painting my ABS plastic bumper. what do i need?

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PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 12:06 pm
i have painted one other bumper before from certifit which only lasted 4 months. The bumpers are black ABS plastic. I only used a primer and base/ clear because i was selling the car and knew the paint would last for the time i had it.


Anyways. I am keeping the car thats getting painted now and it needs both front and rear bumpers replaced. i have the bumpers now and i want to make sure i buy the right materials to keep the paint on them this time. All i can think of that i need is an adhesion promoter and some flex additive? is this correct? Most of the cars ive painted have just been resprayed so ive never had to worry about painting new bumpers.



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PostPosted: Tue Feb 22, 2011 2:35 pm
ABS is a hard plastic no need of flex additive.All you need is a two pack primer for plastic.or a one pack plastic primer.The adishion is in the primer.If they are brand new bumpers,key them up with 600 or 800 ,not to course on plastics.Some of these primers can be wet on wet ask your dealer .Some of there plastic primers do require a two pack primer on top.But like i said the wet on wet ones dont.
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PostPosted: Wed Feb 23, 2011 2:31 pm
thanks !
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 2:41 am
Grey scotchbrite really well. Then 2 light coats Bulldog or Transtar tie-coat.....wait a few minutes (not too many) as per directions then topcoat.
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 7:00 am
Correct me if Im wrong,,,but I think most companies recommend a sealer after the adhesion promoter (then your base)

Kelly, is your new bumpers raw plastic or do they have a factory primer on them? If they have a factory primer on them, just sand with a gray scotch brite pad, seal, then base.
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PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 8:14 am
Most of my work is bumpers, I use adhesion promoter
then epoxy primer. (I use ********** epoxy because it stays flexible).
Since I switched to epoxy instead of 2K (urethane) primer
I've noticed it greatly reduces rock chips.
Just a single reduced coat of epoxy as a sealer over the adhesion
promoter then base and clear as usual. works real good. 8)
JC.

(It's not custom painting-it's custom sanding)



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PostPosted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 10:48 am
Good info.! I have 2 similar things to paint - arm rests and a steering wheel. Plan on JC's method. I already epoxied the arm rests awhile back but will scuff both with gray 3M pads, reduced epoxy (**********), base and clear.

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PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 6:30 am
OldDupontGuy wrote:Correct me if Im wrong,,,but I think most companies recommend a sealer after the adhesion promoter (then your base)

Kelly, is your new bumpers raw plastic or do they have a factory primer on them? If they have a factory primer on them, just sand with a gray scotch brite pad, seal, then base.


your perogative...from my experience, this has always worked for me. after 5 yrs....no failures....
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PostPosted: Sat Mar 05, 2011 10:11 am
((sr)) kelly wrote:i have painted one other bumper before from certifit which only lasted 4 months. The bumpers are black ABS plastic. I only used a primer and base/ clear because i was selling the car and knew the paint would last for the time i had it.


:shocked: :knockout:

I'm not sure what you could possibly hope to save by skipping such simple steps. Tsk Tsk.

To answer your question, it depends. On any ABS bumper I have worked on (all used), I used AP anytime I broke through to plastic. So, if needed I apply:
1) AP
2) Epoxy primer
3) BC
4) CC

I do not use a coarse grit sandpaper unless truly needed.
Jay - Next project: 1968 Chevelle Malibu

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