Textured bumper painting

[grim_d]

This isn't about painting them myself more about what paint shops can do.

I will be having my car resprayed soon and there are areas such as bumper tops, arch trims and bump strips that are matt unpainted plastic with a fine texture, some of them, the bumpers especially are damaged to some extent in this area and I am curious as to how paint shops deal with these areas.

I am going for a totally stock look and while the texture can be slightly different I want them to retain the original appearance of the matt unpainted textured plastic.

In my experience satin or matt paint and even vinyl mark very easily with fingernails etc and I am worried about this however I have only used it from an aerosol and do no have any experience of 2k matt paint/clearcoat, are they less prone to marking?

 

[the snooper]

has the spray shop agreed to do the bumpers and trims if so have you seen a sample of the finish they get , and have you priced up new as an alternative, in my opinion arch trims and bump strips don't really last all that long when painted unless they are the type designed for paint

 

[grim_d]

I have not spoken to them about painting the car yet, I was really just curious as to peoples opinions/experiences as fresh paint will always look good, I need a lasting finish.

The arch trims and bump strips are not really a problem even though they do get painted without problem often. as long as they match the bumpers

New bumpers are not available, hard and expensive to source them unmodified with these areas unmarked, I have about 5 unmodified bumpers but unfortunately they all have scuffs or marks in these areas.

I had a rear bumper that was immaculate but unfortunately the exhaust cutout had been modified for a very large exhaust tip

I imagine paint will take to the bumper tops as the unpainted part is part of the bumper, not a trim. You can actually see the texture of the plastic through the original paint.

 

[FranV8]

I don't know if this will help, but on the previous generation Civic (the futuristic rounded one) non R Type versions use a dark grey textured plastic for the bumpers and side skirts and wheel arch edges. It was common for owners colour coding these to fine sand the texture back to smooth and get them painted body colour, or I think some did gloss black as a contrast.

I don't think anyone had problems with this, but of course you lose the textured areas if you want them.

 

[steveo3002]

we used innotec aerosol texture when we could ..free's up booth time and its handy to dust a corner in quickly , found innotec to be one of the most realistic looking ones

the 2k stuff is more durable ..you get a tin of texture and can mix it fine or coarser, tbh most of it looks a bit suspect next to original plastic

 

[norsa]

You will probably find any reputable paint shop will consider textured trim as MET and not paintable. Certainly not repairable to the standard you are looking for. That would be specialist. There is a good paint on the market for faded coloured trim but that's not what you're asking. What's the car?
Nick

 

[grim_d]

Bad news for me then it sounds.

The car is a Pulsar Gti-r

 

[BrokenBiker]

I had a fiesta as my first car, inevitably crashed it after a few months (although not my fault, the front passenger suspension collapsed after a speed bump)

had to replace front passenger wing and front bumper. bought a plastic one with the texture, took an orbital sander to it to smooth it off, sprayed in white 2k to match the car, clear over the top and it is still going strong today. the paint on the bumper has outlasted a lot of the rest of the car lol

 

[grim_d]

I want the texture though. I have no doubt of the ability of the paint to stick to the plastic but It's about getting the texture right which is becoming apparent that it wont

 

[steveo3002]

if you have them all done..and the shop is good then id say the texture will be good enough for most normal folk , if youre super super keen and expect it to match exactly then no it wont

 

[grim_d]

The 2 shops I am considering are excellent, I'll see about taking them a sample to see what they say, should of cut a bit from some bumpers I just binned, doh.

I don't mind if it's a little different as long as it's consistent, my main concern is the durability of the matt black paint finish.

 

[steveo3002]

yeah they should get it consistant ..its just it will be sandpaper style texture

black should last well if they use 2k and not rattle cans