Need Bumper painting advice, Flex agents?

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PostPosted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 11:14 am
I just bought a new Dodge Ram on Saturday, it has the black plastic front grill, urethane upper bumper cover, and steel painted lower bumper. I plan to paint these silver to match the rest of the body and I was wondering if I should use a flex agent for all three pieces or just the urethane part. Since I will be spraying on three different types of materials, I am not sure what to do, I have never painted anything but steel before.

Is the flex agent used in the primer, base, and clear? Any advice would be appreciated.
Dallas, TX
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 12:04 pm
Maybe you could use the Bulldog 3-in-1 Bond, Flex, Tie that Han seems to like so much. You can spray it on the parts as a flex additive and also mix a bit of it in to the base and clear to "tie" all the parts together and give them a bit of flex.

Or just use an adheshin promoter then epoxy as a sealer and for chip resistance then base and clear.
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PostPosted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 7:26 pm
I used to use a flex additive when painting flexible bumper parts when off the vehicle...alot of new paints are quite readily flexible.

I believe the flex additive properties slowly reduces with age but is handy when fitting the painted parts back onto the vehicle.



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PostPosted: Mon Nov 10, 2008 8:30 pm
Don't EVER mix "adhesion promotor" or ANYTHING else into the base unless the tech sheet says to.

Flex is not needed with any base I know or any clear that I know of. We shoot probably 100 bumpers a month and use NO flex or anything else in any paint or clear.

But if you look at the tech sheets you likely find strict recommendations on not adding ANYTHING to the base.

Brian
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"Hitting the pavement at 100 mph really smarts"
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 8:59 am
Ok, now I'm confused, different answers. Who do I believe?
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 10:18 am
Don't believe any of us, go to the paint store where you are buying your paint. Don't believe THEM either! Go to the TECH SHEETS for the paint you are using and see what it says there.

Now, the sad part is, if you are using a "Value line" paint then you are going to find the info is VERY limited. If you are using a top of the line product then there will even be a complete "flexible bumper system recommendations" that will lay it out from the very first step of washing it with soap and water to the very last step of laying on the clear and how to mix it.

At the very least on your can of paint, or in the tech sheet or on their web site there will be a tech line you can call.

Doing what the MANUFACTURER of the paint you are using is going to be the right way, PERIOD.

All I know is flex additive is basically HISTORY, a part of HISTORY that we used to use with old products decades ago. I have not used any nor sold any when I was a paint rep more than 10 years ago.

"Adhesion promotors", that that is another story, applying an adhesion promotor over BARE plastic, that is fine and there are many good products out there including "Bulldog". But it is applied over BARE plastic only, and then painted and cleared without anything added to it (except the hardener and reducer of course).

This is another thing you need to clairify, is the bumper BARE plastic or has it primed? Very few are BARE plastic these days. They come already primed and you treat it much like a primed metal part, your paint does't "know" what is under the primer you are applying it over. :)

The grille, if it is bare should get an adhesion promotor, the upper bumper cover is painted on that I believe, just sand it and paint it like you would a metal part.

But honestly, what brand paint are you using and clear?

Brian
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"Hitting the pavement at 100 mph really smarts"
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:02 am
Brian, right on the side of a bulldog can it tells you that you can add the adhesion promoter to your base, clear and primer to tie it all together.. I have done it many times with left over AP I had in my gun.. Never an issue one..

It is also something Han does.. Like I said, the manufacture of the AP tells you to do this,,
http://www.wmbarr.com/ProductFiles/Z021 ... %20TDS.pdf

http://www.wmbarr.com/product.aspx?catid=1&prodid=72
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PostPosted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:19 am
I posted this on the ********** forum:

Quickie bumper job...

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Minor dings sanded P220 and scuffed with red scotch brite pad. Shot one
coat of 3M adhesion promter then filled 3M Automix EZ sand. Wet sand with
P400 then P800.

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Shot one coat of ********** 2K reg., primer reduced about 20% (now a seaaler).
From here, you can opt to just mask-prime-sand again or do like i did
skipping this altogether (you can see it saves time). And for a better
sealer, reduced epoxy would work even better. I came up with this
procedure when i noticed a scrape after i have repaired a damage on
another side of the bumper (gotta check the ENTIRE cover carefully).


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Let flash 15 minutes then 2 coats of Bulldog adhesion promoter (5 min. flash).
The Bulldog was shot over the entire cover (acts like a blender too).
Then 3 coats of base...

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3 coats of ********** Euro (4:1:2). And done!

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Not an everyday method. But for shallow dings this is quick. This car
needs to go out now (lease return) so i left the bumper cover on the car.
A man can do all things if he but wills them.



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PostPosted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 11:38 am
O yah, no flex agent!

I still have the same bottle of SEM Super Flex for over a year now...
It doesn't hurt to use it though, especially for lower end clears that
has a tendency cure hard and brittle...
A man can do all things if he but wills them.



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PostPosted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 1:31 pm
BondoKing wrote:Brian, right on the side of a bulldog can it tells you that you can add the adhesion promoter to your base, clear and primer to tie it all together.. I have done it many times with left over AP I had in my gun.. Never an issue one..

It is also something Han does.. Like I said, the manufacture of the AP tells you to do this,,
http://www.wmbarr.com/ProductFiles/Z021 ... %20TDS.pdf

http://www.wmbarr.com/product.aspx?catid=1&prodid=72


I have to tell you, I am going to follow the tech sheet on the PAINT, not the product from another company. That's just how I see it.

A quality paint company has all the guide lines set in place using ONLY their products that will produce a life time warrantee. That is who I am going with.

Brian
Free lance adviser

"Hitting the pavement at 100 mph really smarts"
Evel Knievel
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