The front bumper of my car was chewed to hell and the back bumper had a 6 inch tear in it when I bought it. I repaired the tear and touched up the rock chips on the front and waited. Waited? Waited until someone hit me.
Well, I got rear ended two weeks ago with the only damage being a slight dent and scratches in the bumper. I got a check for $500 and promptly went to buy paint and a HVLP paint gun. I did a quick job on the body work as the car is not perfect and painted both bumper covers for $270 invested.
The temp was high and I didn't mix the paint accordingly and so I got a bunch of orange peel. I spent about 45 minutes on the front bumper wetsanding and polishing and it looks almost new. Notice the paint is not an exact match. It's not too bad in the light but the camera accentuates the difference. But, I made $230, improved the looks of the car substantially and now have enough supplies and a new paint gun to paint my mustang!
Whad'ya think?
Repainted bumper with pics
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bullittandy
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goody90q45
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Re: Repainted bumper with pics (bullittandy)
I also had some bodywork done and the bumper is not an exact match to the rest of the paint but is very close. I also think that I'm the only one that tell the difference. Your DIY paint job looks great.
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paranoidjack
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elwesso
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Re: (paranoidjack)
damn that looks fabulous... Do you have any paint experience, or is this your trial run.. I have to repaint my back bumper (fender bender) and i may try that.
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bullittandy
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Re: (elwesso)
I've painted two cars previously but am by no means a professional. Overall, its not hard to do. With a high volume low pressure (HVLP) gun the amount of overspray is substanially reduced and because it only shoots at 10 pounds of pressure you don't need a big air compressor. The gun I bought is the cheapest Napa sells ($93).
Painting is an art and a science. It is a science when the painting conditions are as described in the paint instructions, otherwise known as perfect(-dustfree booth, 72 degrees, plenty of light, no humidity etc, etc).
It is an art when you do it in your parent's driveway, with rain threatening, 90 degrees and high humidity. I mixed the paint according to the directions and the clear "flashed off" too fast and didn't flatten or smooth itself out. If I had added less catalyst then it would have dried slower and been smoother/shinier. Next time I'll know.
When painting myself the three problems that I've run across are: orange peel, trash in the paint and runs. Fortunately, all are fixed by wetsanding and polishing.
Try it yourself, you can save huge amounts of money.
Painting is an art and a science. It is a science when the painting conditions are as described in the paint instructions, otherwise known as perfect(-dustfree booth, 72 degrees, plenty of light, no humidity etc, etc).
It is an art when you do it in your parent's driveway, with rain threatening, 90 degrees and high humidity. I mixed the paint according to the directions and the clear "flashed off" too fast and didn't flatten or smooth itself out. If I had added less catalyst then it would have dried slower and been smoother/shinier. Next time I'll know.
When painting myself the three problems that I've run across are: orange peel, trash in the paint and runs. Fortunately, all are fixed by wetsanding and polishing.
Try it yourself, you can save huge amounts of money.
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Jeff Williams
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Re: (bullittandy)
Great job!
Just let me know when the paint party is at your house. I have a couple bumpers that could use a fresh coat!
Did you remove the bumpers, or spray them on the car?
Just let me know when the paint party is at your house. I have a couple bumpers that could use a fresh coat!
Did you remove the bumpers, or spray them on the car?
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bullittandy
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Re: (Jeff Williams)
The adva
Professionals will blend the new paint into the old so that color changes are indistinquishable but that requires experience beyoond my ability. So if you wanted a correct color match the paint would blend into the quarter panel, substantially increasing the time/money effort. I'd rather hope for a good color match.
On a side note, sometimes there are offical color variations for the same paint code. I painted the front end of my SHO with the "correct" green but it was WAY too green, as opposed to the blue-green that was factory on the car. I went back to the paint supply place and they found a "blue-green" variation of the factory code. It was perfectly matched!
I sprayed them on the car. It requires more masking but saves time removing/installing. It also saves chips from installation because its hard to put a panel back on without nicking it unless you know exactly how it attaches.Jeff Williams wrote:Great job!
Just let me know when the paint party is at your house. I have a couple bumpers that could use a fresh coat!
Did you remove the bumpers, or spray them on the car?
Professionals will blend the new paint into the old so that color changes are indistinquishable but that requires experience beyoond my ability. So if you wanted a correct color match the paint would blend into the quarter panel, substantially increasing the time/money effort. I'd rather hope for a good color match.
On a side note, sometimes there are offical color variations for the same paint code. I painted the front end of my SHO with the "correct" green but it was WAY too green, as opposed to the blue-green that was factory on the car. I went back to the paint supply place and they found a "blue-green" variation of the factory code. It was perfectly matched!