Paint - factory front bumper repair curb rash, scrape, and rock chips

[Shroomba]

2 coats of clear on the painted areas and 1 coat on the entire thing?and should the first coat be mixed with 25% paint and clear?

With light presusure sanded with 1000 grit about 10 strokes in every area

[Dino]

I can't tell from the pictures but make sure any chips are sanded all the way out. Paint won't fill them. Although not the perfect way to do it, if you filled them with bondo followed with primer it should be smooth as well.

Sand the primer with 600 and 800 wet, followed by a quick once over with 1000. do not go beyond that or you'll start polishing the material and paint doesn't stick to that very well.

Light coats of color wherever needed to make the bumper look uniform. Ideally you color the hwole thing but you may end up with a color difference at the fenders so try to avoid that spot if you can. Don't clear until the bumper looks perfect minus the shine.

Then clear the whole thing. One thin coat followed by two wet coats. Depending on the clear you may get away with one wet coat, but you'll have to see what it looks like after the one.

Drying times: for base coat, once it looks like matte paint it's pretty much ready, give it a few more minutes to let if off gas. so maybe 20 minutes after your final coat of color. 10 minutes between coats of clear.

[Shroomba]

Damn that puppy looks flawless, I can't believe I actually did it.

I just hope it sticks and doesn't flake off.


Thanks guys, I really owe you one.

[hemi-hampton]

Which variation out of the hundred did you decide to use? Does it match? LEON.

[Shroomba]

I noticed on the back bumper there was a slight cut in it, so I took a razor blade to it and tried to even it out. While doing so I realized that the clear coat and/or the paint in the adjacent area is cracked...as well as, the surface is uneven. Somehow a portion of  the rear bumper on the right of the cut became raised like a small hill. I believe the material is pp + e but I'm not 100% sure I can double check tomorrow.

Hypothetical solution: take a heat gun to it and push the hill down and hopefully it goes back to its original shape. Then sand it down, 80-180, Bondo, 220, prime, 500, 1000,mask, spot paint and spot clear, wet sand 2000 on the edge of the clear, take a DA with rubbering compound and polish.

The other thing I noticed was a dent in the door...I don't know if it was from the whole delima because I didn't see it after words, but it looks like someone hit it with a shopping cart...or something

Solution: My brother and a few friends were telling me yo just bondo it lol. Seems to be the all in one solution to body work, but the dent is on a detail edge, which I don't think is a good idea. I saw a few videos where people would put a price of aluminum over a dent and heat it up with heat gun and cool it down with dry ice, but I truthfully don't think that will work for this dent.I feel like the best thing to do would be to take the door apart and try to push it out by hand or take mallet or hammer to it.

Don't know if that will work, any insight on the situation.

Again, I just wanted to thank everyone here for helping me out in a time of need.

It seems like I got a little bit of every type of problem lol. I've been contimplating getting a job at a body shop after all this.

[birdsandbees]

Just park it in the garage and take the beating later. Be better than what you're going to get for screwing up most of the car if you continue...  

Your brother knows... you're screwed anyhow!

[Shroomba]

Which variation out of the hundred did you decide to use? Does it match? LEON.

For the front, I ended up using parts of everyone's advice. Each post was extremely helpful and made me feel very comfortable, when I doubted myself. I wet sanded the entire thing with 1000 because the only alternative I had was 500 and I was worried I'd get to carried away with it, but I probably should have just used 1 stroke of 500 grit everywhere to be safe.

Prep:
I used the 1000  grit (wet) with about 6-10 strokes per sq area with light pressure all over the entire bumper till it was dull with a hint of shine. I was extremely cautious going over the edges/curves and reduced the amount of strokes on the areas I previously sanded with 2000 grit. When I rubbed my finger over it would make a squeak. I scuffed the bumper with a scotch bright sponge while cleaning with soap and water, hosed everything down. Then, degreesed and sanitized with alcohol.

Painting:
Dusted the entire bumper with about 4 coats of base (15-30 minutes apart) and tried my best to end on an even matte,
then mixed the clear + hardener + 10% paint remaining in the spray gun and dusted it on, (waited 10 minutes between clear coats except on the final coat) dusted another coat of clear + hard, and finished it off with a double shot of clear + hard sprayed back to back.

Reflecting:
My inner conscience is telling me that I should have done more sanding, but think and hope that it should be fine. I feel like a fool for not priming everything, but I don't know.

In my opinion, it looks factory quality but I haven't put it back on the car yet. The white color might be slightly too clean, but I'll find out in morning.

Edit: On the primed areas I sanded with 500 and went over once or twice with 1000 grit

[Shroomba]

Just park it in the garage and take the beating later. Be better than what you're going to get for screwing up most of the car if you continue...  

Your brother knows... you're screwed anyhow!

Don Don dahhh, a level 70 bad news bear has reappeared. Lol

What step did I mess up? Or why do you think I'm doing more harm than good fixing this bad larry?    

I can take an @ss whopping, no problem.   I wish that was the only consequence I was looking at.  

My brother is not to going snitch, he crashed the other car lol

[440]

My brother is not to going snitch, he crashed the other car lol

This goes from bad to worse 

[72Charger72]

 

[Shroomba]

The other just needed a new bumper, which got repainted from a clean slate. Looks brand new again. No worries.

I got stuck with the more difficult job and if I can't finish it I won't throw him under the bus. I'm not that type of person.

I noticed a very slight tangerine peel on the side of the bumper this morning. Should I just lightly wet sand with 2000 grit and buff it out?

Edit: didn't even need to wet sand, buffer with rubbing compound evened out the clear coat.

It looks flawless, better than before trufully. I gotta wax the whole car to match the shine lol. How long should I wait to wash and wax the bumper?

[JB400]

Would you mind telling us what happened that warranted this repair process?

[birdsandbees]

Alcohol... 

[Shroomba]

Any advice on the minor warp on the rear bumper by fixing with a heat gun?

[birdsandbees]

Wife turned her '08 tailblazer bumper inside out this winter. Heat gun and a baseball bat behind put it right back into place... where as a shop would have sold her a new bumper cover. If you're careful you may get it back, but you're gonna burn the paint doing it.

[hemi-hampton]

I looked up the paint code for you the other day. There is only 5 different variations. LEON.

[birdsandbees]

Toyota??? WTF... I figured it had to be a newer Charger..   

[hemi-hampton]

Toyota??? WTF... I figured it had to be a newer Charger..  

"Im in charge of fixing the 2013 toyota corolla with the paint code 040."


That's what he said

[Shroomba]

I guess the guy at Shirwin williams was exaggerating...Your right though, there are only 5 alternates to 040. Thank you for verifying and I'm glad to have learned it under your wing.

The other car was a 2015 dodge Charger...Birdsandbees...are you my next door neighbor or something??? You conspiracies on my shituation are scary accurate.


Should I post my secondary question about the paintless dent removal and warped rear bumper in a another thread to keep everything organized, or is it fine continuing in this post?

I've yet to attempt the rear bumper, I tried to remove the paintless dent today and failed miserably....I took the door panel off and gained access to the back of the dent and heated it up to the point, the opposite side was too hot to touch. First few attempts were complete utter failures. I tried to push it out with my hand,  tried using the back of a screw driver, tried an oversized mallet  which made it worse, because I missed and made a freaking bump.... I tried to knock a smaller dent out by tapping on the crease with the back of a screw bit. Lastly, I tried to pry it with a piece of metal by apply pressure around the edges of the dent and made minor progress.

I was afraid to hit it with a hammer, after the mallet failure.

Came to the conclusion that I need to get the right equipment. Took a trip to O'riley, they didnt have the pry bar tool I was looking for, but they did carry a hammer and dolly set, as well as one of those as-seen-on TV hot glue dent tools. The guy said It probably wouldnt work and that the hammer and dolly would work if I plan to repaint it. 

I gotta do more research before my next attempt.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you again for you time.

[hemi-hampton]

5 if using DBC Sol which is basecoat clear coat. 6 if using DBU which is a reactive reducer base coat clear coat. LEON.

[Shroomba]

Ahhh, seems like there are only a few options for PDR....temperature change, hot glue pulling, **compressed air suction cup slide hammer***, or angled PDR rods. All methods require a nylon/rubber tap down. I really want to try the rods, but they are hella expensive and for that price I can get one of these.

http://www.amazon.com/FIT-TOOLS-Suction-Puller-Remover/dp/B00YF7YA7S/ref=sr_1_4?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1460698988&sr=1-4&keywords=Air+Suction+Dent+Puller

Ill call a few dent companies and see if i can borrow some tools for a few hours lol.

I cant believe i thought i could just hammer that dent out from the other side. I still feel like i might be able to, but supposedly it can stretch the metal or something. I dont know.

I gotta get some shut eye, I really dont want to bondo and paint the door....

Body shop quoted the door dent for 1000$ even......Ted theses prices are outrageous

[hemi-hampton]

Drive it to my house & I'll do it for half that. LEON.

[Shroomba]

I really would if you weren't 16 hours away....I swear body work is like medical bills with out health insurance.

It seems like most shops just bondo dents these days. I guess it's easier for them or something.

I pulled the dent out using hot glue and a cheap Chinese puller. The good attachment broke in the first hour lol.

There is still a  small crease and a minor bump that's visible. The majority of the dent now looks like a valcano...

Tomorrow, I'm going to try to use a tap down to get it back into place.

I really hope the metal isn't stretched...if it is I might have to get a shrinking hammer or Bondo it... Or try to heat it up and cool it down with dry ice

Any thoughts?

[hemi-hampton]

Put a dolly behind the dent when you smack it with a hammer. LEON.

[Shroomba]

Man ...ima get a dolly and small rubber hammer tomorrow. I whacked on it for like 4 fckin hours with a nylon nail and it did hardly nothing because the metal would flex. I definitely need a dolly...

I tried to heat up from the back with a moist paper towel on the painted side until it started steaming and put dry ice on it....did absolutely nothing. It looked like it was trying to do something but zero success with that method.

Straight up the bumper is made out of more durable material than Toyota recycled metal.

After doing some ferensics, it looks like someone rammed a shopping cart into the door, then door bashed the hell out of me.

Besides the volcano looking dent, there's a small 2 inch extruded crease under it and a depressed crease on the upper door trim from someone bashing it.... Errrrrrr, so damn frustrated

Full day of work with absolutely zero success...

Ima get that dolly tomorrow and lift these dents, if it doesn't work, ima kick the door in and Bondo it.