Painting Wedge Bumper
Discussion
My bumper on the wedge is a bit scabby looking. I was thinking of rubbing it down and painting it with a good quality rattle can - does anyone have any experience of doing this and can offer advice?
I have heard of people painting whole cars with rattle cans so assuming a bumper will be fairly straight forward!
I have heard of people painting whole cars with rattle cans so assuming a bumper will be fairly straight forward!
Rattle cans don't give a good finish. Especially these days paints are water based which means it'll need to be lacquered on top to give a shiny finish and stop the paint washing off. I would be more inclined to hire a spray gun for a day, once you've done all the preparation and bought the paint. It's then a matter of blowing it over, and you should get a much better finish, but give it a test run first and get used to using the paint gun otherwise there may be a lot of runs in the paint.
I have experimented with both rattle cans and spray guns and find the latter much better. Though I've never sprayed a Wedge bumper, I have sprayed several bumpers in my time.
However, if the rest of your car is immaculate, leave the job to the professionals and just reach deep into your pockets
Tony. TCB.
I have experimented with both rattle cans and spray guns and find the latter much better. Though I've never sprayed a Wedge bumper, I have sprayed several bumpers in my time.
However, if the rest of your car is immaculate, leave the job to the professionals and just reach deep into your pockets
Tony. TCB.
Hey, in Day Of The Jackal, Edward Fox resprays an Alfa in a layby using an electric spraygun whilst leaves and dust whip around his ankles yet he gets a showroom finish... how hard can it be?
Mind you, he wraps it around a tree in the very next scene so maybe he wasn't happy with the finish after all...
Mind you, he wraps it around a tree in the very next scene so maybe he wasn't happy with the finish after all... A good paint shop should be able to mix up and add propellant to any paint..As always..Avoid dusty environments and ideally a warm ventilated space..You don't want the "Orange peel effect"...
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&...
There have been some rattle can threads on a USA old truck forum I'm on. Part of the problem (as I understand it) is the rattle cans paints don't have UV protection (and don't work well with different rattle can primers) and will yellow or worse. If you can't do it yourself, go for a professional re-spray with auto quality paints. Grady
My grey 350i is Ford Nimbus Grey which I have been fortunate to find cans ready-made in Halfrauds.
I've re-sprayed the front spoiler before - it's much easier off the car in a shed and keep the dust down and insects off it.
Results are acceptable after a few coats and a laquer coat - necessary for metallic - I haven't had any problems with yellowing either. Perhaps the laquer helps here.
I've re-sprayed the front spoiler before - it's much easier off the car in a shed and keep the dust down and insects off it.
Results are acceptable after a few coats and a laquer coat - necessary for metallic - I haven't had any problems with yellowing either. Perhaps the laquer helps here.
High build primer done and a couple of coats of paint and it's looking good. Just to give a couple of coats of lacquer and the moment of truth will be here when I peel of the masking paper!
Took pictures through the process so will post them up with a list of what I used for anyone interested.
Took pictures through the process so will post them up with a list of what I used for anyone interested.
So here's how it went. Keyed surface with scotchbrite pad and then degreased with panel wipe. Primed with two coats of UPOL high build primer
Rubbed down between coats with 400 grit paper and smoothed off with 1000 grit
Three coats of Paints 4 U TVR Italian Red. Didn't sand down the bumper after painting as I don't think the paint would have been thick enough to take it. Then did three coats of Clear Lacquer and here is result:
Really good colour match. Finish is pretty good, not perfect as it is not mirror smooth but very presentable. It's a long summer and god knows what I'll need to spend on the Wedge and the S so I'm happy with this just now. Much better than the stone chip touch ins and edge scuffs I had. It's worth a try. Wouldn't attempt a panel but great results for bumpers or a spoiler etc.
Rubbed down between coats with 400 grit paper and smoothed off with 1000 grit
Three coats of Paints 4 U TVR Italian Red. Didn't sand down the bumper after painting as I don't think the paint would have been thick enough to take it. Then did three coats of Clear Lacquer and here is result:
Really good colour match. Finish is pretty good, not perfect as it is not mirror smooth but very presentable. It's a long summer and god knows what I'll need to spend on the Wedge and the S so I'm happy with this just now. Much better than the stone chip touch ins and edge scuffs I had. It's worth a try. Wouldn't attempt a panel but great results for bumpers or a spoiler etc.
Edited by DIB350 on Monday 24th March 08:44
Red is a difficult colour to match as its fades with time. When painting the way you did there was no need to flat the paint in between coats. That technique is used for Cellulose if a clear coat is not going to be applied as the shine comes from the depth of paint applied when flatted back and polished.
With your job if you applied another 2 or 3 coats of clear and allowed it to harden you would then flat back the clear coat followed by a polish to get a decent shine. Either way you have a done a good job regardless but if you find the shine fades then flatting back the clear and polishing it after would bring back the shine.
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