Bumper repaint or blend?
- Thread starter klmken
- Start date
I would buff out all the black marks. Hit it with some touch up, sand it with 1200, and repeat until uniform. Then buff with some 3M polishing compound.
It's not worth it to take it to a shop and do a lot of work for this. It's pretty minor and you won't notice it all that much.
I've taken bumper covers off and taken them to body shops for painting without the rest of the car. A softener needs to be added for urethane covers so the matching process is a bit more difficult.
It's not worth it to take it to a shop and do a lot of work for this. It's pretty minor and you won't notice it all that much.
I've taken bumper covers off and taken them to body shops for painting without the rest of the car. A softener needs to be added for urethane covers so the matching process is a bit more difficult.
My paint is gone where the black mark(s) are....plastic is also cracked in one spot
Black marks are missing paint
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- 17 March 2006
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For a correct repair you need to take the bumper apart (overhaul). The cracks mentioned will have the be repaired correctly or they could show again after the repaint/repair.In the picture there are indications that the fender was damaged as well. The three panels , valance, upper cover and fender meet here with a tight tolerance, so repair, fitting and refinishing to achieve a OEM result will take time and skill. This will cost about 2k, in that neighborhood. Touching it up is something I would do with a lesser car but not this one. IMHO. Really stinks that this happened.
You asked what the better repair option was. Assuming 'better' meant better quality repair, I think both a complete respray of the bumper cover and a blend which is feathering the paint out into the rest of the cover will give probably equal results when done by a skilled painter. I tend to agree with Mingus that for a correct repair the cover probably needs to come off because of the tiny vertical distance between the bumper cover and the valence - not much space for feathering. If you don't remove the cover you are going to have a hard paint edge adjacent to the lower valence = bad. Once the cover is off and the crack in the plastic is repaired and the surface prepped I expect that the price difference between full repaint and a blend may be immaterial. You may find that some shops will not want to attempt a blend, either because the painter doesn't like doing them or it may be complicated by which red your car is. I don't have a red car; but, I think the early red cars used a mix of base and tinted clear and the paint shop may not want to screw around trying to blend that. You need to have that discussion with the repair shop.
If 'better' meant lowest cost, then a mix of some Dr. Colorchip and Drew's method would be the better method.
If 'better' meant lowest cost, then a mix of some Dr. Colorchip and Drew's method would be the better method.
The right way to do this is remove the bumper and separate the upper cover from the lower. The shop can fill the divots and put fiberglass mat behind any cracks to prevent them from spreading. It will need sanding primer and then block sanding to re-shape. Then paint with softener as Drew mentioned. $2k is about right. This is completely repairable and will look like new when done.
Agreed. So bummed I lost my garage spot when my wife's company unexpectedly shut down end of July.
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If someone was to do an entire respray of the upper cover there will significant challenges getting a match to the fenders, hood,headlamp covers and valance. Blending within the panels, IMO is the best and least invasive strategy to achieve a OEM quality repair.A skilled professional can blend and should have no reservations doing so. If they won't it means they cant' and you should move on to another shop. If the cheapest is the best then try this! JK!
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If I remember correctly the upper cover is Polypropylene and not a substrate that would take fiberglass mat. It will easily pull off. Plastic welding with a appropriate plastic rod will bond to and fill any cracks. Again,not everyone knows how to plastic weld but is it not very hard. You have to have clean, well prepared surface as with the aluminum panels. I'll bet dollars to donuts you have some repair on the fender and will again, require a blend within the panel. Time for a W/S camera?
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It's unfortunate the fender is also damaged. Hopefully the PDR can handle that for you. A new front upper bumper is just under a $1000. It may take months to receive if you order from an online parts dealer, but it's probably the best way to go. If you need it sooner ATR (nsx-parts.com) probably has it in stock, but shipping will be expensive.
It's pretty amazing what a solid PDR tech can undo. From the looks of it, I'm sure they can get the fender back.
For the bumper it really depends on how close to original that would want to go. If it were me, I'd probably do a DIY fix unless the rest of your bumper is rough (which it doesn't appear so) that would need replacing/refinishing.
For the bumper it really depends on how close to original that would want to go. If it were me, I'd probably do a DIY fix unless the rest of your bumper is rough (which it doesn't appear so) that would need replacing/refinishing.
I come from the Mad Max of commuting and parking dystopia of Los Angeles. Downtown, The Valley, and Hollywood are areas where ones car gets bruised and scratched on a weekly basis.
If I took stuff like this to the body shop I'd be $5-$10k every other week and on I would get nothing else done in life.
I did get very good at spot painting and wet sanding. Eventually, the blemishes aggregate and I'll spend the time and money to do it perfectly....which starts the process over again. And I've always had my own home garage.
If I took stuff like this to the body shop I'd be $5-$10k every other week and on I would get nothing else done in life.
I did get very good at spot painting and wet sanding. Eventually, the blemishes aggregate and I'll spend the time and money to do it perfectly....which starts the process over again. And I've always had my own home garage.
