What's the best way to sand down a bumper to get ready for re-paint!??!?!?

Whitethunder46

Whitethunder46

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I need to sand down my front bumper so I can have it re-painted this Monday. It was involed in a slight fender bender, and I'm sanding and prepping so I can save some money.

It's a Saleen Urethane Bumper. What's the best way? Course sand paper? Wire wheel sander? Chemical? Any thoughts?

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OUCH! Good luck.
I would have just said buy one that is already primed!
My husband has to paint panels on my son's Civic after an accident. He got the stuff in a car paint shop along with some advice, and he has done this before. I will ask him tonight and PM you his reply; hopefully it will be some help, and he has a lot to repaint on that little Honda.
Lauren - best of luck!!! So sorry that happened.
 
im doing this right now... using 1000 grit wet/dry sand paper.
wet down the bumper and soak the paper. and just sand it down till its not shiny any more.... you dont wanna get crazy with it unless you have to.if there are scratches, try to sand them out.
 
Well there's one section that the paint literally was chipped/peeled right off. Right down to the bare urethane, but no bumper damage whatsover.

Lauren - A new bumper would be $550, I would have to pay a shop to have it fit and prep for the Saleen pieces are horrible fitment right out of the factory. If I did it this way, it would be over $800. Sanding it down and having it painted is only $200.

I do have a $1,900 insurance check, but I'm trying to make as much out of this as possible. Right now it's going to look like a $1,200+ profit for me :)
 
Whitethunder46 said:
Well there's one section that the paint literally was chipped/peeled right off. Right down to the bare urethane, but no bumper damage whatsover.

Lauren - A new bumper would be $550, I would have to pay a shop to have it fit and prep for the Saleen pieces are horrible fitment right out of the factory. If I did it this way, it would be over $800. Sanding it down and having it painted is only $200.

I do have a $1,900 insurance check, but I'm trying to make as much out of this as possible. Right now it's going to look like a $1,200+ profit for me :)
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In my families insurance business, we hated people like you.....j/k:D. Want to see a nice profit, friends 01' ACR Viper, got the front backed into and cracked part of the hood, well those clamshell hoods go for about 15K (yes $15K). So he got the insurance check, however there was a tuner who made custom hoods for a fraction of the amount, so he had a nice $13k profit if I recall lol.

Are you trying to sand down enough for a repaint, or to completley strip the paint off?
 
Surfer said:
In my families insurance business, we hated people like you.....j/k:D. Want to see a nice profit, friends 01' ACR Viper, got the front backed into and cracked part of the hood, well those clamshell hoods go for about 15K (yes $15K). So he got the insurance check, however there was a tuner who made custom hoods for a fraction of the amount, so he had a nice $13k profit if I recall lol.

Are you trying to sand down enough for a repaint, or to completley strip the paint off?
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I don't know about the sanding down. Do I need to completely strip down the paint to apply and look correct? Or can I just sand down until the top layer of paint is gone and has been dulled and smoothed out?

There is that spot that has been completely chipped away so I don't know if I need to strip all the paint that far as the spot is.
 
Whitethunder46 said:
I don't know about the sanding down. Do I need to completely strip down the paint to apply and look correct? Or can I just sand down until the top layer of paint is gone and has been dulled and smoothed out?

There is that spot that has been completely chipped away so I don't know if I need to strip all the paint that far as the spot is.
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I would pay a good shop to do it. Never try to cut corners when its concerning comething like that which can in turn severely hurt the value of your vehicle.
 
ryandamartini said:
I would pay a good shop to do it. Never try to cut corners when its concerning comething like that which can in turn severely hurt the value of your vehicle.
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How would it hurt sanding down the paint myself? I'm not re-shaping a bumper or anything drastic. I'm simply sanding down a bumper so it can be re-painted by someone else. If the shop wants to sand it a little more or prep it a little better before they paint it, they more than have the right to.
 
pics are worse than i thought.... that has to be leveled off.... i dunno what id do about that, take it to a shop and ask them what they recommend cause if you sand it down and paint over it, those ridges will show up very very badly when resprayed even if it feels smooth to the touch
 
I sanded down with 2000 grit and 3000 before i painted my hood (not the best jobs ive done) But you usually just need to get some gripp for the primer and paint at the paintshop.

I would wet sand with 3000 grit, remember good lighing when you sand, dont get anny non sanded spots, the primer/paint want stick. If they just paint it (no primer) It looks like the paint is chiped of at the dint, that must be sanded down, so you have smooth edges around. You probably dont need filler.

But if you want a flavless result, send the bumper to the painter and let them do the sanding. (or Toto)
 
Whitethunder46 said:
Well there's one section that the paint literally was chipped/peeled right off. Right down to the bare urethane, but no bumper damage whatsover.

Lauren - A new bumper would be $550, I would have to pay a shop to have it fit and prep for the Saleen pieces are horrible fitment right out of the factory. If I did it this way, it would be over $800. Sanding it down and having it painted is only $200.

I do have a $1,900 insurance check, but I'm trying to make as much out of this as possible. Right now it's going to look like a $1,200+ profit for me :)
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WOAH!! 550?:(
I think I would do it myself as well!! I will pm youl ater with what the auto paint store told us to do and use, in case it is of any help.
:)
 
I would think you want the entire bumper down to nothing or it will be noticable. And I would think it would be much easier to use a chemical stripper, but make sure it won't be detrimental to the plastic.
 
If you look at your damage, you'll see the paint has cracked around the point of impact. That tells me flex agent wasn't used in the paint when it was painted to begin with. Anything that can flex (ie bumpers) should have had flex agent added to the paint to prevent this. There's a good chance you would be just dealing with a scuff mark without large paint chips missing. If you want the bumper refinished with the flex agent added to the paint, all the paint will need to be removed. Look at it this way, primer is bonded to its base, (steel, plastic, whatever), base coat or the color coat is bonded to the primer, and last, the clear coat is bonded to the color. Anything that prevents a good bond will cause the a problem. So paint that will flex, on paint that will not flex, I think you get the idea. Now to sand all that off by hand, yes allot of work. If you have spot repair without flex agent added, the damage area would be sanded (using a flexable sanding block) with 180-220 grit untill ALL the damage is gone. Spot prime the damage area, sand the entire bumper with 360-400 grit, spray the color coat just the past the primed area or the entire bumper, then spray the clear coat to the entire bumper. You might want to tell the body shop what you want, the entire bumper repainted or just the damage area. This goes without saying the entire bumper repainted would look better that just a spot repair. A good time to get any flaws on the bumper repaired. If you sand all the paint off, tape around any area you don't want sanded. Rather be safe than sorry. I hope I helped you a little. I'm no pro with repainting, but I have done some repair work.
 
Yea, I highly doubt there is that flex paint agent for I have spider webbing all over the bumpers and side skirts.

I plan on stripping all the paint off the front bumper. I plan on using a course 400-600 grit sandpaper to remove paint and finish with a 1500 grit on the urethane to smooth out the surface. I'll ask the body shop if and how much it would cost, to add the flex paint agent when I drop it off.

Thanks for all the help so far.
 
Sanding with 400-600 to remove the paint will take forever. Doing the bare bumper with 1500 will be too slick for the primer to stick to. You'll need to come down to 320 to 400 for the primer to bond to the bumper. You can use the 400-600 between coats of paint. Save the 1500 to sand between coats of clear. Final coat of clear, wait a couple days to dry, wet sand with 2000, polish. No sealer or wax, the fresh paint will take a couple months to dry.
I think I got off base a little. You stated you are sanding to save some money, not refinishing. IMHO you will find 320-400 to remove the paint. Above 400, the primer will not bond and will take forever to remove the paint. If you check with a body supply shop, I think you'll find you could get a paint stripper
that will not damage the bumper. I know they make stripper (PAINT STRIPPER THAT IS) that is safe on fiberglass, plastics. I have worked with it in the past, man, all I can say is do not touch your car any where without washing your hands good. It's easy to splash it where you dont want it. A couple minutes past and you find it everywhere when the paint blisters off. If you where removing the bumper, this would be the way to go. On the car, stick with sanding.
 
I've looked everywhere for chemical paint stripper that was safe on plastic urethane but with no luck. I plan on just stripping the paint with sanding and then off to the body shop it goes for them to deal with painting, clearing, etc.
 
I hope everything works out. Take a picture when you get it done.
 
Whitethunder46 said:
How would it hurt sanding down the paint myself? I'm not re-shaping a bumper or anything drastic. I'm simply sanding down a bumper so it can be re-painted by someone else. If the shop wants to sand it a little more or prep it a little better before they paint it, they more than have the right to.
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I meant by accidently ruining something. Ive always been finicky about car bodywork.
 
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