How to refinsh the front valance
 

The front valance on my car is the early 74-78 style. I'm doing a bare metal repaint of the car and wonder how those of you have handled.

It has an undecoating that seems more rubber than not. Not sure if it is the Wurth SKS on not. How did you strip the valance??

You can try to sand the valance with 36 grit. It may gum up the sand paper. The other option would be paint stripper.

I used 3M Rocker Schutz on my valance. I also applied this to my side rocker panels and the lower portion of the rear steel bumper extensions.

Finished product. These photo's are not the best.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1171493340.jpg http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1171493379.jpg

ja78911, could you provide more details on the process? Did you go to bare metal, prime, seal, shutz and final paint? Does the 3M Rocker Shutz require a special gun?

Also, how does the texture and mil thickness of the 3M Rocker Shutz compare to the original? Thanks!

Brian

Brian- Ditto on what ja78911sc said. I used 36 grit and some paint stripper. The texture coat was originally the paintable Wurth SKS in a light beige color. I did my rear bumper extensions. First I stripped them, then etching primer, then high build primer, then the wurth SKS, then base coat/clear coat.

Cooper

Brian,

Bare metal, prime, seal, schutz & paint - correct

3M Rocker Schutz requires a special air gun which screws to the top of the bottle.

Good question - the texture appears to be a little thicker vs. OEM. There is a slight visible difference vs. OEM. I was satisfied with the appearance because I was not looking for a concourse look.

Jim

Cool, thanks for the follow-up guys. There's a lot of info here on the board about refinishing, but I haven't seen much about getting the texture of the valences, rockers, engine bay and trunk correct. Jim, your work looks great. Thanks again for providing your experiences.

Brian

The Wurth stuff is the correct stuff. You do have to buy teir gun to spray it with though.

Cooper

Brian,
Why must you strip it? Can't it be hand sanded well enough to take out the chips? Its the valence afterall and is going to get immediately re-chipped if you drive the car pretty much at all.

Hi, Dan, if you're question is directed at me, my answer is I don't know. I don't have to do anything to my current car (it's in nice shape). However, I've been thinking about a project and until now I never quite understood how guys refinish the portion of our cars that have the shutz-textured finish.

Now -- this is conjecture on my part -- I think you could do "spot" repairs and then repaint a valence. However, you would have to be careful in re-creating the textured look, otherwise the repaired spots would be easy to, ahem, spot. So, it might be best to strip, prime, seal, shutz and finish coat (base-clear or something else).

Brian

Now -- this is conjecture on my part -- I think you could do "spot" repairs and then repaint a valence. However, you would have to be careful in re-creating the textured look, otherwise the repaired spots would be easy to, ahem, spot. So, it might be best to strip, prime, seal, shutz and finish coat (base-clear or something else).

Brian [/B][/QUOTE]

Good & correct observation.:)

ja78911 - did you use any additives (flexible) or anything else in your BC/CC when painting the valance only??

Jim, unless I've confused myself reading through this thread, you used the 3M Rocker Schutz product. I just look at the product on 3M's site and it states that it is tintable & can be thinned to adjust the texture. Did you tint and top coat? Top coat only? Factory finish appears to be a black schutz product with at color topcoat.

I've got to redo my beat up valance and need to come up with a plan. It would seem like tinting would be a good idea as chips would not be as noticable as they are now with the beat up factory finish.

Thanks!

No flex agents used in my BC/CC.

Bob, I would lean towards the Wurth product. It is what the factory uses on the front valence, the inner rocker panels and the rear outer panels underneath the bumper. The rear valence is smooth and just painted. I used the Wurth stuff and it was very easy and came out great. You do have to use thier gun to apply. There have been a few people that made thier own (do a search). You can call and order this stuff directly from Wurth.

Rich