vinster29

I have been having trouble touching up some areas on the plastic bumper of my RX300. What is the best way to make sure the paint sticks after I put it on? Should I prime the bumper before I put the paint on? Any help would be appreciated? I'm not very good at this paint chip repair stuff, so step by step directions on how to fix a paint chip on a plastic bumper would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Guitarman

First, we need a little background;

What kind of area are you touching up, is it small rock chips, gouges, scratches?

Is the touch-up area down to the urethane plastic, or can you see primer or basecolor still?

These will factor into the instructions/steps you need to take.

vinster29

I am trying to touch up some large paint scratches on the side of my rear bumper. The scratch is all the way down to the urethane plastic. I have a couple of Autovisuals paint pens that are the factory color but I'm thinking about buying a can of matching spray paint since I don't think that the paint that I have will be enough. I already have a bottle of clear coat and some Langka to touch up any excess. Is their anything else I need? Thanks for your help Guitarman.

Guitarman

K...

Any spots where the plastic (urethane) bumper is visible through the scratches must first be degreased and then prepped with a "plastic prep" agent. You can actually buy it at AutoZone now, in a spray can. If you decide just to brush your touch up in, you can spray a little of the plastic prep stuff into the cap and brush it onto the repair. Let it dry about 10 minutes and then you can brush your touch-up paint over that. Primer isn't absolutely necessary here because the plastic prep is a bonding agent that helps paint stick to the urethane. It chemically etches the plastic so the paint "bites" in.

. I've done it many times with good results, the paint won't come off. Of course, there's no problem using a primer after the plastic prep if you wish, then painting. But for very small scratch repairs like that, the plastic prep alone is fine to paint on. You can build your paint up to the level of the rest of the paint (slowly) then either wetsand with 2500 grit to level/blend the repair(s), or just use a rubbing compound then a polish, and it should blend decently. You'll always still see it, the best you can hope for is making it so your eye doesn't go right to it, as I imagine it does now.

Good luck Vinster