Bumper spraying

5500

Just wondering if anyone whos handy with a spray gun can give me some pointers.

Recently got a new bumper for the car and fancy giving it a shot spraying myself.Ive got a compressor and gun so just need paint now!

Sooo - preperation.Anything in particular to be done?the bumpers plastic so i presume i need a plastic primer first?

Colour match - the cars not a standard colour and and i dont have the code either.Where or how can i get it matched(on the southside if possible) and whats a rough price on the paint itself (does it come by the litre or gallon?also whats the guide price on laquer and primer)

I have the use of a shed so if possible should i slap some heaters in it,how long to leave between coats of paint and before paint or laquer?

Should the paint be mixed with anyform of thinners before spraying or if running low can thinners be added?

Any help info or tips grately appreciated!

maidhc

The best pointer is dont make it your first spray painting job! Get a few sheets of steel or something to play with first. You are pretty much guranteed to have all sorts of runs with your first few efforts. I have done a little, but I still wouldnt try doing a car that I would want to look some way presentable!!!

Do a search with google, there are plenty of tutorials and so forth out there.

JohnCleary

I wouldnt start off spraying something as big as my bumper, however its your choice.

First of all, plastic bumper. Sand it down with 320 wet dry to give the primer some grip. Clean & dry, give it 2-2 coats of primer. I generally leave it a few hours to dry before goign onto the next step.

When its all dry, I then sand the primer with 320 wet dry, until its nice and smooth. Then as many coats of colour as it takes. I again leave this a few hours to dry.

I then sand the colour coat with 320 wet dry. Again, let it dry and smooth etc.

Finally, I shoot it with about 3 coats of laquer, leaving plenty of time in between coats, and after the last coat I leave it overnight to dry. Then sand down with 1500 wet dry.

I generally let someone else do the last part... waxing and polishing, so ill leave that step to a polishing expert

patsyh

dont do your front bumper yourself, itll peal whoever does it but doing your own will make it worse

JohnCleary

patsyh wrote:

dont do your front bumper yourself, itll peal whoever does it but doing your own will make it worse

It will NOT peal if it was prepped correctly

The Doktor

You could attempt to paint the bumper but as others have advised, you need to practise first. If you try on a bumper you will more than likely end up with runs all over the place. Or if you are too cautious it will be dry, and look terrible. And with the cost of paint, you dont really want to make mistakes.u
Also you need somewhere to prep it seperate to where you will paint it, or you will have dust all over it.
The best advice I could offer would be to drop it in somewhere and let someone do it.
In the long run it would probably work out cheaper to do it this way. If you want any advice let me know, I used to do it for a living and still do some motorbikes for the fun of it.

5500

The fact that it may turn out crap or have to be done X amount of times doesnt bother me,you have to learn someway and i like a challenge,leaving it with a bodyshops the easy way out!

Ive sprayed interior parts ect and fibreglass boot enclosures before but from colour match cans,none of it ever peeled on me or had big runs but im guessing its harder using the gun.

Whats the price on paint and where's best to get it?also where can i get the colour match of the bumper.

I have a spare fibreglass bumper with some damage i could practice on first,is it a case of fibreglass sheet over and behind the cracks,then p38,sand sand sand and then prime?

Cheers for the pointers btw

The Doktor

Yep u got it, Fiberglass behind the bumper. And p38 on the front. If you can get your hands on an air Dual action sander it would make life easier. But on smaller things and detail thing I always prefered wet or dry sand paper, start rough, and then use maybe 320 to finish.
As far as paint is concerned I usually get it in spectrum paints. www.spectrum-paints.com
They will match the paint, and also give you hardner, thinner, etc. They will also give you a data sheet, which tells you the ratio to mix them.
Also you can get your primer there, and make sure you get a data sheet on it, as some primers you must paint over within a certain amount of time.
One thing I cannot stress enough is to get yourself at the very least a good cartidge mask (the rubber type with charcoal and paper filters). By rights you should have an air fed one. If you dont use it, I promise you will regret it!!
The cost of the paint, well you can pay €2000 a litre if you want! lol.. depends on what you want! It shouldnt be too expensive for basic paints.
For a bumper a 1/4 litre should be plenty.

I always find it feels great when u do a really nice paint job!

Interceptor

Due to the cost of paintmost DIY painters don't get to play about much - I paid €400 for the paint to do a car recently and it wasn't anything special. Vinny Byrnes on the Northside are very good for all the stuff you will need.

Try and get some adhesion promoter wipes from a bodyshop when painting bumpers and flexible parts to prevent delamination and cracking. Wipe the prepped bumper prior to basecoating and it ensures the paint stay where it supposed to. Otherwise practice, practice, practice...

And on a safety note, all car paints except the new water based ones will make you very sick if you inhale them, buy a good organics & particle filter and WEAR it.

'c

JohnCleary

On a side note, does anyone know where I Can get a marine epoxy primer, and a marine-grade clearcoat? (Laquer is no good, it will crack)

Need to paint my jetski