Painting a RUF bumper lower spoiler in the garage???

[SpeedracerIndy]

I just purchased a Better Bodies RUF style lower valence for my SC. It is the urethane type that is supposedly indestructible.

Now I need to get it painted. Body work and paint is like one of those mythical skills that I've always wondered about and never been able to figure out. I'm comfortable doing just about anything mechanical to my 911, but have yet to tackle any body work.

I have a quote from a local paint guy to paint my part to match for $450. I priced out a few items on Paintscratch.com and figure I can get base-coat, primer and the clear-coat for about $150. I always see the guy on Wheeler Dealer painting body parts with an aerosol can and it looks so easy and seems to come out very nice. If he can do it, I should be able to, right???

Is it really worth the extra few hundred $ to have a professional do it, or is it possible for an amateur to do this in a garage on a weekend. Anyone have experience and tips?

[Hydrocket]

Have you test fitted yet?

[full_garage]

Paintscractch is lacquer- It will be cracked and chipped after twenty miles. Have a pro do it in Polyurethane.

[SpeedracerIndy]

Just test fitted my valence this weekend and after several hours of work it is ready to paint. I hate body work!!!


This product was a very good fit right out of the box and very well designed piece. I only had to pull the dremel tool out once to remove some casting flashing in one location. Otherwise it matched right up to the car. I'll be dropping it off at the body shop for paint sometime this week. Glad I didn't try to paint it myself. It would probably be chipping within a week.


One thing I noticed about this valence that is different than other RUF style lower valences: It attaches to the bumper in 4 locations: small screws by the bellows, and 2 holes provided in each fog light opening. The fog light holes require you to drill into the lower part of the bumper to attach it. I chose to use bolts so that I could install and remove the valence several times for easier fitting, but self tapping screws would have worked. Then there is a lip that wraps around the lower part of the bumper and is attached with an adhesive. Other RUF valences I've seen have a small gap between the bottom of the bumper and the valence, so I assume they bolt to the car like the factory valence, which is what I would have preferred. The adhesive essentially makes the valence a permenant part of the bumper and there's no going back to stock without separating that adhesive somehow.


I haven't seen any reviews of these bumpers so I wanted to offer my experience thus far for anyone doing a search.

[OsoMoore]

Could you post some pics?

[SpeedracerIndy]

I will be able to post pics once I get it painted and installed. Unfortunately that will have to wait until after my next track day, which is September 14-15th. I had to put the stock valence back on so the car is drivable for the track while the RUF unit is getting painted.