ImBatman

Ok I have another thread regarding a color change on my 90. Here is another option I am looking at. The body is in great shape all but the front bumper. The car is white and the bumper is faded beyond compounding buffing and waxing. It also looks like someone backed up on it one time. Not cracked but you can see directional scratches.

This is my 17 yo sons car and he is driving me crazy about repainting the entire car but he does not realize the work involved. Putting some sand paper and a spray gun in his hand is not a good option for me!!

So 3 questions to start:

1. what can I do to match the white as close as possible taking into account the age of the existing paint? **The car may have been repainted more recently. There are some signs of a past accident.
2. What type of paint and prep do I need to do since this is a flexible piece?
3. If I cant match the paint does anyone have any paint schemes that blend well without looking tacky? Pictures? (I know this is subjective)

Thanks
Wade

hcbph

You could do black if it doesn't match in white, make it look like it's a bra. Could have it vinyl wrapped in a carbon fiber appearing wrap. I've seen this in all kinds of colors too.

Tell him if he wants it painted (the car that is), I'm not set up to do it and one of the local Corvette shops gave me a $13K estimate the other year. Whole lot more than I paid for the car and all the repairs that have been done to it. I also have some clearcoat peeling on the front bumper, I'm considering the carbon fiber appearing vinyl wrap.

Just some thoughts

mark970

you will have a hard time sanding the plastic, its probably all wavey and if the spider cracks are there the only way to remove them is to use a DA sander and feather it. if you get to the plastic, all you need to do is a plastic adhesion promoter then you can paint it.

another option is to by a colored Bra...they dont look too bad on the C4 but they arent cheap either (for the colored ones). as far as matching the paint, that will never happen unless like you said, if its been repainted. with all that said, white is probably the best paint to match, i doubt you would even notice other than it will shine more than the rest of the car. haha

and get this...just an option. i can paint my own cars but sometimes its cheaper and faster to have a shop do it. I had a rear bumper on a WS6 painted for $300 at ABBRA..i could never buy all the supplies (and my time) for that much for such a small spot repair...so go get a quote, you may be surprised how much thats worth your time.

***the reason small spot repairs are so costly is because you need to buy all the chemicals for mixing paint and some of them are only available in gallon or quart containers at $96 a pop and all you need is 1 pint of paint but you'll have spend hundreds on chemicals that dont have a shelf life which is why its sometimes cheaper to go to a shop (not to mention you just saved your weekend by freeing up the time..you'll be out about the same amount of money...it's almost a no-brainer really)

81c3

Well, I know you say you dont want him to work on it, but in my opinion.... you should do just that. Teach him how. He needs to realize what work is involved so he appreciates it more. Doing it for him is not teaching him anything except if he whines enough he gets Dad to do it for him. Like I say, just my opinion...

Now... a solution other than that, a color matched mini mask could work... or just the standard black vinal type.... Just a thought.

haxxx

White is pretty forgiving color. If the damage to the bumper is just thick clear coat scratches then you can get away with sanding down the color coat respray base, color, and clear.

I used expresspaint for paint to respray my headlight lid and cover on my sebring silver 96. This metallic silver paint is very hard to match but no one can even tell the color difference unless I point it out. Since it was so small I did rattle cans but you can buy it for a spray gun as well.

And I agree with 81c3. No matter what route you take I think you should show him how to do it

Kens94

I can tell you if you just get the bumper repaired and painted it will run between $500-1000. I'm having mine done now but I think I have a little more to repair than you will. Good luck! Ken

mark970

it's been a while since i've had anything painted...the reason i stopped painting was the price of paint and supplies skyrocketed. i guess so has body shop paint jobs...i only paid $300 to have the rear bumper on my 2001 WS6 Trans-Am (because it was cheaper than me buying the materials by the gallon for a 1 pint paint job), but that was back in 2001

ImBatman

Ok before anyone flames me I am just making a comment not saying I am doing this.

Back is the mid 90's you could take a car to Maaco and for $200-$300 you could get the entire car painted. You would need to pull the bumper, moldings and in some cases the grill. Do any body repair if any. They will take the car scuff, sand, tape and bake. Once you got it back there would definitely be some orange peel and over spray but a weekend of cutting and buffing and some rattle can black the car would be almost show quality.
A friend of mine had his 68 Camaro done back in 94. After he sold it a few years later the car stayed locally. We still see it time to time and with the exception of some normal scratches and fading the paint job has lasted 20 + years.
I don't know if Maaco even exists now but if I had a daily driver car (Not a vette or hotrod) that need a quick paint job I would send it to them in a heart beat..

mark970

Yes they are still around and no flaming here...but i bet the paint price has doubled since the 90's. knowing is half the battle so if you do as much prep work for them as possible and then do as much finishing as possible it might be a good option...i just dont think a guy can do a small spot repair at home these days (with a quality paint) because it would cost too much for all the chemicals to buy by the gallon/quart sizes. it used to be you could buy stuff by the pint and ounces but not anymore...its gallons or quarts at around $100 minimum a pop.

belairbrian

When my kids starting driving I bought each a Honda accord. Both needed paint. I had full resprays done at our local Maaco, and both look really good. The metallic blue 99 looks darn near factory.


Someone hit my sons about a year after it was painted, and it went to the preferred state farm shop. They had to replace the bumper and headlights and paint the hood and fender. You can't tell the two jobs apart.


I ended up with around $1300 in both.


Maaco is a franchise system. but the shops are owned locally. Some will produce quality work and others will be hacks. I'd look at their finished work and see.


That said, my 02 Camaro (very close in color to my vette) had clear peeling on the rear bumper cover. I spent around $50 from automotivetouchup.com and in a couple hours you couldn't tell the repair was made.