Short story made shorter lol, i hit a deer a few weeks back and now i'm out to repair the damage myself. This question here is about the bumper i picked up. I bought it from a guy who does auto body and he repaired a few cracks and patched a couple license plate holes that were in there. Now my question is, is do i just scuff the paint and sand the adhesive smooth them paint, or do I take it all the way down to the plastic and redo the whole thing? If anyone could give a the steps i need to take to paint this i would appreciate it Thanks guys!

You will certainly need to sand the repaired areas smooth and prime those. As for the rest of the bar, if the paint is sound (no chips,. scratches or cracks) then edges can be feathered then primed and the surface scuffed and painted. Otherwise sand back to smooth (no need to go all the way to bare plastic), prime, sand and paint.

NFT5 wrote:You will certainly need to sand the repaired areas smooth and prime those. As for the rest of the bar, if the paint is sound (no chips,. scratches or cracks) then edges can be feathered then primed and the surface scuffed and painted. Otherwise sand back to smooth (no need to go all the way to bare plastic), prime, sand and paint.

When you say feather the edges, do you mean all the edges of the bumper?

No, feather the edges of any existing paint that is staying on the bar. Then prime where you have broken through the existing paint surface, extending on to the existing paint a bit. By feathering the edges you won't see them later, or have a step.

wow ok yeah dumb question after i think about it lol. will primer stick to the paint where i have to blend it in and the paint surrounding the repairs, or will it flake off after a while?

So long as the surface is properly sanded and/or scuffed and is properly clean then the primer will stick just fine.

I take it you don't have full coverage insurance?

ok thanks! and no I don't have full coverage, it was way to high per month. I have to pay out of pocket to fix it now but oh well I guess lol live and learn