C280AF

So I looked in DIY section and didnt find anything about attempting to paint panels for those of us that insist on DIY's and only take our cars to over priced paint shops and dealerships if its an absolute emergency!

Okay so I bought the AMG front bumper from Gary, has anyone attempted to paint their bumper themselves and if so, what is the preperation you did before the base coat went on if any was needed or is it just a "paintable part straight out of the box"? Anyone painted a panel with the same type of material as the AMG Bumper?

Anything would be great!

Onericali

The only thread ive got book marked about painting is https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ng-advice.html

I think that general mercedes and material specific info mixed with some general technique seperate research will be about all i need when i tackle this.

GL woot!

C280AF

Yea I read that thread a few times over before I posted this thread to see if maybe I missed something but I was hopn for a "no kidding, ive done it, this is the products i used and this is how it looks.."

More of a direct answer you know, not 50 posts with everyone providing their theories...

Best of Luck to you though! I think we are the few and far in between that will attempt this task if all there is "grille specific" thread and not panels themselves. Over achievers i suppose we are!

phister

First thing you want to do is to wet sand the bumper to remove everything on it and make sure its smooth. After that let it air dry, to make it quicker you can put lamps around so it can be warmer so it dries faster. Then you start with you primer, base coat, to your paint, then clear. After you paint and clear it, you wet sand it over again to smooth out the clear. Then you buff and polish it and put glaze over it. Thats what my friends paint shop does. Just make sure you have a really good spray gun, thats the key, if you get some cheapo one you're coats aren't going to be even and you'll have spots and over spray on some areas.

Xhale707

Do not paint ur bumper yourself.. Let the pros do it. This isn't a honda forums

bheng

just know that some color paint is temp dependent. my friend wanted white and it turned out cream on his prelude. so up to you

phister

yeah you better get some professional paint and know how to blend them to make it the right color. Shouldn't cost more than 300-400 to paint the bumper.

C280AF

Right yea, the desired temp for painting is 75 degrees from what ive researched with very low humidity so the paint doesnt bubble with air spots due to the moisture. There is a site paintworld.com that swears they can match any make/model color and they provide everything so I was going to look into that.

Im in new england and its barely pushing 50 degrees so Im hopn in a couple weeks it will be warm enough.

Also, I saw there wasnt a DIY for removing a rear bumper with photos so that will be coming on my next DIY in a week or maybe this weekend!

C280AF

Honda Forum? Yep I know its not a honda, I dont own a honda but thanks for reminding me to double check my trunk emblem, phew i thought I might have just had a vehicle worth half the price in my garage just now. Although gas mileage is considerably better, but thats not enough to turn me "honda".

Are you anti DIY? Wow its friday man cheer up and have a few!

Wardsweb

My parts from Gary I had painted and installed, but I have done rattle can before.

Wet sanded with 400 grit and painted with primer.



Then painted with acrylic enamel from Tower Paints



Installed

Xhale707

I've posted DIY before. Lookem up i don't drink heh i smoke

That red paint job looks pretty good.

Onericali

I'm with ya to tackle this in the next week or so.

I need the 744, but I didnt realize I needed a paint gun.

I can't just hand paint then sand down?

What is a good paint gun?

I've been lookin for those sanders/ polishers that connect to a Dewalt drill too.

fookoo303

I bought some touchup paint from automotivetouchup.com and it matches very close to the factory. The cans also spray very even and the paint seems to be very durable. I used it to paint the bottom side of my doors after removing tons of rust and it's holding up very well.

I sanded everything smooth, then primered and sanded that with a finer grit sandpaper, moved on to base color, and clear coated a few layers. After that I buffed and polished.

Glyn M Ruck

With the PPG or Glasurit waterbased base coat & nano clearcoat system, DIY is not that difficult - You need one of these ideally from someone like DeVilbiss, Binks etc.

HVLP Base Coat/Clearcoat Gun

Viper98912

If you want something to look GREAT, you need to get it done professionally, and this is from someone who has done some painting on a few cars before (including a full car myself). IMO, for the DIY'er, the most you can do is a body lip kit (bumpers and side skirts), for a few reasons - most lip kits, the area you cover is mostly complex, so it'll hide mistakes better (flat panels show everything). The amount of area is small, and it's on a location of the car that's on the bottom, not in plain view when you first look at the car.

Paint is one of the few things (alongside dyno tuning) that I relent to say you really should leave to the experts, and that's coming from this big DIY'er.

d1no

C280AF if you dont have a paint gun, compressor, nice clean area like a garage that you can line with plastic sheet for overspray and some knowledge I wouldnt try this. Maybe in a few months when I repaint my bumper and some other parts I will post a diy.. But I deff wouldnt paint a bumper with spray can, its just not durable enough and will look like crap in a short time from rock chips.

MIKESV8

+1 on the guy that said this isn't a honda forum.please please please, just take the time and shop around for a reputable shop and the best price to do the job. Yelp.com is your friend

FrankW

repainted our beater e39 somewhat looks better than peeling clearcoat, but not that great either. all i can say is that make sure you know what you are doing.

mskembo

I say use a rattle can of Matte Black, and do the whole thing! Get that stealth look!

MIKESV8

I believe that home depot is having a sale on them this week too.

mskembo

So is Lowes I hope nobody took me seriously!

OneOfaKindTrini

Do you have a controlled enviornment to spray in? Any major part going on your car you don't want it to look bad from things settling on the surface while painting.

Xhale707

hey thats my saying

C280AF

I have my garage, that is controlled i guess. I have portable heaters running in there to keep the temp up and i tested the temp and it stays consistent at 73 degrees. I clean it and wash down the concrete to minimize the dust and whatever else in the air. I plan on sectioning it off with plastic sheets to make it even more controlled and help from overspray. (I rent and I am sure the owners dont want multicolored garage walls Haha)

I painted my grille this weekend just as test to see how it would come out and it actually came out great! Lots of prep work, sanding between coats and a hair dryer (worked great for keeping dust from settling, also dry it faster and helped to bake the coats in) Figured id start with someting small. Letting it settle for a few days, polish and wash it than Ill take pics. Pretty happy over all with it.

OneOfaKindTrini

What kind of ventilation? Most spray boots have a ventilation system taking air upwards.. Try it on a inconspicuous piece first.