Painted Bumpers

[synchro]

I've just bought my black Megane CC but didn'tlike the grey bumper bits.
So I bought some black bumper spray to make them the same colour as
the car. Here's a pic of the front. Still have the back to do..

https://img821.imageshack.us/img821/6311/painted.jpg

[STEVIE]

Looks tidy mate

stevie

[bucky]

Nice job

[davelowe]

Looks very good indeed. If I put my dunces hat on, can I ask a few very basic questions (no experience of painting other than emulsion and gloss for the house)?

1) Did you remove the trim before spraying, or did you mask off?
2) If you did remove the trim, did you have to remove the bumpers etc first in order to remove it?
3) My trim has some holes/dents/scrapes in it. What would I use to fill them? I understand prep is 95% of the job. Body filler and various grades of wet and dry acceptable?
4) What paint did you use. I realise that different types of plastic need different paints (possibly). Is there a generic primer and finish from a rattle can?
5) Can I use a rattle can and get good results, or am I off to get a compressor and all that lark?

Ta very muchly!

Dave

[Clone]

I had thought of this but was warned off because of the terrible finish i would get... yours looks properly tidy... im looking forward to you replying to davelows post above...

[JasonS]

The front trims unclip quite easily, I haven't tried the rears..
If you get your nails or a thin flat blade screwdriver under the trim, you can quickly figure out where the clips are, it's just a matter of pressing those down and popping the trim up and out.

The finish that you get depends on your preparation and patience.

I've sprayed my front ones as I noticed after having the car 6 months, that one of them wasn't painted at all..

I should have used primer as I would have achieved a much better finish, but I was wasn't patient enough..
I used a can of spray paint from a Renault dealer.

[Clone]

Cheers jason, do the side bumpers unclip in the same way?

[davelowe]

Thanks for your reply Jason - much appreciated. What does it say on the side of the tin (so to speak)?

@Clone: on the 4 door the front strips are removed by removing a retaining strip on the inside of the door. The rears need to have a clip undone by inserting a thin screwdriver where the wiring loom enters (ie inside the door panel). All should slide off then. I'll test this tomorrow if the weather is good - I've only ever had the front ones off.

[Clone]

Cheers for the info dave, when i get the paint n primer ill have them off...

[synchro]

Hi again,

Here's some pics of how I prepared the front bumper. I didn't try to get the bumper
bits off as I thought you needed to remove the whole bumper and didn't want to risk
marking the plastics.

https://img841.imageshack.us/img841/1092/maskz.jpg

First off I washed the car!
I then used white spirit on the bumper sections to be painted to remove any grease.
Use a lint free cloth for this.

Dave, my bumpers had no dent or scrapes so I didn't need any filler or sanding.
I'm not sure what I'd do in your case as you can't sand the bumpers as you'd lose
the textured surface!

I then masked all the edges with masking tape, then added a layer of
newspaper. The tape fits between the bumper and bodywork so masks
very well.

I then used a can of Halfords Black Bumper Paint for the spraying. This is
designed for plastic and needs no primer. It suggests using preparation
clothes, but the white spirit does the same job.

One and a half cans did the job with several light coats.

Once dry just remove all the masking!

I've not really done any spraying before, so was surprised how good the result is.
Just make sure all the masking is good before starting the painting and take your
time. I did this over about 4 hours. Might do the back bumper today if it stays dry!

Hope this helps? Any questions just ask.

[Clone]

Very helpful synchro thanks. I think i am going to give it a go later on this afternoon.

[synchro]

Did the back today. Here's the pics:

https://img214.imageshack.us/img214/3053/backmd.jpg

Next up are the rear parking sensors I've bought!

[davelowe]

Thanks for the info. I might actually try this - my first ever 'mod'.

I'm not bothered about losing the textured finish on the bumpers - they have 'bald' patches already.

Cheers - great guide.

[JasonS]

Here's how easy it is to unclip the trim:


It's just a matter of using a butter knife to press down these clips:



Here's the paint I used (ordered from renaultpartsdirect.co.uk)

[synchro]

Could have saved myself a lot of masking I I'd known they'd unclip!

How do they look after painting and re-fitting?