bumper repair advise needed

[R129mine]

hi

the bumper of my r129 has 2 cracks at the front on the right hand side - see picture especially the one on the corner is very visible and started to annoy me.

this weekend i decided to try and fix it, i bought some Isopon Bumper filler from Halfords and applied 3 layers (left each one to dry and sanded it down and then applied next layer) and imho it actually looks quite nice (just have to remember not to park it to close to the curb from now on!)

next step will be to paint it, my question is should i first but some primer on it before i spray paint it?

thanks

 

[nick mercedes]

hi

the bumper of my r129 has 2 cracks at the front on the right hand side - see picture especially the one on the corner is very visible and started to annoy me.

this weekend i decided to try and fix it, i bought some Isopon Bumper filler from Halfords and applied 3 layers (left each one to dry and sanded it down and then applied next layer) and imho it actually looks quite nice (just have to remember not to park it to close to the curb from now on!)

next step will be to paint it, my question is should i first but some primer on it before i spray paint it?

thanks

Some sort of flexible primer for painting plastic might be in order.

 

[grober]

I would smooth off the surface to be painted with some 800 /1200 wet and dry sandpaper first and then apply a finishing coat. Don't think primer is strictly necessary.

 

[R129mine]

never mind found it

http://www.paints4u.com/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=5021

I would smooth off the surface to be painted with some 800 /1200 wet and dry sandpaper first and then apply a finishing coat. Don't think primer is strictly necessary.

would you know of a source for the 800/1200 wet and dry sandpaper in the UK?

 

[Mark300SL]

would you know of a source for the 800/1200 wet and dry sandpaper in the UK?

Halfords - not cheap but convenient

 

[Smiley]

Get some 1500 or 2000 wet and dry as well - after you have put the top coat on you will be able to flat it back using one of these (pref 2000) using it wet + a little soap. You should be able to blend into existing paint - then polish back to a gloss shine with some compound like Farcela G10 - or G3 - can never remember whichever is the less abrasive of the two. Available from body refinsihing suppliers or on line - not Halfords.

 

[R129mine]

after i have put on the top coat do i let this dry fully before using the 2000 wet and dry sandpaper, my thinking is yes, but i just want to be 100% sure

 

[grober]

Best to leave it a couple of hours to harden-depends really on the ambient temp. Its probably more important to wait between applying spray coats- I take it you will be using an aerosol can- particularly if you are spraying a vertical surface if the bumper is left on the car. To do the best job you should remove the bumper and orient it so you are spraying down on an almost horizontal surface.You can speed things up by judicious use of a hot air drier after its surface dried initially, but beware of dust so close to the ground if you spray insitu.

 

[R129mine]

i won't be removing the bumper and yes i will use an aerosol can. in a way i am lucky it is right at the bottom of the bumper so if it is not 100% perfect at first sight it will not be an eyesore. but i like to get things right as much as i can. i will park the car on a plastic sheet in my garage (which i swept this weekend). I am expecting delivery of the aerosol to arrive on wednesday morning and if i have time in the afternoon will make a start on this.

thanks for all the advice!! much appreciated

 

[Smiley]

after i have put on the top coat do i let this dry fully before using the 2000 wet and dry sandpaper, my thinking is yes, but i just want to be 100% sure

Yes fully hardened - the next day if you can wait.

 

[R129mine]

I applied the primer and 2 layers of the top coat, paints4u also gave me a clear coat lacquer, should i apply this?

the Farecla G3 and G10 (got both) are on its way to me and will hopefully arrive tomorrow, i will post some pictures later this evening on the work i have done to dater,

it looks much better but i won't be giving up the day job just yet

 

[R129mine]

pictures of the work done to date

hi

i thought i would share with you the work i have done on my bumper over the weekend and today.

first of all the the bumper had been repaired by the previous owner, the one thing i failed to spot when i purchased the car was the the partition panel running from the right hand side front wheel to the front of the bumper had broken off, see below picture for the old panel and the new one underneath it.

i removed the old panel

and fitted the new panel which attaches to the underside of the front bumper, it gives the bumper extra strength and keeps the rubbish out.

This is what the right hand side of the front bumper looked like, although it is very low to the ground it is still an eyesore. the 2 cracks but also the peeled off paint.

I applied a bit of bumper filler:

and started the sanding process and this is what it looked like after the first layer of filler sanded down:

it clearly needed another layer or 2 which i applied over the weekend

at this stage i was reasonably happy with how smooth it felt and the shape was okay too. but you can see it is not perfect.

time to wrap the front of the car in some protective cover:

and apply some primer

and some proper azurite blue paint:

and 2 layers later and touch dry it looks like this:

Tomorrow morning the paint will be fully dry and i will get to work with the 2000 wet and dry sandpaper to blend in the paint and am waiting for my G3 and G10 Farecla to arrive too and get going with it.

currently the paint has brought up some imperfections with the filler that i applied but given that it is out of sight i am going to leave it and will tackle that next time (after I park it too close to the curb and have to start all over again) but as this is my first venture into fixing bodywork i am reasonably pleased. but there is room for improvement

 

[Dieselman]

You should really have applied a guide coat of different colour paint after filling, then rubbed back. This enables you to see how smooth the surface is due to the differing colours.
For now rub that back to smooth then give another paint, rub the sharp edge away, then spray with lacquer without flatting the main paint coat. The lacquer will make it shiney.

Looks a lot better though already.

 

[Smiley]

good job for a first try well done; practice will make perfect

like you say dont give up the day job - it is not as easy as it looks is it?