Morning folks.

So I'm looking to DIY my front bumper as it's chipped and scratched from 153K miles. I've heard a few people say that the WR blue has a dark primer underneath. Can anyone confirm or debunk this?

I'm going to be using a spray gun etc (my first time) and attempting to do this properly, taking my time. Hell, it can't look any worse then it already does.

Should I be using acrylic or cellulose paint? Any advice greatly received

 

Use cellulose and prime it with a black first

 

I work in a bodyyshop mate. Grey primer will be fine. Just make sure you give it a good wet flat down with 800 grade paper before you apply the base coat. Where in country are you if you in west midlands special paint supplies in aldridge a good company for paint and materials

 

Black

 

I resprayed my car in the summer, used a black ground coat on top of the primer. The problem arises when you spot prime your repairs, the primer is a bawbag to cover. So a ground coat is applied to "kill" the primer and stop it shining through.

 

 

 

So basically primer, black base coat, WR blue base coat, lacquer top coat(s)? Did you use cellulose or acrylic out of interest? Looks like a good job from the photos!

I'm planning to rub down and prime the whole bumper, so complete re-spray.

 

Just scotch the paint, fill the chips and damage with filler/stopper. High build prime any major repairs. Rub down, black ground coat (2 coats) blue basecoat (3 coats) then clear coat, 2-3 coats. Flat and polish once hard.
You will be much cheaper paying someone to paint it if you have to buy all the materials.
I use acrylic solvet basecoat for both ground and colour, and 2k high solids clear. Upol high build 2k primer and any 2k stopper or filler.
I'm not a painter, I'm a machinist

 

 

 

A wee flat before polishing

 

You will also need tac rags, gunwash, thinners, hardener, mask, several grades of wet and dry, a polisher, da sander, running compound and all the paint above

 

Im not a painter but have painted a few bits & bobs in the past... What I would do is use a heavy coat of hi build primer after any repairs, (sand /wet flat etc,.) then add 10-20% base coat in with the primer (2k) & sand /wet flat, paint basecoat & laquer, all in 2k hi solids.

 

Adding base coat into the primer is a waste of time and a waste of base coat.

 

Seriously mate, just take it to a bodyshop it wont cost that much if its just a bumper.

 

100% agree

 

Too many people think they can be a painter, its not as easy as it looks and you need a lot of expensive kit to get a good finish let alone a booth to paint it in.

 

Unless you want to leave the car in primer for a few days and you use a bit of base to seal the primer, also good if you have to leave the car outside in the elements until you can get some base on it, primer absorbs water using a bit of base in it helps stop this.

 

Is it painted yet

 

Can someone explain what they've done with this?

need advice. Its going back in for repair as I'm not happy. They sanded the car down and done lots of work. But this bit is rubbish! They had grey primer and filler on it to take out some small dents, before paint. The clear coat is fine and the rest of the car looks fine. Advice needed?

 

Difficult to tell from your photo on my phone but might be what they call in the trade ghosting. Usually caused by bad batch of base coat or reaction with the different paints (primer/base/laquer) This is of course if you are referring to the large circular patch that looks slightly different to the rest of the 1/4 panel (presuming it’s just the 1/4 panel that has been resprayed or it would probably be visible in other places)

 

Yeh I'm not happy with it. Its goin back. They e done it on top of rear bumper as well to fix a small scratch. Looks worse than when it went in!

Think they might have used grey filler and possibly similar primer. Gutted when I got it home in natural light.

They resprayed the bonnet and scoop with no issues. They must have lacquered the side panels and rear bumper and then just touched up those bits. Paid 1200 quid for it. Like I said I'm taken it back. Do you think they can rectify it?

I feel like I've been 'had off' but they were recommended..

 

It’s paint, can be rectified even if it means they re paint it, Proper body shop should have the correct lighting that replicates natural light, should have been visible in the shop and not just outside.

 

Thanks for getting back to me. Yeah lighting in the shop isn't a 100 per cent. Do you think it can be fixed without spraying the full panel or a full bumper...I'm nervous about that not being right!

 

Can’t say for sure as I’m not a sprayer (brother in law is) and I can’t really tell from your picture but if it’s ghosting best practise would be to rub it down and start again. It may be they tried to blend the patches and as you say used grey primer instead of black or a black ground coat as has been suggested in this thread already. If they are a reputable company I would be looking for the whole panel to be sprayed as it would be difficult to blend a patch in. Have you asked them if they took any photos of work in progress?

 

Could the dents not be pulled out by a dent repair guy? They don't charge that much.

£1200 wow, for scratches etc why not get Chipsaway. They did half a bumper for £60 I think.

Colour coded my wing mirrors and door handles aswell.

 

Mate thats shocking, doesn't matter about the paint shop not having any light because when its in the paint booth the light in there should show up. From what I can tell from the photo looks like they patched just that bit but with an area that large the surrounding paint should have been flattened too with the primer being extended and then the whole thing blown in. Ideally from the rear light to at least the rear door. Like I said its a large area

There are different ways of doing it.

 

I know I'm raging. This garage was a recommendation from my mechanic as well. Dunno if I trust them to correct it in all honesty. The car belonged to my late father and trying to preserve it..

They painted the rest of the car fine. Its just this bit that's rubbish and a bit on the sill of rear bumper on the right.

Think they might have patched these bits thinking it will be ok. Wish I wuda said nothing and got a dent man instead.

 

Don't beat yourself up about it mate. Its not your fault. Take it back but make sure the owner sees it, try not to let them fob you off (easier said than done). It could be one of the apprentices was given the task and not checked up on when he had finished. There is a certain way to spraying and does take practice.

By looking at that picture on the PC it looks like the clear coat, but you said thats fine. That means the prep wasn't done properly.