Noob painting question about paint prep and primers

samurai_k · samurai_k's Garage

Hi All,

I am slowly refurbing a 993 as my current project. I am an amateur wrench and do all of my work on my cars.

I am now moving to exterior updates. I will get the paint done by a pro as I want it done right.

I want to save money if there is simple manual labor a shop would otherwise charge me.

I have done some DIY projects with building tube amps and doing piano coat painting for the housing so know the basics of primers, wet sanding, clear coats, minimizing overspray, etc....

Do any of you have advice on where I can save?

1. Respraying a front bumper- the bumper has chips, pits, paint impact/pressure cracks
2. Prepping new plastic/poly urethane parts like ducts and splitter- these are all new components with no primer
3. Painting a decklid/duck- already been primed and block sanded

I assume I may need some panels blended as I have a Zenith Blue which is a metallic based CC paint.

Thanks!

samurai_k · samurai_k's Garage

Hey all,

As I have researched more into auto body repair and paint prep seems straight forward. Please let me know if you have any advice or tips here...

1. My front bumper has some pits from rocks. Do I just sand them down so its smooth?

2. My front bumper has a small quarter sized dent I want to fix. I was going to hit with a heat gun on the back and then try to push it out. Any other advice here?

3. For bumper dent repairs/smoothing I assume I need to use some sandable putty. Any recommendations? Should I bother with priming it or let the painter deal with prep, prime before the paint over these repairs?

4. I have new splitters that are poly urethane. I was going to install them on my bumper for fit and finish as they need some holes drillled out. Should I just leave these to the painter to prep, prime , and paint? Or is there any pre-work I should do besides the initial install to ensure they can be easily bolted on?

5. I have new ducts that are a hard plastic. These directly bolt on easily. Again should I prep and prime these or let the painter do that?

Thanks so much. Sorry for the noob questions. Painting not new to me for DIY projects, it is just with car parts is new...

962porsche · 01-17-2018, 08:18 AM

yes heat the dent in the bumper with a heat gun and push it back out .
the butt end of the hammer handle works real good to push the bumper plastic .
you should be able to push it back pretty dam close to were it has to be . it's plastic so once you push it back out you should be able to sand it flat and smooth with 80 grit sand paper and not need any filler . bumpers are thick plastic so you have lots of material to work with .
sand all the stone chips out with 180 or 220 grit .
when you go to prime it the primer will look all fuzzy as the solvents will make the plastic stand up on ends . this is normal and ok they sand out when you prep the bumper for top coating ( painting ) .
use a sealer when you go to paint the bumper . going wet on wet from your sealer to your clear coat .
if you have a dig, scratch , gouge in the bumper there are fullers made for plastics . evercoat polyflex works pretty good .

samurai_k · samurai_k's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by 962porsche

yes heat the dent in the bumper with a heat gun and push it back out .
the butt end of the hammer handle works real good to push the bumper plastic .
you should be able to push it back pretty dam close to were it has to be . it's plastic so once you push it back out you should be able to sand it flat and smooth with 80 grit sand paper and not need any filler . bumpers are thick plastic so you have lots of material to work with .
sand all the stone chips out with 180 or 220 grit .
when you go to prime it the primer will look all fuzzy as the solvents will make the plastic stand up on ends . this is normal and ok they sand out when you prep the bumper for top coating ( painting ) .
use a sealer when you go to paint the bumper . going wet on wet from your sealer to your clear coat .
if you have a dig, scratch , gouge in the bumper there are fullers made for plastics . evercoat polyflex works pretty good .

Thank you so much this is very helpful. I will try to push out the dent first and see how it goes...

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