Bumper (or body part) DIY Rattle Can Painting

[bullfrogs_M3]

I was supposed to get this on here a while ago but kept forgetting about it. Thanks for the reminder DW.

I will say this and cannot stress this enough, SANDING sanding SANDING!!! is key here. If i had to do this over again I would take 10x as much time on the sanding (as you'll see in the pics). Plus use a good sanding tool, this is key as well.

And as always with stuff like this.....take your time and the results will be well worth the extra time spent. And when I say "pass" it means a complete spray pass coating the entire part.

On to the pics:

370 grit sandpaper (circular that can attach to a P/C or other circular sanding tool)
800 grit sandpaper
1500 grit sandpaper
2000 grit sandpaper
Primer Spray can- Black color (not sure the color really matters though)
Clearcoat Spray can
Body color spray paint (mine car is jet black so it was relatively easy to find a decent black gloss paint)
Empty Spray bottle for water
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/tools/web.jpg

Bumper Damage: The damage to my bumper was done by normal driving and BMW OEM CF Splitters applied to the bumper with BetaLink. Betalink = Auto super glue and WILL NOT come off of body parts PERIOD! When my splitters eventually broke, I tried to remove them and the beta link was glued on there and removed body paint.
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/damage/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/damage2/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/damage3/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/damage4/web.jpg

Sand (370 grit) - Did this over multiple passes. Going deeper and harder on some areas and nooks and corners I eased up.
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/sand1/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/sand2/web.jpg

Primer: Passed over it with 3 light/medium coats. Distance from spray can to bumper was about 12"
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/primered/web.jpg

After the primer, I hit the bumper with 800 grit sandpaper and a spray bottle with water. Not really a full blown wetsand but I did keep the primered area damp while I sanded.

Spray paint pass 1 (I did multiple passes of the spray paint. Allowing for 6 hours dry between pass, then damp/wet sanding with 800 grit)
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/paint_coat1/web.jpg

Spray paint pass 2 (damp/wet sand with 1500 grit)
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/paint_coat2/web.jpg

Spray paint pass 3 (damp/wet sand with 1500 grit)
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/paint_coat1_2/web.jpg

Clearcoat pass (did 2 passes with about 12" or so between the can and bumper)
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/clear_coat/web.jpg

Sand down the bumper with 2000 grit paper and try to smooth it out. You can see from pics that it still has a very rough, muted look to it. Like I said above, i should of spent more time on sanding than I did. You can also see where I "broke" the line between stock color and DIY paint.
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/clearcoat_corner/web.jpg

I hit the bumper HARD with Meguiars M105 with about 4 passes with it to try to break the roughness down but it really had to have the sanding done properly. Oh well, learn from experience on painting. But it being a black car and all, you really can't tell unless you are down there looking at the bumper.
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/finishlip/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/finish1/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/photo4/web.jpg
http://gallery.me.com/jeremiahconnelly/100066/photo6/web.jpg

[danewilson77]

Thanks Jeremiah. Awesome work. Good seeing you around.

HTC Thunderbolt+TT

[bullfrogs_M3]

Thanks Dane, will try to get on here more. Work has just been so absolutely stupid busy lately. Not sure if that is a good or bad thing :/

[derbo]

Rattle can takes an incredible amount of work to polish it to a automotive finish. Kudos to you for giving it the good ole elbow grease! :D

[Johnmadd]

Good work.

For future reference, you can get oem paint in a rattle can.

[JohnnyGraphic]

Congratz for tackling this kind of job. I'm not sure I would do something like that, especially with Imola.

[ELCID86]

The pictures are gone. :-(

[GE Geoff]

Yeah, I wouldn't mind seeing this DIY wiht pics if we could get them back. I've tackled this a couple times on my front spoiler. Not for the faint of heart.

[theothersawyer]

I wanted to do this to my Miata. The paint is shot on that car, and I think this would be a fun project over the summer!