Does paint on bumpers behave different??

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andym

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Hey guys,
I was doing some correction on my fiat 500, used some 1Z green on the hood with LC white pad, and it worked wonders. I'd say about 99% correction achieved. I used the same exact stuff on the front bumper, with the exception of a smaller pad to get around, but didn't get anywhere near the same results!
Any suggestions?
thanx
andy
 
The paint on flexible bumpers usually has a flex additive to keep the paint from cracking as easily as it would when the bumper flexes. The combination of that and a substrate which doesn't dissipate heat as readily as a metal panel usually makes the paint respond a little differently than the rest of the car.
 
I was afraid of that!!
Any suggestions, more aggressive pad??
 
That's a brand new car...what exactly is the defect you're trying to correct?
 
Setec Astronomy said:
That's a brand new car...what exactly is the defect you're trying to correct?
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Its actually a 2009, as I am in Europe! Damn swirls, from an automated car wash that my wife ran it thru!!!!
 
Oh...my advice is to leave it alone--she's bound to do it again!

Seriously, by 1Z green do you mean this stuff? 1Z Einszett Paint Polish Lack-Politur

That sounds like more of a paint cleaner. You might need to step up to something with some abrasives in it, do you have anything else? I'm not really up on the 1Z line and perhaps you have a different range than we do here.
 
Besides the paint on the bumper having some type of flex agent in it, I've been told that components like the bumpers and spoilers, any aerodynamic skirting etc. is often times farmed out to other companies and then added to the car at the manufacturing plant.

This can mean that although the color of the components match the color of the car it's very possible it's a very different "paint system" than being sprayed onto the car at the assembly line.

So it's possible the differences are more than just a flex agent being added, it's likely a completely different paint.

I've had good luck just using a medium cleaner/wax by machine and don't get your expectations to high...


:)
 
Setec Astronomy said:
That's a brand new car...what exactly is the defect you're trying to correct?
Click to expand...

Setec Astronomy said:
Oh...my advice is to leave it alone--she's bound to do it again!

Seriously, by 1Z green do you mean this stuff? 1Z Einszett Paint Polish Lack-Politur

That sounds like more of a paint cleaner. You might need to step up to something with some abrasives in it, do you have anything else? I'm not really up on the 1Z line and perhaps you have a different range than we do here.
Click to expand...
Well the fiat has really soft paint, and the swirls were minimal, but it did a great job on the hood! I guess I can attack it tomorrow with some menzerna or 3M. I always like to go least aggressive stuff first.
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Besides the paint on the bumper having some type of flex agent in it, I've been told that components like the bumpers and spoilers, any aerodynamic skirting etc. is often times farmed out to other companies and then added to the car at the manufacturing plant.

This can mean that although the color of the components match the color of the car it's very possible it's a very different "paint system" than being sprayed onto the car at the assembly line.

So it's possible the differences are more than just a flex agent being added, it's likely a completely different paint.

I've had good luck just using a medium cleaner/wax by machine and don't get your expectations to high...


:)
Click to expand...
Can it be that the plastic bumpers dont retain heat like metal panels, therefore dont aid in the product breaking down correctly?
 
andym said:
Can it be that the plastic bumpers dont retain heat like metal panels, therefore dont aid in the product breaking down correctly?
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No, they do retain heat. Plastic has a much lower thermal conductivity than metal. Again, from the description of the product your using, it doesn't sound like there's really any abrasive to break down. It may be that the paint is softer on those panels and got scratched more during the wash. Or, since those panels seem to fade faster, maybe the defects are simply more noticeable. Or again, from some combination of factors, the paint is just different and needs a different technique from the rest of the car.
 
I'll give it another go tomm, and see what happens!
thanks for all the input, and advice:xyxthumbs:
I'll post my results soon as i get it done.
 
andym said:
Can it be that the plastic bumpers dont retain heat like metal panels, therefore dont aid in the product breaking down correctly?
Click to expand...

Setec Astronomy said:
No, they do retain heat.
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Mike aka Setec Astronomy is correct. Plastic and/or Urethane components under the paint retain heat better and dissipate it less effectively than metal panels and this is where you'll hear about a problem called twisting when spending too long a time on these types of components with a rotary buffer.


As for breaking abrasives down... heat is an unnecessary and unwanted by-product caused by pressure over time.

Heat is bad for the paint and when using quality diminishing abrasives the break down by the pressure applied to the pad over time. Heat is like I said above, an unwanted and unnecessary by-product from the process.


:)
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
Besides the paint on the bumper having some type of flex agent in it, I've been told that components like the bumpers and spoilers, any aerodynamic skirting etc. is often times farmed out to other companies and then added to the car at the manufacturing plant.
:)
Click to expand...

Mike, you are, correct...... These are supplied parts from outside vendors. I have been

in many assembly plants In North America.
 
Thanks for clearing that up guys!!:xyxthumbs:
I'm also guessing that maybe i used too much product for the area covered.
 
Deep Gloss Auto Salon said:
Mike, you are, correct...... These are supplied parts from outside vendors. I have been

in many assembly plants In North America.
Click to expand...

That explains my bumpers. After a good wash and wax, the color of the bumpers is just a hair of a shade off from the rest of the car...cloudier, blue-er.
 
JBL said:
That explains my bumpers. After a good wash and wax, the color of the bumpers is just a hair of a shade off from the rest of the car...cloudier, blue-er.
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From what I've seen over the years... the color/clarity issue only gets worse...

Look at the paint on any factory C4 Corvette and with any medium colored paint all the urethane molded components will look a shade or two lighter and duller and no amount of buffing will equalize them with the surrounding paint.


:)
 
Mike.Phillips@Autogeek said:
From what I've seen over the years... the color/clarity issue only gets worse...

Look at the paint on any factory C4 Corvette and with any medium colored paint all the urethane molded components will look a shade or two lighter and duller and no amount of buffing will equalize them with the surrounding paint.
Click to expand...

Absolutely true that the old urethane panels used to fade to an irretrievably different color...but I haven't noticed that to be happening on the newer cars...maybe they just aren't old enough yet.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
Absolutely true that the old urethane panels used to fade to an irretrievably different color...but I haven't noticed that to be happening on the newer cars...maybe they just aren't old enough yet.
Click to expand...

2008 Honda Accord in black metallic...not noticeable to the average eye, but in the right light, it makes me abslutely nuts; the rear bumper to the rear quarter panels. I don't notice the effect as much on the front, but my front bumper has been through war--mostly road rash and rogue parallel parkers--so it's harder to say.
 
I don't know a whole lot of what the paint is made of. But I do know that the paint on my rear bumper looks much different then the paint on my metal panels. It kinda sucks :cry: I talked to a body shop guy about it and he said because the bumper is plastic and the panels are metal it will always look slightly different. He said they use the same paint for bumpers, roofs, ect. But on my car the only OEM paint is the roof and trunk lid lol I used to drink a lot and when I drank I used to like to drive :nomore: But thats all in my past. Long story short, at least from repaint panels, it all depends on what the surface is made of.
 
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