Non-spray bumper repair?

iammooks

Active Member
Nov 27, 2018
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Looks like it has already been repaired once before

I think you're right. When I bought the car, there was a split in the paint on the top of the bumper, that I'm guessing had been repaired - possible badly - and it either split on its own accord or when someone had driven into the back of the car. I had it repaired in 2011 after I'd rear-ended someone, but a year later the paint was bubbling, so I had them sort it. No issues since, until someone drove into the back of the car while parked up, which led to this damage.

Part of me wonders if this will just happen again if I repair it and someone does the same, so maybe a new bumper is in order. It's just so hard to find a silver bumper for a 54 reg FR at the moment.
 

verbal_kint

Active Member
Apr 15, 2010
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North West Kent
Perfect - I'm probably going to paint the whole bumper, as there are a whole load of little scratches, but all that depends on how much the paint costs and how confident I feel as the time gets nearer. I've got a few smaller parts I can practice on in the meantime.

In terms of prepping, I've been trying to find out how long you can leave something primed before painting - most sites tell you how long you have to leave primer before painting, but not so many tell you how long you can leave the primer sat without throwing some paint on.

Is it better to fill it and leave it at that until I can prime and paint, or should I prime it to protect the filler, and then maybe wet sand before painting?

Don't worry it's non-metallic so can survive and you can always cut it back. Your best bet is to strip all the paint, dig out any previous filler that you don't like to look of, and start from scratch that way you won't have the pain of blending in to surrounding areas. Personally I'd leave it until much warmer and no windy, you said you had a sheltered spot in the garden but safe from wind? You want conditions as perfect as possible not the weather you've got now. I'd say you'd need at least 2 poss 3 base coat cans to get a good layer down.
 
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iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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Don't worry it's non-metallic so can survive and you can always cut it back. Your best bet is to strip all the paint, dig out any previous filler that you don't like to look of, and start from scratch that way you won't have the pain of blending in to surrounding areas. Personally I'd leave it until much warmer and no windy, you said you had a sheltered spot in the garden but safe from wind? You want conditions as perfect as possible not the weather you've got now. I'd say you'd need at least 2 poss 3 base coat cans to get a good layer down.

There's a covered alcove behind the house where there's no wind - it's essentially underground - so it would be a good place to work from. I've checked the paint code and it's Lunar Grey (LS7Y) so no issues getting hold of paint either. Actually quite looking forward to doing this - and it'll be great to have it looking like it's supposed to again. Just the wait for warmer weather now...
 

BigJase88

Jase
Apr 20, 2008
3,767
1,069
I think you're right. When I bought the car, there was a split in the paint on the top of the bumper, that I'm guessing had been repaired - possible badly - and it either split on its own accord or when someone had driven into the back of the car. I had it repaired in 2011 after I'd rear-ended someone, but a year later the paint was bubbling, so I had them sort it. No issues since, until someone drove into the back of the car while parked up, which led to this damage.

Part of me wonders if this will just happen again if I repair it and someone does the same, so maybe a new bumper is in order. It's just so hard to find a silver bumper for a 54 reg FR at the moment.

yeah looks like it has had filler on it once before. Maybe try find a 2nd hand one and get it sprayed would be a better idea
 
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iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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yeah looks like it has had filler on it once before. Maybe try find a 2nd hand one and get it sprayed would be a better idea

For sure - and in the end, I've got a while to wait until the weather gets better and I'd be able to do it properly. I've got a saved search on eBay and hopefully something will come up that means I don't have to drive half way to Scotland to pick it up...
 

iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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Garage round the corner says they'll spray the whole bumper for £100. I wouldn't be able to do it myself for that price.

Any thoughts? Even if it's not the cleanest job, I'm thinking it's going to be better than how it looks now...
 

iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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They won't be doing it with rattle cans (I hope) so it's got to be better than trying it yourself even if it's not 100%.

It's a shame! In the end I was getting quite excited about filling the gouge, sanding it and prepping it, but an Isopon kit, all the sandpaper and what would probably have been three cans of base, a couple of cans of primer and a few of clearcoat would have been much more than £100.
 

iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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Thought I should update this thread, as it's been a while...

Every time I've spoken to the guy who owns the local garage, he's been a bit 'meh' about the guy who offered to spray the bumper for £100, so I didn't really feel too confident about the job he'd do. I went round a few places and most of them wouldn't touch the bumper because it had already been repaired and filled, and so another bump could very easily split the paint again and I'd be back to square one. They said they'd do my bumper for £250-270, or if I got hold of a bumper from a breaker's yard, they'd spray that for £150, but obviously that would include the cost of the replacement bumper.

Lots of silver - sorry, 'lunar grey' - MK1s for breaking have been coming up on eBay recently, so I got in touch with a couple. Most of them are up north, or at the closest, the Midlands, and most weren't too helpful on the paint code front. Found a newly-listed one today that's up in Merseyside and they sold me an FR bumper, in my colour, in really good condition, for £90 posted. Just have to wait for it to arrive now so I can fit it. You can expect this thread to resurface again in a week's time with me complaining about fitting it.

This might not be the thread for it, but I've also been wondering about fitting an LCR front bumper to my car, as the lacquer is coming off mine anyway and if I can get one for a good price, why not? I'm guessing (hoping...) it's just a matter of take the old one off and put the new one on?
 

Connor H

Active Member
Dec 19, 2019
1,014
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Essex
Looks like painting that will be the easy part! Lot of damage there. I'd personally give it a bash as bumpers are hard to find. Thats why i fixed the sun damage and smooth a few cracks on mine.

I'd happily give you a hand with the painting part if you was a little closer to essex! Leave the filling to you though lol.

If you do decide to DIY

I got 2k basecoat mixed at Euro car part for less than 20 quid and it was spot on.
2k clear coat from Ebay which was also excellent. Link

P.s I was originally going to get cupra R bumpers, but im staying as a top sport lad.
 

iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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Got some post today...

6677357f9d732393a197c2dca49fd618.jpg



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Last edited:

iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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Nice! what condition is it? Hard to tell from pic

Compared to the old one, it's much, much better. Cosmetics wise, it needs a good polish, and there are a couple of scratches and scuffs here and there, but I didn't expect it to be like new. Having had a look over it, there's at least one tab that's broken, but it's close to another tab, so might not cause an issue. I might be able to bodge it if it causes problems.

Fingers crossed I'll have a day soon where I can give the car a good clean and it's not raining, and then I'll get a better idea of everything. I'm just looking forward to having something on the car that doesn't have a huge gouge out of it. I've got to do some paint correction on the roof and on the doors soon, so with any luck I'll have the car looking a lot sharper soon.
 

iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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Thought this thread deserved an update.

Installed the bumper I bought from the breaker on eBay a month or so into lockdown. I wasn't happy with it when I got down to it, because it was covered in fine scratches, scuffs and lacquer peel, and the fixing bolts for the crash bar weren't threading properly. Took the brackets off the old one before it went to the tip, and in between cursing my brakes this week, decided to spray it after I got UPol primer, paint and clear for £15 with an eBay offer.

Taking the lacquer peel back was a nightmare because it blew though so easily, so in the end on the bit under the plate, I had to prime and base coat as well.

The blend wasn't perfect, but it was on the lower part of the bumper where it's not so obvious, and it's only when the light hits it a certain way that you notice it.

Sanded back the whole bumper and sprayed it with clear - got about four coats on, but it wasn't glossy, so wet sanded with 1,200, 1,500 and 2,000 grit. It was passable before, so when it goes chalky after sanding, you're kind of like 'oh crap - if I mess this up, I'm screwed' but I got my random orbital sander (Bosch PEX 220) and some pads and used T-Cut over the whole thing, before using a polishing pad with some Autoglym. Kept the sander moving all the time, as it's not variable speed, and it came out really well.

It's not a show car, but it doesn't look like a fifteen year old bumper, that's for sure.

It's a lot of fun, and definitively answered my question about whether you can do paint correction with a random orbital sander. Trouble is, now I know I can do it, and there's some paint correction I've needed to do for years on the other panels...

51843873b2cd92a8e5a3b7de061ebc2e.jpg



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Connor H

Active Member
Dec 19, 2019
1,014
498
Essex
Well played mate, the trick to a good finish is always flatting the clear coat back and using a good cutting compound to remove the dimple texture aka orange peel.
 
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iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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Well played mate, the trick to a good finish is always flatting the clear coat back and using a good cutting compound to remove the dimple texture aka orange peel.

For sure - I did have orange peel at the end, and after painting the inside of my door and seeing how that dried to a shine, I did wonder at first if I'd not used enough clear coat. It was tempting to buy another can and use that, but I was running out of time and couldn't wait days for more to arrive.

Now to fix my bonnet...


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iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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I reversed into a tree. Because I'm a nob.

Should have used 2K lacquer. And more of it. That'll teach me.

3cf1c600fe4bff3dcd2873f0f79355c8.jpg



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iammooks

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Nov 27, 2018
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Thought I'd revive this one as I'm going to be buying some materials to re-do the lacquer on the rear bumper, as well as repairing the front bumper.

I've noticed in the past few days that where someone's nudged my car, it's created a kind of spider web effect on the rear bumper. Is this the kind of thing that a 2K lacquer would stop from happening? My thinking is that I want a tough lacquer but at the same time because I'm painting something that has to be a bit flexible, something that's hard might not be right. I've got a can of ProXL 2K (proper 2K with the activator in the can) but as it's expensive and I'm going to be spraying the front and rear bumpers, I want it to be the right stuff before I spend a fortune.
 
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