Im looking a replacement front bumper for my camaro. I found a couple decent ones at the local salvage yard, but they both have one thing wrong with them. They have those hairline spider cracks pretty much on the paint layer of the bumper. They are spread evenly along the bumper. I think this is caused from the sun, and I see it a lot on bumpers that have been in the sun. Is this something that can be lightly hand sanded and then primered???

 

Usually those spider cracks are from someone hitting something; nothing a little paint can't fix. But if you're looking for something that matches your paint, that's a different story....

 

i am no body expert but from what i have seen, the paint cracks when the plastic is bent because the paint is not as flexible. i would guess that you would have to remove the chiped and cracked paint

 

lightly sand the cracks, then respray with primer (dont forget the flex additive). I believe spider cracks are caused by the sun, Ive never heard of them being from hitting something though. I actually used a palm sander on the spider cracks on my car, just dont use too much speed or force, and it shouldn't hurt the bumper.

 

what grit do u think i should initially sand with??

 

it will have to be stripped down to the bare plastic, or they will come back. clean throughly , strip 180 grit on a Da, spray with adhesion promoter, prime with flex additive in primer.

I just did mine for my full paint job.... it IS a pain in the ***.