How do I prep the front bumper cover for primer? (Page 1/1)
imacflier JUL 31, 12:50 PM
Good Afternoon, All,

I am doing the prep work to have a shop do a color change on my '88GT. I will be changing from Fiero Red to GM Velocity Yellow.

Although the rest of my car's paint is pretty well destroyed, the front bumper cover is in perfect condition, both base and clear coat (the bumper cover was repainted a couple of years ago after a fool backed into me in a parking lot).

What must I do the prepare the bumper cover for primer, eg., sand off the clear with a final sanding of about 240 grit on the base....just scuff the clear....or something else?

My overall intent is to minimize the labor costs involved.

Please help me not make the cost HIGHER than if I just let the shop do the prep work!

TIA,

and Stay WELL!


Larry
Spoon JUL 31, 07:35 PM
I have no qualifications whatsoever as to prepping the body for paint. I can say that many decades ago a few shops in my area would refuse to paint over top of somebody else's prep work. Like the saying goes "A paint job is only as good as the prep work under it". And they don't want a questionable prep giving them or the business a bad name.

When I had my Fiero painted I chose to remove all the trim, door handles, lights, sail panels, etc. The shop did the prep & paint. I reassembled everything and saved a bundle. I then drove it back to their shop and got the nod of approval.

If you can get a shop to do as you wish and later on down the road the bumper cover grows crows feet they may point the finger at the prep work you did.
Just saying.

Spoon

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"Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne." - Kurt Vonnegut

Gall757 JUL 31, 07:59 PM
+1

You can do prep work on a sheet metal body and the painter can trust the surface is clean, but not with SMC panels. Solvents used years ago can still cause issues.