Am I Going To Be Disappointed With Bumper Repaint?

As far as overspray, in your case there may not be any at all, and I speak of overspray from other vehicles near yours that are being spot primed and painted not in the booth..

And anytime someone puts a full flow connector on the end of an air hose, all kinds of dirt and dust is thrown around if they are not careful and even if they are..
Hard to find a shop that actually cleans out the entire workspace with water and heavy pushbrooms every night..

And the body shop - they hardly ever clean up their mess, they just keep piling it up until they cant move anymore - then it gets kind of cleaned up.. :)

As has been said and as I have already said before, you will want to have it cleaned by them before you get it, just to remove any potential junk off of it..

Look at it this way, I did this as a kid and then later as an adult, and I never scratched anyone's paint up or wrecked anything.. There are still some of us out there... :)
Good luck,
Dan F
 
David Fermani said:
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.
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Exactly what I was going to say! You can even coordinate with the shop when everything will happen. They can order the bumper and paint it without even seeing your car (black is by far the easiest color to match), you can take the car in, and in less than an hour the cover could be swapped and you're on your way. No need to leave it for an extended period, no need for them to wash it.

I worked in on a body shop and many times when just a bumper cover needed replaced, it was painted and ready before the car was even brought in. Also covers are typically just replaced with new as they aren't very expensive in relation to the costs of more serious collisions. The new covers are typically shipped primed and ready from the factory. A quick scuff with steel wool and they are ready for paint. So you shouldn't need to worry about the paint failing as long as this is the case
 
always keep in mind, you can never duplicate the durability of a factory finish. no matter the paint or the booth bake, a repaint will always be softer and therefore much easier to scratch/damage. the good thing: you generally have more clear to polish when it does get damaged. and Ford loves tri-coats, which equal very difficult to match correctly in all types of lighting. hopefully its black or white.
 
MooreImpressive said:
always keep in mind, you can never duplicate the durability of a factory finish. no matter the paint or the booth bake, a repaint will always be softer and therefore much easier to scratch/damage. the good thing: you generally have more clear to polish when it does get damaged. and Ford loves tri-coats, which equal very difficult to match correctly in all types of lighting. hopefully its black or white.
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I beg to differ. The quality or durability of a refinish job, all depends on the guys doing the work and the quality of the products they are using. I wouldn't be surprised if some or all Mercedes Benz dealership body shops are spraying that ceramiclear on repair jobs where that's what was originally on the car. Just as durable and same scratch resistance
 
I beg to differ now that my front end on my Infiniti was re sprayed by finishline it is so much more durable and thicker than the rest of the car. Not even close.
 
This rule was the very first thing taught to us when I went to the nation's leading auto body school, taught by an instructor with over 40 years of experience, of which I was the class president out of 35 people. I've painted many cars myself, using top of the line products, and have worked on hundreds of fresh paint jobs as we have relations with several local body shops to do wet sanding and final finish work. I don't speak of things I know little about. When I write something on here, you can be sure it's with absolute confidence, and experience. It's up to you if you want advice from someone who "had a brother who got a bumper painted one time" versus a guy thats painted and/or worked on hundreds of them in a high end bake booth. Go tour a final assembly plant where they paint the vehicles (my dad worked in one for 35 years) and tell me that the process is anything close to what a body shop does. It's not.
 
All I can tell you is from first hand experience. Car manufactures are painting thinner and thinner to save $. I am talking mass produced cars, not hand built one off cars or specialty cars.

MooreImpressive said:
This rule was the very first thing taught to us when I went to the nation's leading auto body school, taught by an instructor with over 40 years of experience, of which I was the class president out of 35 people. I've painted many cars myself, using top of the line products, and have worked on hundreds of fresh paint jobs as we have relations with several local body shops to do wet sanding and final finish work. I don't speak of things I know little about. When I write something on here, you can be sure it's with absolute confidence, and experience. It's up to you if you want advice from someone who "had a brother who got a bumper painted one time" versus a guy thats painted and/or worked on hundreds of them in a high end bake booth. Go tour a final assembly plant where they paint the vehicles (my dad worked in one for 35 years) and tell me that the process is anything close to what a body shop does. It's not.
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It's not so much the thickness of the paint, but the process of taking it from bare metal to using several coats of products used to increase durability and adhesion, then painting and baking in a environment far superior to that of a body shop. They very much have it down to a science and don't need to "cut corners" like body shops often do, things like simply scuffing and respraying instead of sanding all the way down and repriming. That's where you lose a lot of durability, it's in the prep work, and most body shops, when painting a bumper or fender, aren't taking the paint off first, it's scuff and shoot when not changing colors.
 
Okay..that's all fine and dandy...but I still have a bumper cover that needs to be replaced.

Living with a dinged/damaged bumper really isn't for me.

So what's my alternative other than a body shop?

Serious question
 
melissa809- There really isn't an alternative (whether independent or dealership, you need a bodyshop). Just find a good shop. If you're just having the bumpercover done it's simply not a big deal, oughta go fine just as ShaneB said. They'll use the right stuff (flex additive) so the plastic stays painted, though yeah...it probably won't be as durable/tough as the factory painted one was (voice of experience, I've had dozens of them done). That's just the nature of the situation and I really don't think you oughta worry about it.

The only challenge here is to find a good shop that'll do a nice job while taking good care of the car. Politely but clearly explain where you're coming from (hey, you are *NOT* the "typical female customer" that they're used to dealing with! Not by a long shot...and they might not be the most, uhm...enlightened individuals on the planet) and if you have any reservations go talk with a different shop. Nothing wrong with getting a few different bids on it anyhow, though it's easy for *me* to waste *your* time ;) Don't set anything up until/unless you're confident that it'll turn out OK.
 
There are "clean" body shops and "dirty" body shops. The difference is the end product. You can now buy bumper covers already painted. Tell them to "bag" your car to keep it clean. Be sure they are using decent paints. Some of the best are Spies Hecker or Glassorite. Some others are Dupont who just sold out, and a big company PPG which a lot of shops use. If the cover does not match then why fix it right? Who wants a car that looks like its been hit. It has to match. Sorry about your luck. Must have been someone on a cell phone. Its getting worse with these distracted idiots.
 
There is no alternative, you need physically add material. Detailing won't fix the issue. I offered to help you out and recommend a good shop as did the rest of us, what more are you looking for? The answer is cut an dry. Go with detailing dynamics, I'm sure you'll be happy.

As for the rest of us we have our people that were loyal to...
 
If they are replacing the bumper and not just fixing and painting the old one, be sure to ask if they intend to buy OEM or aftermarket. OEM usually comes as raw plastic, without any primer on it, whereas aftermarket (generally Chinese) will already be primed black or gray and they need to understand the difference when it comes to prep work. Of course, a reputable body shop will know this, so just be sure you go to one. Then, of course, it also means the price will be higher at those places. Don't be afraid to go to the auto services section of Craigslist, I know lots of guys who paint at a body shop during the day and do very good side work at home. If you do your research and ask for pictures of recent work and/or references, you could probably save a couple hundred dollars that way. Just be sure to be very careful with it for a month or so, then apply the hardest coating you can find to help shell the generally softer than average new paint.
 
Okay...I'm going either with Detailing Dynamics or Finish Line...both top notch shops.

Thanks for your input, guys....much appreciated!
 
The car doesn't have to be there for them to paint s bumper. If anythng just get them to order the part and paint it and you will come back to have it installed. I paint on the side and bumpers take all of 20 minutes to take off and put back on. Black will match with no issues.
 
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