Diving Board Surround Material Question

[Ray McCooney]

I was just wondering at what point it would be considered not worthwhile condition wise on the plastic bumper surrounds for painting. I currently have the following condition on the front and rear bumper surrounds on my '87. I was going to touch up the surrounds at the same time as I paint my diving boards when I tuck them. Should I just find more suitable replacements to use as a base, or will a degree of sanding and prep work out fine for the ones that I currently have?

Pic:


Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[ANDRÜ]

Well if you paint them as is the final product will be rough like the surface is now. I would try sanding the surrounds nice and smooth, then paint them. If that doesnt work just get new ones maybe...

[Ray McCooney]

Well if you paint them as is the final product will be rough like the surface is now. I would try sanding the surrounds nice and smooth, then paint them. If that doesnt work just get new ones maybe...

Yeah, that was my initial intuition. I have never payed attention to how much these surrounds go for in the used market. Perhaps it would just be better to find some smoother/cleaner ones to use as a base instead of trying to make the current ones work with more effort than they probably deserve. Thanks for the insight.

[AndrewBird]

It's hard to find good used ones as they all did they same thing; warp and pit like that. The problem is, new ones are spendy.

I would try sanding them before paint and then go from there.

[ddavidv]

Try sanding them. You may have to get a bit neanderthal on them to really clean them up. If you've got any bad gouges or pitting, you could probably fill it with epoxy.

[Ray McCooney]

Good Deal, looks like I'll be getting to work. Thanks Nitro and Ddavid. Any recommendations on sand paper grit?

[StereoInstaller1]

I wonder if a thorough cleaning and starting off with a high build flexible primer would work...them is nasty!

As far as sandpaper, if on a DA, I would say 320. If by hand, nothing under 400, maybe even 600.

GL!
Luke

[Ray McCooney]

I wonder if a thorough cleaning and starting off with a high build flexible primer would work...them is nasty!

As far as sandpaper, if on a DA, I would say 320. If by hand, nothing under 400, maybe even 600.

GL!
Luke

Noted. Thank you sir.

[Apex381]

Good luck to you. I never had any luck trying to recondition any, and I've been through about 3 sets of surrounds now. As soon as I sand them and paint them where they look good the damn things start warping on me.

[Ray McCooney]

Good luck to you. I never had any luck trying to recondition any, and I've been through about 3 sets of surrounds now. As soon as I sand them and paint them where they look good the damn things start warping on me.

Greeeeeeat! Oh well, thanks for the insight. Euro bumpers anyone??? :)

[Apex381]

Greeeeeeat! Oh well, thanks for the insight. Euro bumpers anyone??? :)

I think you could try the surrounds for the cabrios or buy a set new. If I rember correctly they are not made of rubber and are meant to be painted. In my opinion after you spend all the money for new surrounds and trim and paint and other materials you could have bought part of a euro bumper set or small bumper swap. I gave up and I'm converting to small bumpers:D.

[Ray McCooney]

I think you could try the surrounds for the cabrios or buy a set new. If I rember correctly they are not made of rubber and are meant to be painted. In my opinion after you spend all the money for new surrounds and trim and paint and other materials you could have bought part of a euro bumper set or small bumper swap. I gave up and I'm converting to small bumpers:D.

Hmm. Interesting. So then cabrio surrounds are a direct swap. The rational side of me does find the idea of just finding Euro bumpers from the get go more and more appealing. Thanks yet again.:)

[AlarmedBread]

It's a urethane, I had the same type of flaking on mine and sanded it with a 180 feathering disc, then filled the deep pits with the same urethane epoxy I was using to delete the side markers (it's a two part mix in tip type, can look what brand if you want). This got them pretty smooth and the epoxy sanded nicely, I used a little glazing putty to fill in the pinholes then a coat of sand able primer, sand again, trim black, wet sand and they come out pretty nice. Just takes some patience.

[GaryE30]

I have some front convertible surrounds for sale if you want them

http://people.clemson.edu/~gmcneil

[amdspitfire]

It's a urethane, I had the same type of flaking on mine and sanded it with a 180 feathering disc, then filled the deep pits with the same urethane epoxy I was using to delete the side markers (it's a two part mix in tip type, can look what brand if you want). This got them pretty smooth and the epoxy sanded nicely, I used a little glazing putty to fill in the pinholes then a coat of sand able primer, sand again, trim black, wet sand and they come out pretty nice. Just takes some patience.

whats the purpose of wet sanding after painting? What kind of grit should be used?