hey Guys,

I've been reading on this forum for some time, but just decided to join as I have a question to ask of you pro's.
If you don't want to read my post and just want to skip to pictures down on the bottom, be my guest lol
I purchased a new rear bumper for my car directly from the dealer, so not aftermarket or a knockoff. It's plastic and it came looking somewhat shiny and black..
I'm using aerosol cans btw, so I know the results is not going to be perfect but what happened is just not what I expected.

Here is what I did and used from a local paint store:

Bulldog adhesion promoter
SEM High build primer
PPG Base coat, my car is black no pearls or anything funny. Just black color, code 170
2K Clear coat from everwood.com
Bumper was painted at around 75F temp, as well as Clear coated.

I washed the bumper with warm water and soap then sanding the entire thing with 400 wet send to get a uniform look. Used a wax&grease removal and let it dry.
Did two coats of bulldog, after 10 minutes hit it with a primer. I did about 3 coats of primer and let it dry. I then wet sanded the entire bumper with 400 wet, then 600 wet, to get it shiny and smooth on all parts. So far so good, bumper looked perfectly covered with primer and it was smooth to rub your hands all over.
I then went ahead and applied 4 coats of PPG aerosol base, there were absolutely no drips or anything but once paint dried I had a problem. The middle part of the bumper where parking sensors go looks flaky.. IT looks as if not enough paint landed on it, for the lack of a better word. Sides and bottom look perfect, but the middle did not.

So here is where my lack of knowledge and experience kicked in. instead of sanding it down and shooting more paint, I decided to apply clear over it. Thinking it "might" cover it up. I shot 4 coats of clear and again, sides and part close to the trunk look perfect. The middle section where parking sensors go is bad..

What happened here? Should I have turned the bumper in normal resting position to paint the middle horizontal section?
Please let me know if I can just sand the middle section and shoot more paint and clear over it, without redoing the entire bumper..

Thanks and here is the pictures:
Bumper test fitted before any work:






I have some better shots if anyone wants them emailed so they can look. I appreciate any input!!

Way too dry and too light. Sand it back down flat with p660, shoot the base again and reclear the entire bumper.

So, are you doing this ALL with aerosols??? I mean, both the base and the clear?

so the solution would be to sand this all down with 600 and do base and clear again on entire bumpe?

I'm using spray cans from automotive store.. it does feel like there is not enough paint on the middle..

You are not getting near enough finish "film" when you are doing this with your aerosols. You limitation is the cans themselves. An aerosol can is limited to 35 p.s.i. and the contents don't have anywhere near the solids which can be sprayed with a pro gun. Not sure what to tell you on this... maybe pre-heat your cans in a sink of warm water to jack up the pressure some, and considerably slow down your stroke so you are leaving a "wet film." The film needs to "wet out" so it flows out and drys as an even film. Every coat from primer to final clear needs to be applied like that IF you are going to use aerosols. Not saying it can't be done but a bumper cover of this size usually isn't a rattle can job.

I don't know what p660 is.

Thank you sir, that's what I was afraid of

The problem is when I tried to lay it on thick to leave a wet residue it starts to drop, so it's a very fine line between wet and drippy with aerosol.

I guess I'm going to strip it down and sand it all out and have a body shop paint it the right way..This sucks

sorry, typo - meant p600 (there is no such thing as p600). Sandpaper.

you could try it again but like Darrel said doing a large part like that with aerosols is like running a race dragging a boat anchor behind you. Tough to win.

A shop shouldn't charge too much to do it the right way.

As Chris said, don't panic yet. Shop it out at a few smaller shops in your area. It's not a critical color match and its' at bumper level here. Even factories don't always do such a great job of matching up colors and you are just dealing with black here. This should be a fairly "quickie" job for a pro.

thank you both very much, I appreciate the advice.. I took it to a shop or two and was quoted around $300 when it was brand new, now that Its been painted its not so new anymore lol..
220 grit to sand it all down to plastic?

how are these guy doing it in the videos online? Ive seen at least 3 videos where they used aerosol and it came out **** near perfect.. maybe I should have orders base cost elsewhere, these nozzles were not so great from local paint store..grhh

If it was me, I don't think I would do anything further with it in the way of sanding. Leave that for the guy who's going to work on it. Just be straight up and tell him what you did on it so far....
As to the internet video thing.... 1. It's TV and well, I don't believe everything I see on TV, do you???, 2. Aerosol spraying is absolutely nothing like using a spray gun and you have to develop a skill set that "can" allow you to do some pretty fantastic work but its' just not like picking up and spraying your typical Home Depot rattle can.
I am in the wood biz. and have about 245 cans of various rattle cans that are used in our business daily. I've been to a few training schools over the years that specifically taught you aerosol tech., how they are made, and cutting edge ways to make them perform. There's just a lot more to it than you think.... And most importantly, they just won't do what a pro gun can do easily on a piece like your bumper cover....