Today, I began painting my bumpers satin black, along with all the bumper trim and shrouds. Here's some pics for y'all. I did the door handles after I took all the pics, and I was too tired to go back in the house and get the camera. The only thing I haven't done yet is the wiper arm grills and the side moldings, only because I want to get new clips for the moldings. The primer on the bumpers came out great, this shit is seriously heavy-duty. I did 3 coats of it, and it's hard as a rock already. I have to let it dry for 24 hours before I paint it, so they'll be painted tomorrow. I cleaned the bumpers with super-hot water and soap, wiped the bumpers and all the trim down throroughly with acetone, then sanded the bumpers down with 80 grit sandpaper (my arms are so sore.
Here's the primer I used ($24 a can...)
It's a 2-part epoxy primer, you actually use this little thing on the top the puncture a cylinder inside the can, which is the catalyst for the primer, and you have to use it within 4 hours of mixing it. But I used the whole can, so it's all good. I was going to use a self-etching primer, but I was told by the guy at the paint shop that as long as I use a coarse enough sandpaper, and this primer, I'll get perfect adhesion, and it will end up holding better than the self-etching. He told me that in the case of painting bumpers such as these, you want something that's not going to be doing 2 jobs at once, and that the self-etching primer is really meant for things like chrome. He painted the aluminum bumpers of an E21 with this same primer and SEM, and in the 5 years he owned the car before selling, there was never one chip.
Car up in the air, with all the trim and shrouds off:
Rear bumper after 3rd coat of primer:
Front bumper, 3rd coat of primer:
Bumper trim and bumper shrouds, 3 coats of SEM:
Rear bumper side shroud:
Misc trim:
More trim:
Here's the primer I used ($24 a can...)
It's a 2-part epoxy primer, you actually use this little thing on the top the puncture a cylinder inside the can, which is the catalyst for the primer, and you have to use it within 4 hours of mixing it. But I used the whole can, so it's all good. I was going to use a self-etching primer, but I was told by the guy at the paint shop that as long as I use a coarse enough sandpaper, and this primer, I'll get perfect adhesion, and it will end up holding better than the self-etching. He told me that in the case of painting bumpers such as these, you want something that's not going to be doing 2 jobs at once, and that the self-etching primer is really meant for things like chrome. He painted the aluminum bumpers of an E21 with this same primer and SEM, and in the 5 years he owned the car before selling, there was never one chip.
Car up in the air, with all the trim and shrouds off:
Rear bumper after 3rd coat of primer:
Front bumper, 3rd coat of primer:
Bumper trim and bumper shrouds, 3 coats of SEM:
Rear bumper side shroud:
Misc trim:
More trim:
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