Painting the bumber

PDUEMO

MEMBER
PONTIAC SUNFIRE

Hi there,

I have some surface scratches (no dents) on my front bumper on my 2001 Pontiac Sunfire. I would like to buff them out and then paint the entire bumper inpreparation for selling it.

1. What tool is best to use to buff it with? Do I (meaning my husband) buff the entire bumper or just the scratched area?

2. Can I use trim paint (high gloss) as it is plastic that I will be painting?

The clips on the stick shift bag have also snapped (in the cold weather) and now the base of the bag moves around freely. Is it best to purchase a new one or would it be easy enough to secure to the console on my own?

Thank you, Pam

1 Reply

MIKE H R

MECHANIC
3,094 POSTS

If you are going to paint the entire bumper then all the bumper should be sanded, use a 400 or 600 grit wet or dry sandpaperand wet sand the whole bumper, this removes any grease or wax that could be still on the bumper sand the area until the scraches tapers to the original finish,

after sanding wash the bumper with water and a clean rag. Rinse thoroughly and wipe it dry. The bumper has to be free of dust, fingerprints, wax, detergent or other foreign matter.
Mask around the area to be painted what they call overspray to keep from getting paint on the areas you do not want to paint. Be careful not to get fingerprints on the area to be painted.
Fingerers contain oil and makes it so the paint will not stick. If there are any metal areas they should be snaded and primed before painting.