i had a lil accident the other day when some ******* ran me of the road...now i need to paint my front spoiler...does anybody have any advice on the sanding and painting?

 

never sand all the way down to the plastic unless you absolutely have to. The plastic absorbs all paitn that is put on it and will eventually ruin the gloss. Trust me i speak from experience. Just sand whatever and then fill with bondo.





Shane

 

thanks for the advice...because thats exactly what i would have done. i was wondering if puting down a coat of primer would keep that from happening?

 

nah not really. Unless its a relaly thick coat. I did that to my front bumper in one spot. Once i got it back from paint it was cool. But the plastic has started to absorb that paint so much it almost feels like sand paper.



Shane

 

whoa...thanks for the advice...i would have totally screwed it up. there are a couple spots that have all the paint scraped off....so im guessin i would have to bondo it...right?...oh yeah and what should it look like when ive sanded far enough?

 

the plastic is dark dark gray. The primer, what you should go down to is a light gray. Just go get some acetone and clean out all those spots where all the paint is gone and fill em up. Is should be fine.




shane

 

ok...thanks alot, that info was a big help i guess ill get around to doin it sometime this week...ill tell you how it turns out

 

Do not put bondo on the nose or the front spoiler, bondo isn't flexible and will crack, especially if you put it on the front spoiler. I never heard about the plastic absorbing the paint and causing it to feel like sand paper. I'm not saying it's not true or anything but i just have never heard it. And i think you should feather the edges of the chips.

 

it's ABS or lexan right? i don't think they'd absorb the paint, i've painted noses before even gone cheap on the rattle cans and they haven't ever lost any gloss or started to feel like sandpaper. maybe it's a freak that mine works out well for me.

 

ok gusy i'll take a pic for you tomorow to prove it.

 

I beleive it's urethane.

 

The guy at the body shop wanred me it would suck paint right there. But i didn't belive him just like you guys. but now, my car is standing proof of it.

 

well heres your proof gentle men, in the pic you can see the area around it. But the part has a different color becuase it has a completely different texture.

 

might i add i sprayed 3 coats of primer before they painted

 

there is flexible bumper fix stuff you can buy so that is what i would advised to use on the parts that are chipped or cracked then sand that down then paint it this should stop that process.

 

wish i woulda knew about all that stuff.

 

How long did it take for that area to get like that? I sanded a lot of areas on my bumper down to the plastic because of the spider webbing and chipping of the paint on it already. Was your paint a single stage or a base coat and clear coat paint?

 

it took, hmmmmm 5-6 months. Its single stage

 

I'm not a painter but i did my bumper and its fine but i did use a sealer on it.And when u sand it do not use any sand paper ruffer than 180 than 320

 

ummm i used 320 to get the old paint off, then i smoothed it to a nice 800

 

hmmmm I don't know thats sucks something happen from prep to paint i know in are shop all the painters do is sand them down and seal them.