colour coded bumpers recently and have come across quite a few faded and crack and peeling paint jobs. Has anyone ever managed to paint the black strip along their bumper colour coded successfully and with a lasting finish? I'm weighing up if it's worth me just painting them myself with my small gun maybe try and get some paint with a plasticiser added

[charliearmi]

Depends on if you want it smoothed?

[charliearmi]

I havnt done mine but i spray cars for a living so i can give some tips?

[Deedee91]

No I don't think I'll be smoothing it. I'm going to sand the bobbly texture out of the plastic so it leaves a nice finish if I do try though

[Deedee91]

I havnt done mine but i spray cars for a living so i can give some tips?

Sure all advice is helpful. I'm thinking a good wash with scotch pad and warn soapy water then a panel wipe to remove any silicon. Sand it back with 600? Or maybe rough it up to five a good bonding surface a very light skin with filler? Then primer and paint? I'm leaning towards the filler option as the paint may adhere better to the filler than to plastic?

[Deedee91]

'Give a good bonding surface' that's ment to say ha

[charliearmi]

Yea thats smoothing it mate.. Best finish to get on it is probably going over with a 320 grit paper or 180 then 320 plastic prime it, then high build 2k primer or wet and wet primer but can run more then its more work.... Sand it down with like 500 then 800 then pain will give the best finish but thats quite time consuming even if you get it primed one weekend look odd i know but then you can finish it off whenever

[Deedee91]

Ahh right when you said smoother I thought you meant smoothed where there's is no crease line between the two parts of the bumper. Yes I'll be smoothing that bit of texture away

[Deedee91]

I'm not really a fan of high build too but must admit I've never used 2k high build. I've ended up with paint work looking like a very fine crocodile skin if you look close where the high build has shrunk after a few weeks. I'll get a couple of spare wheel arches and try a few different things. Spraying the 2k will be the difficult part as I don't think I can get hold of an air fed mask

[Deedee91]

I have a small conpressor with a gravity fed gun, approx 7cfm, only really designed for spraying dents. However my uncle is a powder coated and has had bodyshop a in the past and has a wealth of knowledge although I find it hard to pay attention to him (probs coz he's family lol) however the equipment is there. Now the last time I was in the unit I was helping him with a job but dug out a gravity fed spray good (I imagine it good quality and he doesn't have cheap crap tools) and found the compressor to be 150 psi no idea of other stats do you think I'm better spraying with this?? Also I have no spray booth but think i can knock up a sterile area with plastic sheeting and make a negative air situation with a large old fan and some ducting.. Would you bother with infrared lamps to dry the paint? I can knock those together quite easily (I'm an electricians mate).

Sorry for having one million and one questions haha. The only time I've ever painted has been dents in nice hot sunny weather so I've not had to bother with worrying about paint drying

[charliearmi]

Dont worry about an air fed mask just have a ventalated area and a spraying mask mate. best psi for a spray gun is like 1.5bars, yea a clean area will be needed of if you really want just flat and polish it once nice and dry mate.. I use to be a sparky as well infared lights are good for primer buddy.. Put them on for about 10 15 mins but for paint will be longer dont put too close thou!!

[Deedee91]

That's good I was worried about not having the mask didn't know how noxious the 2k is.
I might well give this a go then once I've got everything collected together. Thanks for the advice!

Just because I'm nosey what made you switch from sparkin to painting?

I'm struggling at the minute for experience to get a proper spark job to finish my nvq. You would think people would love it when you offer to work for free haha

[charliearmi]

Why i switched was because its hard to be a sparky in the real world yea they say money is amazing but you have to work your arse of and be the right sorta sparky.. Then i visted a couple of body shops to wire up new lighting... Saw the owner doing an amazing paint job on an old mark 2 golf and just fell in love year and abit i ended up working for him aha