changing color of a plastic bumper cover, same years

Anything goes in the world of fiberglass and plastic



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PostPosted: Sat Oct 14, 2017 5:20 pm
Hi. I looked and searched through forum but didnt see what I wanted to know. Def doesn't mean it's not in there, just means I couldn't find it. It's prob there! Sorry.

I got a used rear hatch and bumper cover to replace my mothers. Hers is blue, the new one is silver. Hers is an 08 Rav4 base model, the other was an 06 Rav4 base model. Same rear hatch/deck, same bumper cover. One is just silver but the bumper cover and hatch needs to be blue. Or as close as I can get it to the current fade of her 9 year old paint on her Rav.

I see that I can swap the plastic pieces off the blue door onto the new(to me) silver door, makes for a lot less painting. Only have to paint those metal parts of the door. Need a lil guidance what to do about that if possible, And the bumper cover has to be changed from it's silver to as clkose as I can get it to her blue. Can I just scuff it and paint it blue then clear coat? Both are from factory with no repainting done to them. Or are there some procedures I need to follow, or do, being theres a bit of metal and a lot of plastic?

Like do I have to prime the cover, or sand it at all? Or just shoot bc/cc on it?

Do I have to take the metal down to the paint or past that, prime it, then bc/cc? Or just scuff n paint?

Thats sort of whats happening w my project here. It def doesn't have to be showroom, doesn't have to be a 1 or 2 thousand dollar job even, just needs to be... "right"... I guess. Not wrong, so to speak. Whatever that means.

So I was seeing what to do about changing colors of 9 year old silver plastic bumper cover and the parts of the rear hatch that you can see over to blue, from the factory silver that's on it. Anybody got any guidance, suggestions?

I saw the parts of both sides of the door have to be painted too. I have a dual action 6" but it goes pretty fast! I have lot of tools, supplies and can get anything else I dont have. Not an issue. Just sort of need to know what some of the best ideas here would be to accomplish this sort of semi pro, I guess you'd call it? thanks for any help!

I'm trying to get the pics on here but it's not wanting to cooperate. I'll keep trying. I'm thinking if you click this link, it'll show you what I'm doing.(it's dropbox, I dont like it since it stopped letting me upload pics to forums!)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/smcbz36j4k9o ... 5yYLa?dl=0



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PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 10:19 am
cant see any pics there.
factory clear is a good base for fresh paint if the clear is in good shape. wash it good, go over with wax and grease remover, then scuff with 600 grit, wipe down with wax and grease remover, then ready for bc/cc.

not sure how close to paint match ya want, but the car will have a paint code somewhere on it- probably on the door jamb. snap a pic of the sticker there along with the VIN to the jobber and they should be able to get ya a good match.

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PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 10:30 am
Yep, all that and....if the paint code is off somewhat (variants, fading, etc.) you might try and take the gas filler flipper in so they can scan the color into their computer....
Metal, wood, fiberglass, we work it all... www.furniturephysicians.com We can restore the irreplaceable!



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PostPosted: Sun Oct 15, 2017 4:02 pm
Thanks tomsteve & DarrelK! I'll do the cover just like that then! Big help man!

I left out the rest of the stuff, the other painting on the metal part of the door. I assume you would want me to do same with the metal parts that need the bc/cc, like the jambs, the parts that the plastic dont cover? But add a primer step in there somewhere, a wet coat or 5, some more cleaning steps and stuff for the metal?

Oh, and a sledge hammer?(prob not) But something to push the "V" out? If the pics would just work youd see exactly what I'm talking about. I know you would be able to see what needed to prob be done with the whole issue here. And what to buy. I assume I buy whatever I'm supposed to use that I dont already have right here? Anyway, heres another shot at whats going on-

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/a6620enimwb5 ... BIUPa?dl=0

Thanks For the assistance(the help)!



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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:05 am
if theres bare metal, definately a primer on that.something like tamco DTM sold right here

https://www.autobody101.com/store/paint ... rimer-kit/

if it isnt bare steel, then clean, scuff, and spray.

as for the damage, i can see the pics now. personally id work on pulling out the damage over hammering. ive dome some similar on a 96 firebird that got crunched in the right rear with some chains, a com along, and a tree to wrap the chain around. i was taught,and it made sense, to work at pulling it out the way it crunched.
finding attachment points for the chains and keeping the car from moving while pulling-that took a little thinking. ended up having a friend with an F350 come over so i could chain the front of the car up to his truck to keep it from sliding while pulling.
it worked pretty good- the damage to parts under the quarter panel didnt come out lookin like it came from the factory, but it worked.

lookin at a parts diagram here:
https://parts.olathetoyota.com/auto-par ... -rear-scat

it looks like part #16 is what you might be lookin at straightening? if thats the case, it looks likes its bolt on and might be wise to see if you can find that at a bone yard. it would remove a lot of hassle trying to straighten it.
if thats the part, id say get a replacement, then work at pulling the rest to fit that.



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PostPosted: Mon Oct 16, 2017 9:41 am
Yes sir! You can see the pics then! Good. It worked this time. I know, I'm def a lil "TOO" happy about pics showing up, mainly because it didn't work the 1st time and I didn't know what else to try if it wouldn't have worked this time. I'm just not to hot w the i-net and all that(i'm gettin old y'all!).

I def wanted to leave pics here for future(seen older posts on other forums w pics gone & hate it), so I was trying to do what you guys wanted on option 1 in "how to post pics". But I dont know if the one I use will let me, or I dont know how, it's dropbox.

But yes sir, that #16 part is the worst of the damage. It def bolts on and off. Donor Rav had it, intact. So I bought it. Got only 3 parts, hatch, bc and that #16.

But even with having #16, I do need to "come along" the frame part behind that piece. It has a "V" in it. I think that's part of the car, like upper frame maybe? Or sub frame, not sure what you'd tell me it's called. Def seems as if it's NOT replaceable.
It's almost a perfect v too. The rest of that frame part(area) is pretty straight though, from the couple feet to the right of the v and the few inches to the left of the v.

You think a "porta power" tool would be worth buying? Or just come along. Both maybe? I dont think an HFreight type place sells a porta pwr tool either, so it's prob lil bit more than couple dollars, so to speak. I don't mind buying anything that makes any job easier, better, smarter, you know what I mean, I'm sure.

Lastly, and quickly, (trying to keep this short but it's hard, sorry bout that!) I see you want the metal done same as the plastic procedure. Scuff, clean good, sand smooth, clean good, mask & bc/cc? Prime ANY bare, raw spots. But I'm thinking you don't want anything sanded past the clear, like into the paint? Unless it has to be for like deep scratched areas, bad condition spots? Looks like you're not wanting to "create" work. But if I do have to go further, then def prime before any bc I think you said.

Do I get paint here? Or Locally? You take any plastic rear hatch pieces for matching if locally? Oh yea, you're exactly correct about the #'s and codes, there's some behind the bumper cover, some in the drivers door jambs, I assume I use as many of those as anyone needs.

Anything I'm thinking wrong, please, feel free to yell at me!
Thx for helping w this; after it's done I'll be a lot less
"needy", shorter posts for sure and as helpful to the forum as you all would like.
THX!



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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 8:13 am
whether a com a long or porta power would be better, idk. personally id start with the inexpensive route and see if i can get the job done, unless ya plan on getting into bodywork more.

typically just sanding the clear is good but occasionally you might break through the clear and into base. you might want to use a scotchbright pad to scuff up the surfaces. which you can find at your local paint supplier. they scuff good and comform to door jambs nicely

iirc, tamco does do factory colors. however, beings how this is your first time painting, id suggest finding a local auto paint supplier to work with.

if ya google the year,make and model of the car and add, "paint code location" you should find where the paint code is.
you shouldnt have to take any more than a snapshot of that to the jobber.



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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 9:18 am
Man, that takes care of it tomsteve. I'll start today. You want me to post any after pics when it's done? Here, on this post?

This shouldnt take but today and tomorrow, I guess, for me anyway? Thx again for all y'alls helping!



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PostPosted: Tue Oct 17, 2017 10:19 am
i think we all like pictures of work being done and completed work.



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PostPosted: Wed Oct 18, 2017 8:01 am
forgot to add something:
if ya break through the clear into basecoat, it would be wise to seal that.

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