My dirty little secret...
 

For my 2 1/2 years of ownership, I've been living with scratched and cracked paint on my rear bumper cover...a parting gift from the PO. :(

I've considered taking it in to get painted but the fact that it cannot be seen from more than 5ft away, compounded by my obsessive need to DIY everything, has left it as is. No more. It's time to admit I have a problem and do something about it.

So, here it is...

I am going to DIY this, and it's going to look as near to OEM as any professional could get it. I've spent the past two and half years debating, researching and preparing. My question to the community is: has anyone tackled anything like this before and do you have any advice? The scratches are pretty deep (PO attempted to repair using some kind of paint that is now a lovely shade of pink), so the plan is to sand down past the base coat in the small area, respray, blend and clearcoat. Any advice or tips would be greatly appreciated!
(Unless it's to say "take it to a pro"... where's the pride in throwing money at someone to fix your problems when, with a little effort, you can fix them yourself? Anyone can be a pro if they only put the time and effort in and I just can't bring myself to pay hundreds, if not more than a thousand dollars to have something done that I can do for under $100. I've always done all of my own work and refuse to turn away from a challenge ;) )

Thanks fellow 986ers!

I, myself, am playing "Schrodinger's Cat" with start-up noise. As long as I don't remove the belt and diagnose it, it may just be a pulley bearing or water pump in early stages......may not be that bad.

TheSamba.com :: View topic - My new 71 Super

Scroll down about 1/4 of the way. You'll see the fender of my Karmann Ghia and the giant dent and chip that it got when a grinder fell on it. A friend of mine fixed it for me, in my garage, using my tools.

We used a small HVLP touchup gun. He sanded back and feathered the repair out until it was smooth. Went and got some good body filler, and put a few coats of it on a little at a time. He slowly sanded it back until it couldn't be seen, then put a good filler primer on it. He sanded it again with 320. I had some paint mixed that was a close match, and we masked off anything we didn't want over-spray on. He painted it, a few thin coats at a time, letting it flash in between. After it cured for a day he wet sanded and polished it.

The repair is all but invisible. If the paint matched a little better it would be completely invisible. The Ghia is a Single Stage paint, which makes it easier, but the process is about the same. Just make sure your air is really dry when you paint and you'll be good to go.

While you may be able to achieve some improvement by spot patching, it will not pass a close inspection. To do a really good job you will need to re-spray the entire panel. You don't need to sand it down all the way, but you will likely need some glaze putty to fill the deeper scratches. A good coat of primer is your final layer of filler and will reveal any spots you may have missed. Wet sand and repeat until perfect. Then you lay down a few coats of paint, carefully wet sand to remove any imperfections, and then apply the clear. It will probably turn out ok, but don't expect a pro finish. It is virtually impossible for an amateur working in his gagrage to avoid orange peel, gribleys, and other flaws in the finish.

I'm sorry, but you are wrong that anyone can do a pro job on body work given enough time and effort - it also requires pro equipment. Unless you happen to have a completely dust free spray booth and, professional grade sprayers, and a few years of experience doing body work, you will not be able to obtain Porsche-worthy results. For the 3 or 4 hundred bucks it costs, take it in. Sorry, not want you want to hear, but the way it is. If you are willing to settle for less than perfect, then by all means give it a shot.

Ah, a non-believer ;)

I'm too much of a perfectionist to ever settle for a bad job and would get it as close as most shops would(not completely inexperienced), but I fully understand your points. I had plans to remove the cover and construct a small clean room for the job, but if I could find someone to do it for $300-400, I would probably do that.

My estimates have ranged between $800-1200 :(

There's no way that's going to be $300-400. My repair was about $100 just in material. Took my friend about 8 hours total. Most good body shops are $85-$100 an hour. The $1000-$1200 sounds much more accurate.

It can be done without a specialized booth. It's a small area.

I have been quoted, by a couple of body shops, $350 to re-spray my front or rear bumper cover if I R&R it myself. Perhaps prices are lower here.

Suggestions for your clean room. Include a strong exhaust fan on the back wall and a filtered transfer grill on the front wall, a good furnace filter should work. Wear clean lint-free coveralls, gloves, and something like a shower cap. Mist the floor before you start to also keep particles down. Turn off the fan prior to exiting the room. It's all about gribley prevention.

Have had my rear bumper re-sprayed about 4 times. Front bumper will be the 3rd.
Last time the rear cost me about $200 at small local shop. Perfect job, picked up in a day.
I won't spend more because it's nearly certain that I will need to have sprayed yet again.

Most body repair costs are for prep work before painting. Bondo, block sanding over and over again takes a lot of time but it's something you can do. I would do the prep work myself and then take the bumper to a paint shop and have them shoot it.

lol .. I am doing the exact same thing. Squeeky noise that dissapears after 30 secs.. I did however replace the drive belt a few weeks back, and I did manually turn all three bearings to check for noise and wear but they were all fine.

Have you considered doing some of the prep work yourself and having a shop do the final spraying? Or maybe looking for someone on (gasp) Craigslist? There's some really good talent out there but a lot of jokers as well. Best wishes!

LOL, just read this:

All very good suggestions and I thank you! Gotta love this community. :)

I will definitely check around the local shops and see what they charge to paint a prepped bumper cover. If I can get it done professionally for $500 or less, that will absolutely make me re-think doing it myself (not that I'm ascared, but it would be tedious and time consuming). ;)

Although...if I gained the experience and clean room from doing it myself, I'd never need a paint shop again! :D
I guess I'll check on pre-prepped prices and go from there.

BTW, thanks for the link Swhitcomb. Great info!

Drive up to Mass. and I'll set you up with the ultimate custom painter. ;)

I'd consider it, but I'm not sure how the Box would handle 10ft of snow and temps of 5 degrees above absolute zero. :p

Just lower it and put some Plast-Dip'd 11 inch rims on it for the drive up. If you run out of power, do a roadside de-snorkle or 10 hp gain DIY exhaust upgrade.

Oh, you're killing me! :eek:

You make a good point.. Just plasti-dip the whole car and call it a day.:barf:

No respect, I tell ya :ah:

I too am a DIYer and hate to pay someone to do something that I think I can do myself (last week replaced my gas furnace with a new one I bought on Ebay).

Painted my bumperettes and a bumper cover for my F-150 from paint I got from automotivetouchup.com. Also painted my kid's fender panel. Other posters are correct; you are not a professional painter, don't have pro tools, or a paint booth. But I think you can achieve good results. Check out the video on their site where they refinish a bumper here: Bumper Repaint Job | Touch Up Paint | AutomotiveTouchup

Yes, they make it look easier than it really is and left out a couple of finishing steps. A few things to keep in mind. Get the plastic adhesion promotor and get the little gun that clips on to the spray can. I like to get close to the work, so I also got their respirator - the fumes are very strong. Also, to get a good gloss finish, it took some effort with some very fine wet/dry sandpaper and light rubbing compound.

My painted bumperettes thread is here: http://986forum.com/forums/general-discussions/30418-4-hours-$50-later.html

Color matched materials will run about $100. Good luck!

Did you soap the gas fitting joints to check for leaks?