Hi all, novice here. I am replacing the bumper cover on my SUV.

I went to great pains to get one in near 'perfect' condition. no cracks in the paint, scuff, scars, dents, nothing. Except its dark red. I need black.

A friend told me I need to sand with 60 grit all the way down, and put some kind of 'poxy' I think. Then prime and topcoat, and clearcoat.

I have done some reading and I have a few questions for the experts.

I have read some paints cant go over other types of paint, how do I know what paint in on the cover?

Do I need to sand it all the way to plastic, or just 'scuff' sand?

If all I want is to change the color, can't I just paint over the existing paint?

The single, double, and triple stage painting is terribly confusing. I think I want to top coat and clear separately. Does it matter?

Sorry for the 'noob' questions. I just couldn't search out all the answer I need, and my experience is spray can to prevent rust.

Thanks

skippy wrote:Hi all, novice here. I am replacing the bumper cover on my SUV.

I went to great pains to get one in near 'perfect' condition. no cracks in the paint, scuff, scars, dents, nothing. Except its dark red. I need black.

A friend told me I need to sand with 60 grit all the way down, and put some kind of 'poxy' I think. Then prime and topcoat, and clearcoat.

I have done some reading and I have a few questions for the experts.

I have read some paints cant go over other types of paint, how do I know what paint in on the cover?

Do I need to sand it all the way to plastic, or just 'scuff' sand?

If all I want is to change the color, can't I just paint over the existing paint?

The single, double, and triple stage painting is terribly confusing. I think I want to top coat and clear separately. Does it matter?

Sorry for the 'noob' questions. I just couldn't search out all the answer I need, and my experience is spray can to prevent rust.

Thanks

justa greenhorn here, but i dont think id even attempt 60 grit on a urethane/plastic bumper cover.
year,make, and model of SUV can help determine what ya may have for paint thats on the bumper cover and offer advise on how to continue.
a paint code would help determine if ya have SS,base/clear, or a tri stage,too.
the paint code will be on a sticker somewhere on your vehicle. search," paint code location on__________." fill in make,model,and year.

The 60 grit would be fast though.

I just noticed a sticker on the inside:

This is not my paint code. My paint code is XR/PXR

If it's original paint you can sand it with 600 grit and paint it as is.
A coat of reduced epoxy primer first will help adhesion and hiding power
but isn't necessary.
Anywhere that's got bare plastic showing needs adhesion promoter on it first.

ahhh I though he said 'poxy' LOL I didnt know painters user epoxy

600 got it. thanks.

That is the inside of the bumper cover sory I forgot to mention. The outside is a very nice dark red.

I dont want the paint the peel back so I must put 'promotor' on it first?

Promoter is only used on bare plastic as said by JC there...... You can just do a seal coat of epoxy over the existing red, then base, and then clear....

awesome, thanks for the tips.

I'm guessing that with the epoxy it wont matter what type of paint is already there and what I put on...

acrylic base and urethane clear maybe?

No, epoxy does not care what is on there.... uhhh, I was talking base/clear system. The base color can be urethane, etc., with clear urethane topcoat. Something like this.....
https://tamcopaint.com/products/basecoa ... 4988112976
And then one of their clears over top.....
https://tamcopaint.com/collections/clea ... 6443841616
Just using those as examples..... Do you know what paint line you will be using?

i dont know what paint line. I'm not picky. I have read many time it best to keep with the same maker on one project ie. prime/base/clear.

Obvioulsy I dont want it to chip peel or fade, so UV protection.

need to order something today or tomorrow. I goto South America in July for relief effort. Wont be home until Dec. and I think it will be too cold then to paint. puts me into next spring...

If you aren't really that experienced staying within in one line is best and trying to get it from a local paint jobber is probably a good idea as well. Most of the big suppliers like Dupont, PPG, etc., do have budget lines that would be fine for a bumper like this. PPG has Shopline and Dupont has Nason. Anything in those lines will hold up fine for your purposes.