Am I Going To Be Disappointed With Bumper Repaint?

M

melissa809

New member
Just got rear ended in my new Mustang. The bumper needs to be replaced and repainted. My car is black. I realize that plastic body panels take paint differently than metal body panels. I'm kind of finicky with this car as it is my "baby". My fiancee's brother's father in law, believe it or not, owns a body shop and they do good work.

fortunately, it looks like I just need to replace the bumper cover. How hard is it to match black?

thanks in advance

melissa
 
You shouldn't have much issue as long as it's a reputable shop.

Keep in mind that these days most bumpers installed on the assembly line weren't painted with the car but at the vendor facility that could be thousands of miles away. Therefore matches aren't crazy hard.
 
The Painter will look up the paint code and order the Factory Pack paint from the auto paint supply house or mix it himself if he is set up for this.
He will take the paint and then physically stand next to the car and hold some of the paint up right next to the car and get the best match he can make.
Then its just a matter of priming, block sanding with a guide coat, wiping and tacking it down and painting it.
If these guys are worth their salt, you will love the work and all will be good again for your Baby.. :)
Good luck !
Dan F
 
Thanks, you guys! You have put me at ease!

One more question, though....would I sound like a PIA if I insist the body shop does NOT Wash my car...as I had a paint correction done which cost $$$...and well...you know.

If I bring it to them freshly washed would they need to wash it after they replace my bumper?
 
This depends on how clean they keep the car while its in the shop..
Some shops cram a lot of cars in a small space and sometimes they get dirty or maybe even overspray..

And in all the shops I worked in we always always, washed the car before we gave it back to the Client - inside and out..

Just tell the guys that they have to be really gentle and thoroughly take PERFECT care of your car, period..

And when you show up to pay for it, First Thing you do is ask to see it, you walk all around it and look at it very carefully, run your fingers over all the glass to check for overspray on it, and if you like all of what you see, then you can go pay for it...
Otherwise, do not pay for anything until they fix what they have messed up..

You are in charge of this transaction, not them..

You have to sign something to give them the money if its Insurance, etc., and you dont do any of this until you have seen the car and are happy with what you see..
If it does not look or feel right, and not the right color, do not accept it... Make them do it over and then you will look at it again and perhaps pay for it then..
Good luck,
Dan F
 
melissa809 said:
Thanks, you guys! You have put me at ease!

One more question, though....would I sound like a PIA if I insist the body shop does NOT Wash my car...as I had a paint correction done which cost $$$...and well...you know.

If I bring it to them freshly washed would they need to wash it after they replace my bumper?
Click to expand...

I would have put a sign on my brothers car to not wash it when he had an aftermarket hood put on. The body shop did a good job painting it but they completely ruined the paint correction that a couple months prior to the hood being painted. I had to recorrect his car. I would have them not wash it. I have heard a similar story from a friend of mine who had the coating on his car damaged after going to the body shop.
 
Is it already at a body a shop, I remember you posting on Li. You went to detailing dynamics, I have a friend here on the island who does amazing work. He did Mr angry for the gumball.
 
No..it's not at the body shop. And yes, Detailing Dynamics did the paint correction. Why should I have to do another one?

And this talk of over spray on my car is making me sick. It's a convertible.
 
Body shops are the dustiest places on the planet. I've spent a lot of time in them and most cars I see there are covered in dust. There's no way they could delivery your car back to you without washing the dust off. There's so much dust on most of the cars that you can't even tell what color the paint is. The paint booth is a different story, and your bumper will be painted off the car, not on it, so there will not be any overspray.
 
I had my dark red bumper redone after being rear ended. The ship did a great job and the bumper cover repair has held up great over the years. The bumper paint is actually a better match than the third brake light cowling from the factory.
 
If I were you I'd go to finish line collision and ask for Caesar. Tell him jeff sent you. If you PM me I can hook you up over there. He is in valley stream. He has repaired pearl for me perfectly. Black is easy in comparison. He does amazing work.
 
Okay...thanks you guys. I have to realize it's just a car. This shop does good work...so I guess I'll just ask them to be gentle when they Wash it? That I had the paint "corrected " recently.

Oh well..I'm so bummed my car needs to go to a body shop
 
P-nut said:
Body shops are the dustiest places on the planet. I've spent a lot of time in them and most cars I see there are covered in dust. There's no way they could delivery your car back to you without washing the dust off. There's so much dust on most of the cars that you can't even tell what color the paint is. The paint booth is a different story, and your bumper will be painted off the car, not on it, so there will not be any overspray.
Click to expand...


That's what my buddies shop realized an actually opened a second location down the road just for finishing end steps. Not all shops are the same ;)
 
I actually just looked up detailing dynamics. they do collision work, but i think they use Finish Line???? Anyways, I shot them an email...Detailing Dynamics.
 
Very true. I'm just in a dark mood lately. I'm almost ready to give up my car hobby....just keep my beat up DD and live headache free
 
melissa809 said:
I'm almost ready to give up my car hobby....just keep my beat up DD and live headache free
Click to expand...

The Curse of Autopia..."only perfection is acceptable"...can take the fun right out of the whole Car Hobby thing. I hope you can find a happy medium where you can keep the car nice enough to be satisfying while not letting it become a no-fun grind.

The one thing I can think of regarding a bumpercover job is to make sure it's painted *off* the vehicle and then installed.

This shouldn't be a big deal, oughta go fine. I've had countless bumpercovers repainted/replaced and it almost always turns out OK.

Take the car there spotless and point out to them that it doesn't have wash-induced/etc. marring and that you need it to still be that way when you get it back.

Use something fresh-paint safe like OCW on it until it finishes curing/outgassing (I wait 90 days).
 
melissa809-- You mentioned that the body shop is run by a potential relative--is this going to cause problems if you're unhappy with the work or how they treat your car?? I usually try to keep business separate from family/friends to avoid issues where I might feel uncomfortable holding back payment if the work compleated is not acceptable.
 
There should be no reason why a body shop would wash your car and/or get overspray on it if you're just have a bumper replaced. They can quickly remove the cover from the car and park the car outside away from potential overspray issues. Then, when the bumper is ready to be reinstalled pull the car back in and assemble it.
 
Thanks, guys. I think I'm going to go through Detailing Dynamics. ..they also did my original paint correction. Their website says they also do collision repair.

I assume they sub it out...but I think when everything is done I'll have them fix a few rock chips I picked up on one of our road trips.

On a side note, I got rear ended coming back from Mustang Week....which was a traffic filled drive....and our experience this year at Mustang Week sucked.

So it makes this fender bender a kind of cherry on top....lol...ugh
 
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