[tjames]

i am getting a GT bumper cover soon and there is a thread on 3.8mustang with a guy painting a shaved cobra bumper on his own. i think im gunna give it a shot. im gunna order this paint and get primer and clear coat from an auto parts store. has anyone done this before? what else did you use? anyone wanna help me out with any suggestions other then just get it painted? because i dont want to pay to get it painted. any help?

[travis_afx]

is it a brand new or is it going to be a repaint?

[tjames]

its going to be a repaint. the one i think im buying is silver right now i need DSG

[ROUSHME661]

just make sure theres no dust around cuz thats a killer ... also dont be in a hurry and let it dry between coats..and the clear is the most important so take ur time on that

[travis_afx]

Okay since its going to be a repaint it will be much easier

First thoughroly wash the bumper with soap and water, font and back. Then go ahead and wipe the whole bumper off with wax and grease remover. When you wipe it down don't do the whole bumper at the same time. Just do small sections at a time, get a clean towel and wet it with the cleaner and have another dry clean towel on hand. Start by wiping the area with the wet one till the whole section is covered and before it dries wipe it off with the dry towel. Another thing you want to flip or refold the towels after every section, cause you always want a clean part of the towel to wipe with.

Okay now i will assume that there will be rock chips on it since it is a used bumper, if not then skip this paragragh. Your going to want to feather the chips out with some 400, or anther way to do it is fill the chips in with spot putty and then sand the putty with 400. If you go the putty route sand it till it is flush with the paint, like where there is only the little dot of putty left. Next if you feathered the chips out you will need to spray some primer filler over the raw plastic and over the feathered edges onto the paint around it. After that take some spray paint and lightly spray on top of the primer for some guide coat. Then take some 500 wet or dry paper and wet sand it till all the primers orange peel is gone and you can see no more spray paint(the low spots).

Now we prep the rest of the bumper. Take some wet or dry 600 and wet sand the entire bumber, use grey scotch brite to sand the areas that you can't get to with the sandpaper. Once the bumper is finished sanded(all the paint wil be dull when dry) rinse it off agin to get all the sanding residue off and let dy. If you primed go over it again a little bit with the 600. Use an air blower to make sure it's dry, front and back. You really want to make sure all the water is gone before moving on cause it sucks when your painting and all of the sudden the air pressure forces the water out of somewhere and you get a water spot in your paint.

Next get it set up on your stand and wipe it down with prep solvent. On a side note you don't want to touch the bumper without gloves on now becusae you will transfer oils from your skin onto it. after it is wiped down use a tack cloth and wipe it down. You will need to spray a coat of sealer onto the primed or spot putty areas extending slightly out into the good paint.

After you have sealed the areas you needed to and it has flashed off(if there is no repairs to the bumper start here after sanding with 600 and wiping it down) wipe it off with the tack rag.
Then spray about 3 coats of basecoat onto it with appropriate flash times and tacking off between each coat. You are looking for a nice uniform color. The coats should be medium to light coats, you don't want to put it on wet or there is WAY BIGGER chance of motteling or having blotchy spots. If you are unsure it is better to put mutiple light coats on rather than fewer wetter coats. You want to make sure you have conssistant gun movements(i.e. distance from panel is always the same, speed is the same, and the pattern overlap is consisant, about 30-35% overlap) espeically with mettalics so the mettalics will orientaint themselves the same. If the gun movement is off you could end up with blothcy or tiger striped paint.

Okay, after the basecoat is dry tack it off for the final time and spray your clearcoat.
The way i spray bumper covers is first to spray a light "tac" coat over the whole bumper and let that flash off for a couple minutes then procede with two wet coats of clear. It will help the first wet coat hold on more and give you a less chance of running it. Also i spray inside any holes first(like fog light holes), then the edges, then i spray the rest of the bumper working from top to bottom in sections from one the driver side to the passenger side.

After that just let it dry and buff it if needed. Another note wet your floor down with water before you spray and it will help keep the dust down. I hope this helps

[tjames]

wow man thanks. thats more then i could have asked for. I really appreciate it man. when i get it i will post a thread with progress on it and hopefully you can guide me along the way and ill take alot of pics so you can tell me if im doing it right or wrong. thanks man

[travis_afx]

No problem man i'm just glad i can give back to this site cause of all the advice i have recieved. If you have any questions about it just ask. Here or a PM.

[tjames]

will do man i appreciate it. and i feel the same way, i have learned ALOT here and alot of people like yourself have helped me and i give back whenever i can. thanks and ill PM you when i get the bumper cover