Painting bumpers and mirrors

[slater14]

I've decided to paint bumpers and mirrors on my MK5 Transit.

My bumpers have a textured finish. When you guys sand them down, do you take them down flat (remove the texture) and then apply plastic primer/paint or do you try and leave the original textured finish and spray?

Also trying to decide whether to go for a Satin, Matt or gloss finish.

I'm thinking of going with Gloss black for the 'smiley' and Matt or Satin black for the vents in the 'smiley' followed by either Satin or Matt black for the bumpers to match vents.






The mirrors I'm thinking of the same - Matt, Sating or Gloss black

Close up pics of the textured finish on mirrors



Close up pics of texture on the bumper


Very boring colour choice I know. But I want to keep it pretty much as it is....with a bit of freshness just to bring it up to date.

Thoughts?

[AlanN]

What ever you do, dont over sand the bumpers... Rub them down with fine paper, other wise they get a bit furry, then spray over with a plastic primer.. I prefer the clear type. A number of layers of filler spray, make sure it drys between. Flat the whole lot smooth and paint the mirror are harder plastic and you can almost anything to them

[slater14]

What ever you do, dont over sand the bumpers... Rub them down with fine paper, other wise they get a bit furry, then spray over with a plastic primer.. I prefer the clear type. A number of layers of filler spray, make sure it drys between. Flat the whole lot smooth and paint the mirror are harder plastic and you can almost anything to them

Thanks AlanN,

So are we talking 1200, 1500, 2000....or maybe even 3000 wet and dry on the bumpers?

Am I looking to take the textured finish off to leave a smooth bumper after sanding?

[AlanN]

Not as fine as finishing papers, but 800 - 1000 is good enough to key the surface with a little soapy water... Is it a secondhand bumper, if so make sure you degrease the bugger really well, all the oil, wax and crap that gets stuck to the bumper over the years...

I dont like the grey paint style plastic primer, the clear one is really thin like water, but gets into the plastic. None of them are 100%, so look after it afterwards, avoid HP jetwashers

[slater14]

Its the original bumper.

Those spotlights look brilliant. Might have a go at that while I'm at it.