Bumper Repair - need advice

**SoundDsnr23** · 08-19-2008, 10:10 PM

After reading many different write ups on repairing chips and scratches I decided to try it out myself. Recently I had a set of mini blinds take a gouge out of the rear bumper on my RX-8. I started by cleaning the area and lightly sanding. Then I applied a coat of primer to fill some of the gouge. Next I applied thin coats of the manufacturer touch up paint, letting each dry for at least 3 hours between applications.

Finally this evening I was satisfied that the touch up paint was over the level of the existing paint. So I started wet sanding with 2000 grit paper until the area was level. After using compound to remove the sanding scratches the repair is still quite ugly. The paint did not sand down smoothly and still has some pitting. There is even an area where the primer is showing through.

I`m looking for recommendations on how to proceed at this point. Should I apply more paint and start the sanding process over again? Will I be in danger of removing too much of the clearcoat? I suppose I have nothing to lose, because it looks horrible as it is.

**SoundDsnr23** · 08-19-2008, 10:11 PM

I will post some pics tomorrow for reference.

**az57chevy** · 08-19-2008, 11:53 PM

Did you sand the primer? Spray paint or dabber?

**SoundDsnr23** · 08-20-2008, 07:59 AM

Originally Posted by az57chevy

Did you sand the primer? Spray paint or dabber?

No, I didn`t sand the primer. I applied the paint from a bottle using a toothpick.

**SoundDsnr23** · 08-20-2008, 09:23 AM

Okay, here is a pic I just took this morning. You can see how the repair doesn`t blend at all with the paint around it. If you run your finger across it, it feels pretty smooth, but you can definitely tell when you`re over the repair. I`m thinking that more paint and re-sanding is going to be required.

Sanded and ready to paint:

Primed:

As it is today:

**az57chevy** · 08-20-2008, 04:59 PM

Primer is designed to grab the final coats of paint and offers some fill. I`d sand the primer until baby butt smooth and then add the paint in light layers. Personally I`d mask your area and use spray paint. let it set up and then wet sand and see what you think. What material is the bumper?

**Johnold** · 08-21-2008, 09:13 PM

wow thats deep.

I have a question real quick for you since i`ve never used a machine buffer before....yet. Today I was parked in a spot taking up to spaces and nobody could park in front of me or behind me. Well some A-Hole DID park behind me and was probably a quarter inch from my rear bumper and the car was on a tiny incline so when I let go of the E-Brake, I ended up rolling back into that POS saturn that was behind me and hit his front bumper. My question is, now that I have a slight dent in the plastic and paint part of my rear bumper although you can`t really notice it untill you look really close at my bumper or see it from an angle. Would I be able to repair a bumper indent like this with the machine buffer since it will most likely smooth it out more or maybe heat up the plastic and MAYBE pop most of it back out?. I`m not looking to fully bring it back to normal but I was wondering if you`ve ever had rear or front plastic bumper indents on cars that you`ve detailed and used the machine buffer to make it better?

OH, the paint is not broken at all THANK GOD!. Just tiny hairline thin scratches to bigger or longer than an eyelash.

It`s not a big dent or hole. It`s just still smooth but you can see it at an angle.

**Flashtime** · 08-21-2008, 09:41 PM

keep building up the paint. It`ll take many days to do this as the solid content

is very low in touch-up lacquer paints (solvents evaporate and what remains

are the solids). When the build is sufficient, then you can start sanding it down

with fine grit sand paper on a hard block (P1000 -> P1500 -> P2000 Meg unigrit).

It will sand harder/tougher than factory paint so you gotta be very carefull

using a block slightly larger than the area. When it`s all leveled, then buff/polish.

It won`t be perfect, but short of correctly repairing and refinishing the entire cover,

you maybe ok with it.

**SoundDsnr23** · 08-23-2008, 11:39 AM

Thanks all for the advice. I sanded the new paint down such that the remaining paint and primer was completely smooth, and the chip was recessed again. I`ve started adding more layers of the touch up paint and I`ll sand and polish when I return from my trip at the end of the week. Hopefully I`ll report back with more successful results.