painting my front bumper?

**tom5170** · 09-01-2016

I bought a few cans of dupli color perfect match, dupli color clear coat, and some dupli color scratch primer, 1200 sand paper..

The bumper has a crack all the way down near headlight but is repairable. I bought jb weld plastic weld epoxy. It also has some pretty nasty scratches/scrapes all over but nothing tooo deep.

What are the steps to repaint it? Shoukd i use dish soap or degreaser to clean it up? I have a pressure washer too...

It doesn't have to be perfect. I just want it to look better than it already is and get rid of the crack and scratches. I sprayed a sample of the dupli color and it matched perfectly to the existing color.

**tom5170** · 09-01-2016

In these steps: I figured id take bumper off, fix the crack, clean it up/apply degreaser/or rubbing alcohol, sand it down and get rid of the existing clear coat, apply the primer, apply the paint, and then apply the clear coat..

**Scottydoggs** · 09-01-2016

you'll want a epoxy bumper repair kit that comes with mesh, you repair the back side with the mesh then fill the front and sand smooth, same for nicks cut off any thing sicking up, then fill and sand smooth.

get some duplicolor prep spray it removes grease and wax.

i did both my bumpers with duplicolor. and did a crack repair. came out damn nice.

**WarStryker13** · 09-01-2016

^^^^^ he's done this before.

**Scottydoggs** · 09-01-2016

the light spot hole to hole is a crack, repaired on the back, i ran out of epoxy filling the crack but its the bottom and you cant see it.

do your wet sanding to prep it on the car, then do the edges when its off and on a saw horse.

back bumper started out looking like it was in a demo derby.

filled in nicks

sanded

pained cleared, but not wet sanded and buffed.

then wet sanded with 2500 and hit with a orbital buffer.

i love this one.

**WarStryker13** · 09-01-2016

so much junk in the trunk... lol

**Scottydoggs** · 09-01-2016

looks worse then it is lol

**Scottydoggs** · 09-01-2016

and i did prime the back bumper with duplicolor sand able primer. then painted and cleared. the front was a prep and spray deal.

**idrivejunk** · 09-01-2016

You might want a larger selection of sandpaper. Just posting to see myself post.

**WarStryker13** · 09-01-2016

Originally Posted by idrivejunk

You might want a larger selection of sandpaper. Just posting to see myself post.

I do that all the time! lol

**tom5170** · 09-01-2016

Damn that looks good.

I sanded with like 80 grit tonight. Will sand more tomorrow. I put the bumper upright on 2 old lawn tables. My saw horses are around here somewhere. I lined up the crack and used a bunch of duct tape and then put epoxy on the back side with some wire mesh stuff from auto zone. The crack is so long that trying to angle the bumper to make it line up was kind of a pain in the a**.

I bought epoxy jb plastic weld. I saw it being used on youtube in videos and it seemed to turn out great.

**tom5170** · 09-01-2016

**Scottydoggs** · 09-01-2016

dont sand the whole bumper with that 80. you just need to scuff the old paint so the new paint has some thing to bit to and stick on.

**02NavyBlue** · 09-01-2016

I've wanted to know the proper steps for a while, like:

Sand grit?
primer - # coats/dry time in between?
Then sand the primer to what grit?
How many coats of paint and wait time in between?
Sand grit before applying clear?
Coats of clear and wait time in between.

Idk if that's too technical or not lol. Dry time in between primer and sanding, or paint and sanding is another question I suppose.

**Scottydoggs** · 09-01-2016

read the cans lol

iirc it was maybe a 10 minute flash time for primer and paint. the clear was a coat a minute as per the can.

2000 is fine or a red scotch bright pad for the mechanical scuffing. 2500 for wet sanding the clear coat.

once you wipe it down with the prep spray dont touch it with bare hands, the oil off your fingers can f up the paint.

**tom5170** · 09-01-2016

is it required to sand the clear coat and buff or can I get away with that? i don't have a buffer on hand right now lol

**Scottydoggs** · 09-01-2016

you can just clear it and leave it as it, but it wont have "that shine" like after wet sanding and buffing. you can always do the last part later on. i did my paint in the fall, and sanded and buffed in the spring, it just got to cold out.

**tom5170** · 09-02-2016

i might also do another front bumper if this one turns out good. this is my first time

anyways, is the wire stuff required? car that i know of has a crack along the bottom... can i just put some epoxy and sand it?

**Scottydoggs** · 09-02-2016

id use the re enforcement mesh, its there to add strength.

**idrivejunk** · 09-02-2016

Originally Posted by 02NavyBlue

I've wanted to know the proper steps for a while, like:

Sand grit?
primer - # coats/dry time in between?
Then sand the primer to what grit?
How many coats of paint and wait time in between?
Sand grit before applying clear?
Coats of clear and wait time in between.

Idk if that's too technical or not lol. Dry time in between primer and sanding, or paint and sanding is another question I suppose.

Every one of those questions depends on what you use, and every paint there is has a tech info document on the manufacturer's website. I can rattle off numbers but have more experience with real paint that doesn't wipe off with thinner. Anything specific I can help with. Generalized answers might not help as intended.