Painting Bumper DIY- Process, Videos, and Reaching out for Suggestions
11-16-2017, 08:15 AM
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2007 Mercedes E550
Painting Bumper DIY- Process, Videos, and Reaching out for Suggestions
Hi All;
Let's face it. Automotive painting is very difficult. Most of my DIY projects have been very successful on my current and past cars (i.e., rotors, pads, air struts, fluids, full nitrous install, GPS, etc), but painting my bumper has proven to be an exceedingly challenging task.
The Story.
A few months ago I felt inspired by several internet posts to paint my bumper, as there were several small imperfections. Each webpage said this was "easy", and all you need to do is get the factory matches paint and sand, spray and resand sand until perfect. Sounds easy enough, right? I thought so too.
Now that I have completely ruined my bumper, I am brainstorming a gameplan and wanted to share my thoughts. For starters, I hope to get input from the community. But I also want to help people avoid the same mistake I have made.
My Challenges.
1. Obtaining Paint. My first problem was actually getting the factory matched paint. I tried 2 different sellers and instead of selling me Pewter Metallic code 723, they sent me the color black. In fact, one seller sent me the wrong color paint 5 or 6 times. Each time I had to wait at least a week to get the spray can in the mail. Plus, at $30 a pop, this paint is not cheap.
2. Removing Bumper. I know I should have probably removed the bumper in the first place to paint, but it is such a PITA. Since I did not remove the bumper, it was much, much more challenging to avoid paint imperfections like dripping and uneven application.
3. Environmental Conditions. My garage is cold and rather dark. I believe the ambient temperature influences paint application and texture. Low light conditions obviously do not help either.
4.Surface Preparation. I did not adequately or use primer, which probably was my greatest mistake. I also did not sand enough. My plan is to spend at least an entire evening sanding and priming.
The Plan.
1. Take My Time, Get Enough Paint and Study. I kept running out of paint, but this time I bit the bullet and bought 3 cans of paint. For your reference, here is the paint:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-BE...72.m2749.l2649
I also bought a book on ebay to learn how to paint. I think I have it covered, but as they say "you don't know what you don't know". Here it is:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/How-to-Pain...72.m2749.l2649
Also, as a general reference, I used the following to understand the process of painting a bumper,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1uObNWHfAQ
2. Remove the Bumper Before Starting my Work. I am almost certain that my paint job will come out better if I first remove the bumper. For those of you who have painted or plastidipped wheels, think about how much better your wheels turn out if you first remove them. Here is a video on how to remove the rear bumper of the cls,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkaGB7cB18w
3. Do Work Indoors. This time I will be doing my work in my garage with full lighting with my vehicle parked outside. It will probably be a little embarrassing to have my car outside my house with the bumper off, but it has to be done. This way I can have ample space and lighting. Also, I feel that the temperature must be influencing the paint and I will put a heater in my garage. Not to mention it will make it less stressful to work.
4. Practice. The paint is very expensive, so I have not practiced much. However I do have all the incorrect paint that the ebay seller sent me, so I plan to paint the resonator I removed from my car.
5. Try to Understand Orange Peel (but not sweat it if I cannot). I am expecting the bumper to have some paint imperfections (orange peel). For the life of me, I just cannot figure out how to smooth my bumper using the techniques all over the internet (ie, on my crappy bumper there is orange peel which I tried to remove but I just made it a lot worse). Here is an example that looks so "easy". It is not,
Well, that is all I can think of for now. Feel free to comment on suggestions or questions. As I go through this process, I will try to document all my steps.
Updates
Update 1.
I purchased the following clear coat and primer. The clear coat appears to be very high quality and has good reviews. The Rustolum Primer seems like it should do the job,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rust-Oleum-...AAAOSwLkdY8ZkK
https://www.ebay.com/itm/U-Pol-Clear...72.m2749.l2649
Let's face it. Automotive painting is very difficult. Most of my DIY projects have been very successful on my current and past cars (i.e., rotors, pads, air struts, fluids, full nitrous install, GPS, etc), but painting my bumper has proven to be an exceedingly challenging task.
The Story.
A few months ago I felt inspired by several internet posts to paint my bumper, as there were several small imperfections. Each webpage said this was "easy", and all you need to do is get the factory matches paint and sand, spray and resand sand until perfect. Sounds easy enough, right? I thought so too.
Now that I have completely ruined my bumper, I am brainstorming a gameplan and wanted to share my thoughts. For starters, I hope to get input from the community. But I also want to help people avoid the same mistake I have made.
My Challenges.
1. Obtaining Paint. My first problem was actually getting the factory matched paint. I tried 2 different sellers and instead of selling me Pewter Metallic code 723, they sent me the color black. In fact, one seller sent me the wrong color paint 5 or 6 times. Each time I had to wait at least a week to get the spray can in the mail. Plus, at $30 a pop, this paint is not cheap.
2. Removing Bumper. I know I should have probably removed the bumper in the first place to paint, but it is such a PITA. Since I did not remove the bumper, it was much, much more challenging to avoid paint imperfections like dripping and uneven application.
3. Environmental Conditions. My garage is cold and rather dark. I believe the ambient temperature influences paint application and texture. Low light conditions obviously do not help either.
4.Surface Preparation. I did not adequately or use primer, which probably was my greatest mistake. I also did not sand enough. My plan is to spend at least an entire evening sanding and priming.
The Plan.
1. Take My Time, Get Enough Paint and Study. I kept running out of paint, but this time I bit the bullet and bought 3 cans of paint. For your reference, here is the paint:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/MERCEDES-BE...72.m2749.l2649
I also bought a book on ebay to learn how to paint. I think I have it covered, but as they say "you don't know what you don't know". Here it is:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/How-to-Pain...72.m2749.l2649
Also, as a general reference, I used the following to understand the process of painting a bumper,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1uObNWHfAQ
2. Remove the Bumper Before Starting my Work. I am almost certain that my paint job will come out better if I first remove the bumper. For those of you who have painted or plastidipped wheels, think about how much better your wheels turn out if you first remove them. Here is a video on how to remove the rear bumper of the cls,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkaGB7cB18w
3. Do Work Indoors. This time I will be doing my work in my garage with full lighting with my vehicle parked outside. It will probably be a little embarrassing to have my car outside my house with the bumper off, but it has to be done. This way I can have ample space and lighting. Also, I feel that the temperature must be influencing the paint and I will put a heater in my garage. Not to mention it will make it less stressful to work.
4. Practice. The paint is very expensive, so I have not practiced much. However I do have all the incorrect paint that the ebay seller sent me, so I plan to paint the resonator I removed from my car.
5. Try to Understand Orange Peel (but not sweat it if I cannot). I am expecting the bumper to have some paint imperfections (orange peel). For the life of me, I just cannot figure out how to smooth my bumper using the techniques all over the internet (ie, on my crappy bumper there is orange peel which I tried to remove but I just made it a lot worse). Here is an example that looks so "easy". It is not,
Well, that is all I can think of for now. Feel free to comment on suggestions or questions. As I go through this process, I will try to document all my steps.
Updates
Update 1.
I purchased the following clear coat and primer. The clear coat appears to be very high quality and has good reviews. The Rustolum Primer seems like it should do the job,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rust-Oleum-...AAAOSwLkdY8ZkK
https://www.ebay.com/itm/U-Pol-Clear...72.m2749.l2649
Last edited by LexBrett2; 11-16-2017 at 01:27 PM.
11-18-2017, 11:06 AM
#2
Ambient temperature will definitely effect how the paint sprays, since you're using spray cans the nozzles can be unpredictable. A lot of people recommend leaving the spray cans in warm water before you spray to help soften and mix the paint. It should also help the paint atomize better.
Personally, I would stick with 1 brand for everything (primer, paint, and clear). The last thing you want is to have a chemical reaction because the paint doesn't like the primer. Spraymax is a great (and expensive) brand, so I would recommend staying with all their products.
This is a good video to give you an idea of how important the prep work is to achieve the best final product:
Personally, I would stick with 1 brand for everything (primer, paint, and clear). The last thing you want is to have a chemical reaction because the paint doesn't like the primer. Spraymax is a great (and expensive) brand, so I would recommend staying with all their products.
This is a good video to give you an idea of how important the prep work is to achieve the best final product:
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LexBrett2 (11-20-2017)
