imported_jbr
New member
OK well I bought a used bumper for my car (it's got fogs, and my car hasn't) well anyway the bumper is the same colour as my car but had lots of deep scratches, scrapes and dings. Not to mention the existing paint was in terrible condition, faded, oxidised, etc.
Well I went to an auto superstore and bought some near match paint and clear coat. I used bondo body filler to fill in the dings/dents and deep scratches. Then I used two coats of colour coat (in an aerosol can). (my primer wouldn't work, and I didn't want to buy another can.) The colour looks good, but had some orange peel and slight runs.
I wet sanded with 1000, to get out orange peel, then 1500 and finally 2000 sandpaper and finished with rubbing compound so it felt smooth. Then prepped the surface again and sprayed one medium-heavy coat of clear on top. I thought the end result looked good, but it seemed to be orange-peely as the reflections weren't very clear - like "gritty" looking and cloudy. I let it dry overnight then repeated the 1000/1500/2000 wetsanding then rubbing compound hoping the paint would then feel smooth and have some shine to it.
The result so far is what you see in the attachment, the new bumper is faded and not shiny at all, whereas my car (and existing bumper) are very glossy. Is this just a case of I need 12 more coats of clear? or am I not doing it right? I don't want to continue if I'm doing something wrong here.
Note: temperature around here is about 3ºC (36ºF) so I hope that isn't causing the problem.
Thanks for any advice!
Well I went to an auto superstore and bought some near match paint and clear coat. I used bondo body filler to fill in the dings/dents and deep scratches. Then I used two coats of colour coat (in an aerosol can). (my primer wouldn't work, and I didn't want to buy another can.) The colour looks good, but had some orange peel and slight runs.
I wet sanded with 1000, to get out orange peel, then 1500 and finally 2000 sandpaper and finished with rubbing compound so it felt smooth. Then prepped the surface again and sprayed one medium-heavy coat of clear on top. I thought the end result looked good, but it seemed to be orange-peely as the reflections weren't very clear - like "gritty" looking and cloudy. I let it dry overnight then repeated the 1000/1500/2000 wetsanding then rubbing compound hoping the paint would then feel smooth and have some shine to it.
The result so far is what you see in the attachment, the new bumper is faded and not shiny at all, whereas my car (and existing bumper) are very glossy. Is this just a case of I need 12 more coats of clear? or am I not doing it right? I don't want to continue if I'm doing something wrong here.
Note: temperature around here is about 3ºC (36ºF) so I hope that isn't causing the problem.
Thanks for any advice!
