My bumper paint is all cracked, scratched and chipped how should i go about painting it? Do i need to use primer??

I would use paint

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depends on how big the chip is. If it's small there's no point to primer really.

Very carefuly. :-)
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Lotsa smartasses here, huh?
Hope you're ready for the answer:
You'll need to *strip* it using "Bumper stripper". Follow the instructions - well ventalated area etc. etc. Take it down with that to the primer (don't let the stripper soak into the rubber), then sand smooth with 180 on a DA or 320 wet by hand. Prime with epoxy primer & paint with base/clear using quality urethane paint.
All of the above applies only if you want to do it right & care what it looks like & how long it lasts. If you don't do *all* of the above the stress cracks *will* show through in the new paint &/or the new paint *will* crack & peel (& chip eaiser, etc....).
I've been doing paint work for nearly 40 years. ;^p
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Why do they sterilize needles for lethal injection?

I sand down to bare plastic with #80 grit by hand, prime and sand that with #400, paint.

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Owner / Operator Custom Paint and Body...
specializing in Corvette & other Higher End Autos.

I agree with TheDriver. Only thing I would add is after sanding use an adhesion promoter before the epoxy.

Getting ready to paint mine too. Mine has LOTS of little cracks around corners and stuff. I took my pocket knife and scraped away the paint around the cracks and the base material looks like it is cracked. Would the procedure be the same?? Strip, epoxy prime, fill cracks, prime, paint, clearcoat??

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Mick
1986 GT

Stripper is not good to use on on plastic as you may never get it all washed out and it could permeate thus paint will not adhere. Find someone that does media blasting and have them do it without chemicals. Last time I had one blasted it cost me less than the stripper and was less trouble but you will need adhesion promoter and I would at least put flex additive in the primer.

[This message has been edited by Mike Murphy (edited 03-11-2007).]

If its cracked or chipped all the way down to the rubber--your going to have to do what Roger is saying, it won`t hold correctly if just feathered in those spots, I use a little less abrasive (not by much) finish paper , but everyone has a preference and the way they where taught. Take the bumper off for the paint removal, re-install for sanding, remove for paint, re-install for finish unless you have hangers ..

I was planning on using a stripper specifically for urethane bumpers. The question I have is how do I get rid of the cracks in the base?? Use filler right on the base or after the epoxy primer? I didn't mention the hours of sanding but it'll happen, just trying to get the right order.

Edit: Just found this thread that covers the topic pretty well:
https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/073757.html
but my BASE also has the small cracks. Will they show back up if I just remove the old paint, fill, prime and paint??
BTW, after reading that thread, I may be giving up on the stripper and just sanding......
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Mick
1986 GT

[This message has been edited by cropduster (edited 03-11-2007).]

Reno is kind of hot rod city so there are lots of resources.

In Victoria, you may not have a shop that does media blasting, you may need to take it over to Vancouver for that. I would take it to a good shop that does blasting--ask them about soda blasting (they use a mixture of baking soda and water as media.) You want to get all of the old paint & primer off--nice bare plastic is what you want. Fix any scratches and gouges with a flexible filler and feather, then prime with epoxy primer.

What Mike Murphy says about not using chemicals makes sense to me.

quote Originally posted by cropduster: my BASE also has the small cracks. Will they show back up if I just remove the old paint, fill, prime and paint??

Are you sure the facia is cracked yet or it just looks like it in the paint?

If you have cracks in the cover itself, chemical stripper will get into those and eventually show in your paint and wreck it. I never use chemical stripper, even that designed for the covers. Follow Roger's advice.

Mark

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If you have cracks in the rubber, you"ll need to "V" them out & fill with the proper material made for RIM.
Adhesion promoter is not nessasary if you use *epoxy* primer.
Usually (if you follow my instructions above), you wind up sanding most all of the primer off or down very thin & if there are no cracks in the rubber you're good to go on priming & painting.
Media blasting is great & can save a lot of time, but it's not available to most folks (or at least not everybody).
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

Scientists say we only use 20% of our brains. But if they're only using 20%, how would they know?

FI3RO85GT, first of all I didn't mean to hijack your thread, it's just that I happened to be going through the exact same thing right now. There sure is a lot of good information for you now though isn't it??

3800superfast, yeah I took all the paint and primer off in 1 spot and looked at it with a magnifying glass. Cracks.

Paul, the cracks I have in my base look like stress cracks and there are HUNDREDS. It looks like they are not very deep at all so I plan on doing like you said and sand or blast the entire thing all the way down then prep and paint.

Thanks for the input guys. Lots of good info.

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Mick
1986 GT

If you have cracks and chips, all you have to do is sand (feather edge) them out and prime and repaint. no need to use striper,its only a mess.....imo. use a 120 or 100 grit on the DA or palm sander and give 'er hell. no need to turn a job that should take only an hour into a 2 or 3 day job..................unless you like sanding and stripping old paint. remember...........this is just my opnion.................i have painted enough cars to know not to go looking for extra work when there is absolutely no need

cropduster: Good luck with that. It would be better to find another cover. If not, prime it well with epoxy, let it dry for at least a week, sand & paint. You *may* get lucky & not have the cracks come back for a while.

fiero88v8: I suggested the stripper as a *time saver*. It usually takes *days* to sand all the paint & primer off to remove all those cracks in the paint.

Almost 40 years doing paint/show car work & dealing with this shtuff.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

There is no problem that cannot be solved with the *right application* of high explosives.

[This message has been edited by Tha Driver (edited 03-11-2007).]

Tha Driver..............what are you using to sand off the paint and primer? I just cant see it taking "days" to strip a bumper cover with a D/A sander and a 100 grit pad. I did my own in no time. As for the paint cracking again,,,,,,put some flex agent in the paint/primer so it wont split up on you anymore. It will keep everything nice and pretty unless you bump into something. Remember, this is only my opnion, BUT I have painted fieros before with out any problems. Then again I have painted Caddy's, Vans, pick-ups, tractors, semi's, corvettes.............etc.

quote Originally posted by fiero88v8: Tha Driver..............what are you using to sand off the paint and primer? I just cant see it taking "days" to strip a bumper cover with a D/A sander and a 100 grit pad. I did my own in no time. As for the paint cracking again,,,,,,put some flex agent in the paint/primer so it wont split up on you anymore. It will keep everything nice and pretty unless you bump into something. Remember, this is only my opnion, BUT I have painted fieros before with out any problems. Then again I have painted Caddy's, Vans, pick-ups, tractors, semi's, corvettes.............etc.

DA with 80 grit, finishing with 180 grit. Thinking about it most of the ones I've done *have* been painted at least once, though. Hell I stripped one (that had been torn & basicly screwed up anyway) using 24 grit on a 5" grinder, & it took several hours. It had also been painted several times, & I was just messing around with it, doing mods, on an experimental basis. 80 grit - AND stripper - was just going way too slow so I grabbed the grinder. :-)
No need to use flex agent if you use urethane base/clear that is already flexible. Some do require it, though. Laquer - if for some reason you're using that (I can't imagine why!) - WILL require flex agent. If you have cracks in the rubber, no amount of flex agent will *prevent* them from showing through sooner or later.
~ Paul
aka "Tha Driver"

It's been so long since I've had sex, I can't remember who gets tied up.

To the inexperienced using a DA sander is the recipe for disaster on a rounded Fiero bumper cover. It will have flat spots and places that are going to stick out like sore thumbs. Make sure you know how to use it or even better take my earlier advise media blast it.

Fiero Lisa worked on her car in my shop. She HAND sanded (dont recommend DA to first timers) her whole GT nose completely down to bare urathane that had 2 paint jobs on it on one afternoon, about 3 hours. I primed it, left overnite and she 400 sanded the primer next day. I painted it for her and no more cracks except the guy that bought it from her 3 years later got it ran into. Never touched it with stripper or sander and got every little spot even into the parking lite openings. If you want to use stripper, I recommend you find another nose instead. I do LOTs of Corvettes and I wont touch one that anyone has touched with stripper. There are enough problems stripping metal cars, which I do on occasion myself. Media blasting is by far the best, but to me its sometimes easier just to sand it than take the time and trouble to send it out and have to wait for it. I started in 1963 in the business.

There are different ways to do any job, and each have their own. This is the way I do it and its your choice to do how you want.
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Owner / Operator Custom Paint and Body...
specializing in Corvette & other Higher End Autos.

[This message has been edited by rogergarrison (edited 03-13-2007).]

I agree.there are several ways to do the same job. The D/A sander can get you in trouble if your not familiar with using it. BUT if you take your time , you can see the paint/primer layers as they are sanded away. When you get through all the coatings of paint primer and you are at the bare body panel,,,,,,,,,,,,,,well its just common sence to stop sanding that part. Keep the sander flat on the panel and dont keep it in the one spot ..........ya have to move it around a little. Im sure with 5 or 10 minutes on some old panel you can find in a junkyard or autobody shop will be enough pratice for anyone with a little bit of mechanical back ground. Then again everything may seem easy to someone who knows how to do it or have had experience with it. Remember guys, this is just my opnion ....

OK, here's what I meant about my base being cracked:

So....
Will it be OK to epoxy prime, then use filler over this without it cracking later?

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Mick
1986 GT