jgifford

A few months ago, a lady at work backed into my car, I can't really afford to get it painted, so I'm thinking about doing a little rattlecan work to get by until I have a little more money. How would you suggest fixing this?

BADBIRD009

i say you get her insurance card and make a claim. why should you have to pay for it if SHE backed into it?

jgifford

Well, I actually did that, but instead of fixing the paint, I used it to help pay for the engine. So, I have a sweet motor, and bad paint up front.

phaledax

so your going to do it your self, just do a search on how to blend your paint, looks like minor sanding is needed, remember befor you paint plastic parts, should be wiped down with isopropyl alcohol (rubbing alcohol). then just get some clearcoat in a can if they have that. and your set. you'll probably see everything you need in a search. o if your have access to a buffer do that too at the very least get some paint sealent.

89blackGTA

Sand it down and rattle away. Just make sure to not go too gritty with the sand paper, it will gouge that crap. Here is some pics of mine.

Brian

89blackGTA

after

jgifford

Nice work, what steps did you do? What grit sand paper? Did you use any kind of primer? Also mentioned above about paint blending, how'd you get the transition so smooth? That is my biggest worry.

Cruzin Kaz

Being that it is so heavily cracked it will require you to sand all that off to the actual bumper, adn then feather sand around it to make it as flush as possible, then a few layer of flexable primer, some mroe sanding to make it all level and flush, tac cloth and paint. But the cover is a bit bent on the side there, which will be nearly impossible to remove. But it will look better then what you have anyway. HTH!! Here is a pic of a steel bumper I did awhile back. Proper sanding and prep work is the key to good results.

89blackGTA

I pretty much did everything cruzin said. I dont recall what grit I used. I dont even want to spout out a number. Ill see if I have any lying around and double check.

Brian

crazycrocket

As said above...

Sand it down with a medium grit paper.. because the paint is cracked you are better off sanding it down to the the polyeurothane below. Then if you need to use a bit finer grit paper to remove any major scratches. Spray a few coats of primer/surfacer, and use a flat board. Don't go cheap with the primer/surfacer, use different colors on each layer to get the best results. This way you can see where it is high and where it is low. Then go over it after with 2 colors... spray 1 black and the other a different color. The sanding will depend on how good it looks. Then afterwards spray it with the paint and make sure you do a decent job of blending the paint.

phaledax

for sandpaper use maby 120-140 git or above for the inital major sanding for smoothing the sides use 160-200 if you can find it. to avoid blotches or as painters call it (fattys), simply spray from a greater distance than it says on the can like 10-14 inches. also to better blend it use (your main question) after you sand make sure you clean the area throughly It is the singular most important factor in your blend, also clean off any polishing residue in the area beond the sanding to. spray the repaired area. Wait for the coat to tack sufficiently, then apply successive coats until full coverage is achieved, slightly extending the coats each time to melt in any dry spray from the previous coat. To avoid messing up in general spraying, practice makes perfect, try it first on a pice of paper or a box. remember to mask off the lights just in case, use tape that not to sticky, to avoid what I call (sticker juice). Don't use fast dry or slow dry solvents, as they contain additives which are not conducive to good blending when your cleaning. sorry for all the reading but I hope that covers everything.