Front bumper respray costs?

[Wobba]

Anyone had any kind of quote or work for front bumper resprays recently? I know its a fairly 'how longs a piece of string' type question, but just looking for some kind of rough guide...

[drsmith1979]

do it yourself, the bumper will be able to carry off any imperfections due to its location, stone chips and bugs! haha

take it off, sand it all back, may have to use an isolator coat to protect the paints top coat, then simply spray it yourself, laquer and its done... can even do it with rattle cans, or just rent a compressor and gun from your local motor factors, will cost around 20-30quid for materials plus rental costs. Cans? some primer/isolator and sand paper etc... i'd say 20quid. I've done loads, i even sprayed the whole from of my old BMW 5 series in metallic green in my back garden and you couldn't tell, it was a top professional job (even though i do say so myself!)

body shop will charge anything from 150-300 for a good job

[u33db]

I had a bumper done for 80.

[Wobba]

So it can be rubbed down first, isolator over the old paint, obviously mask up the bits I dont want sprayed, spray, lacquer...

Do I need primer? Also, what about an exact paint match? I had some spray paint but the colour, although 608 Tungsten, isn't a perfect match.

[drsmith1979]

the paint match will be down to a few things:

- the person that mixed it,
- whatever your original prep surface was, its undercoat, what was being put on etc...
- the temperature/moisture you sprayed it on and dried it in.

It all depends on your bumper at the moment, ideally what you would do is to rub down the whole bumper and get rid of any loose paint, flakes, indents etc.... personally i would see if you can get hold of some 'filler primer' for plastic (normal should be fine if you dont remove too much paint) to get rid of the indents, chips etc... then smooth it all back then simply do 3 coats or so of paint, let it dry and bake in the sun, then apply copious amounts of lacquer. This is the key, people often get dull paint, this is due to the temperatures, moisture in the air etc... but if you apply lots of lacquer you can afford to go back after a week or two and attack it with the mop. this way you can actually cut back the dull outer layer and create an artificial shine. think of it as an insurance policy.

its not a lot of work and you will feel good about it and confident of tackling similar jobs in the future.

i would see if you can get hold of a used second hand bumper and then do all the painting and prep on that one, should anything go catastrophically wrong, you have a 'back up' and its a simple 'plug and play' application ;)

[northy]

£80 - £100

[FATBOY]

ive got my car booked in (at last) for the bonnet £130 and i asked how much for the arches, and he quoted me £150 per side. i will be gettig my front bumper done at some point. didnt ask for a quote for that yet.

[Robertio]

... will cost around 20-30quid for materials plus rental costs. Cans? some primer/isolator and sand paper etc... i'd say 20quid.

Can I ask where you get your materials from? If you are sanding it smooth you are looking at (I'd imagine) 2-3 cans of paint, a couple of lacquer and another couple of primer on top of an absolute minimum of 3 sheets of wet and dry (personally I'd be using at least double that). If someone can get me that in Williams blue for £20 I've got the money waiting (I'll have 2 lots please as the car needs a bit of tidy up).

I sprayed my RX-7 and it was a good couple of hundred quid in materials by the time I added it all together (and it was not metallic). While a front bumper is much smaller the area cost is much higher due to buying everything in small quantities. I'd say you are looking at around £50 in materials to do the bumper if you are starting with nothing.

If doing it yourself it is imperative you do it when it is warm and dry, calm and the air is bug free :D

Bodyshop wise the price will be anywhere in the ranges suggested, or even a good bit more depending on where you take it.

[Wobba]

Thanks everyone.

[Matty86]

Ive done some spraying, but find that a DIY finish will chip much easier! any suggestions on how to stop that?

[drsmith1979]

Hey Rob - I use a small paint shop in Pemberton near to where Northy lives, the dude in there is a little eccentric to say the least but hes a great chap, i always barter with him and as its his own shop he gives random prices haha.. always has special offers on filler, primer, wet and dry etc.... i go there often and get good pricing.

As i say, i sprayed the whole front end of my BMW E39 and it was a pucka job. i have done many a bumper, wing etc..... not that hard, just dont go to a chain shop for paint, the mix isnt good and they are expensive, go to the smaller independent ones and they will do more to get your business.

as for the homemade approach chipping easier, probably due to the lack of curing of the lacquer, i always spray my stuff on a baking hot day and leave them in the sun all afternoon to help harden them... even so, after few days you can still feel its not totally crips and hard, mainly because i put loads on so i can easily cut it back to get some extra shine.