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They are supposed to be off so that they can be painted with the same paint as the car, but with flex additive added to it. That keeps them from cracking I guess. I'm no expert though. I'm sure Lars' will post to this soon.
They are supposed to be off so that they can be painted with the same paint as the car, but with flex additive added to it. That keeps them from cracking I guess. I'm no expert though. I'm sure Lars' will post to this soon.
Recommend leaving them on the car but loosening all the retaining bolts.
This enables pulling the bumpers away from the body about a half an inch.
This allows the paint to flow around the bumpers and body. All the lights
and grills should be removed from the bumpers. The local paint store told
me it is not necessary to mix flex additives with the paint if the bumpers
are painted on the car. So I spray the bumpers at the same time the
car is painted. Some vettes like the 1979 have a separate lower
front valence and this is easier to paint by removing from the car.
I am painting mine on the car without flex additive, but it's kind of an experiment. I was nervous about putting the stress and flexing on them by putting them on after they were painted. I thought I would be better off leaving them on, thus avoiding damaging the paint putting them on. I don't know if that's the right way to do it or not, but that's how I'm doing it.
You REALLY should use the flex agent. Urethane bumpers expand in the sun. Just look at how they get warps/waves in them. The paint will probably crack without it.
I painted my car with no flex agent... Bumpers off and put back on. urethane paint stays flexible. Plus flex agent only last a couple weeks before it cures out. As far as painting the bumper off the car I would! That is where most of your paint lifting come from. You have to have two thing to get good adhesion. A mechanical etch: SANDING; and a chemical etch. PRIMER SEALER. Hope this helps.