I was never a fan of the black bumperettes on the earlier 996s or 986s. Back in 2005 when I had my 2000 986 I was able to buy two painted Arctic Silver bumperettes off eBay for $115.
Fast forward to 2021. My 2000 Cab is Turquoise Metallic Green, with black bumperettes, I’m not a fan of this color combination either.
There are companies that will sell you painted bumperettes, prices ranging anywhere from $460-$600 a pair.
I thought “Why not give it a try and paint them yourself.” So I did. . .
Material Cost
1) First I bought a rattle can of my car’s exterior color from an online company, $25
2) In the event my project was a bust, I purchased two extra bumperettes off eBay $60
3) I purchased a rattle can of sandable primer, and a tube of bondo, $8 + $10.
4) I already had several sheets of sand paper in the following grit - 220, 340, 1000, and 2000. Each sheet costs about $1.50, total cost $6
Not sure how to address the pebbling of the bumperettes I did a bit of an experiment, on one of the bumperettes I put a thin coat of Bondo and sanded it smooth then primed it and on the second bumperette I just spray-painted several coats of the sandable primer. Though you can achieve a perfectly smooth finish with the Bondo, the problem is there is one portion of the bumperette which is very thin, about a quarter inch thick, and it bends/flexes easily. Naturally the Bondo chipped and broke off at that part. I sanded that part down to the rubber and re primed it. I decided the best way for me to do it was to put numerous coats of primer and keep sanding them to get the smooth finish.
Next I applied 5 coats of the body paint, lightly wet color sanded it at 2000 grit then applied the clear coat.
The project isn’t finished yet. I’m going to let the clear coat dry for 3 days then address any orange peal that may remain.
Even with a little orange peal, the bumperettes still look better than the original black ones. I’ll update when they are installed.
The following photos taken prior to final sanding. The color matches my car quite well, the lighting is deceiving.
