Painting replacement parts DIY

Not my area of expertise at all, but...

I believe that it is necessary to add something to the paint that goes on the bumper to make it more flexible.

Expect bugs to not only get stuck in the paint, but some may actually be attracted to it. I painted our mailbox once and a cloud of little flies appeared out of nowhere and committed mass suicide on it.

If you are going to use 2K clear coat be aware that you need a chemical grade respirator and, ideally, a bunny suit with gloves. Look at the pictures here, for instance:

Specialized PPE Protects Automotive Paint Shop Workers | Liberty Safety

Adjust your expectations. If you go into this expecting it to turn out like a professional paint job you are likely to be disappointed. If you want it to look "good enough" from 20 ft. away you can probably achieve that.

Figure out the costs for all of the materials and equipment you would need. Ask several paint shops what they would charge to do the fender and bumper (when you have already done the prep work, like sanding it, or stripping it to the metal.) If the two numbers are close have the pros do it.

Before painting do a test assembly. Verify that it all goes together the way you want.

 

are you going to use spray cans? because it will not be a perfect match. I'll start with 600 followed by 800 when sanding the parts. Primer sprayed only on parts that has no paint on it. Wax and grease remover can do the job in cleaning, no need for alcohol. Don't paint on direct sunlight since paint will dry up quickly and you'll get tiger stripes (not that good looking) Paint indoors to avoid bugs, dust and anything carried by the wind (if possible avoid windy day) Poly-urethane clear coat use needs a proper respirator which you could buy cheap in Harbor Freight (protect your lungs)

I've switched to using a proper HVLP spray and used Oreilly to match the paint (not 100% match due to age) Spray cans work if you look at it at a distance.

 

I believe that it is called a flex additive.

 

I would buy decent paint equipment if you don't already have it. Since you mentioned urethane paints I assume you are not going down the slippery slope that i went down about a year ago. I watched several you tube videos of people painting parts with duplicolor perfect match and 2k Clear. What I thought was the downside of painting was the clear without hardener.. it couldn't endure day to day driving. Most touch up paints sell laquer paints. That's OK to spray over a factory finish.

What I learned is that duplicolor is LAQUER and my 2k clear was not compatible... like oil and water. I should have known better, but I was convinced by all the youtube hype. The clear is and will continue to slowly peel from the color coat ( which wasn't a perfect match just the same)

I later talked to the manufacturer of the 2k clear and he directed me to a paint supplier. I had a nice conversation with that guy and found out that instead of buying about $100 of duplicolor paint I could have gotten about the right amount of enamel primer and color. I could have used the cans of 2k clear on that and it would have come out much better.

Maybe see if you can find a similar paint supplier and get the info from them. This guy was really nice and took some time, which I was surprised about.

Lots of other good advice on the respones here and make sure you have protective gear... I also called 3M to get some peace of mind in my selection of respirator gear. Even though the stuff was nasty, according to them it didn't require any special positive pressure system, just the right cartridges.

 

i picked up some was remover from amazon. it was some serious stuff... got the original sanded surface nice and clean. I am not sure I would use wax remover between paint coats, maybe just a tac rag if there is lots of paint dust. Thinking back to the videos I watched there were definitely some good ones. I would trust the guy in the spray booth over the guy in his back yard.

 

For sure....use a flex additive for the bumper. Other wise you are wasting time and money... Also I would paint inside a 2 car garage. I wet the floor down before painting and created a poor mans spray booth with tarps on all 4 sides and hung a light high above to I could see really well. I did use spray cans but the kit I got was from a place in Chicago. 2 cans of top coat for a bumper, 3 cans for the hood a fender would be a 1 can per fender. From Amazon the Vendor is Spectral Paints. Primer,base coat and top coat 3 pack. $62.99 worth every penny. Turn the can upside down and spray between coats to clear the tip. Remove the hood and hang it from a rope like a slab of meat. It came out really, really, nice. So much so I then hated the OEM roof paint....and wanted to redo that as well..LOL

 

Is the paint from Spectral a laquer? I have bought kits from other sellers and that’s what it seems to be. I would be wary of using anything without hardener on a part of the car that can be hit and other road debris. Makes sense for a hood but now that I say it I am wondering if 2k clear is good for flexible parts like bumpers. Definitely can’t use 2k clear on laquer. May not be advisable on a bumper that can flex. On the Prius it seems that hoods take the brunt of the damage from rocks and the bumpers do ok. A fender and bumper might not need the hardener as much. Not sure

 

For DIY, what’s the best alternative to lacquer, enamel?