I scraped the front passenger side of my car along a curb and the scratches look pretty deep. How can I go about repairing these deep bumper scratches? The only items I have are 1500 and 3000 grit 3M sandpaper, Meguiar’s Ultimate Compound and Ultimate Polish, and some microfiber towels. I was planning on buying some Primer, Basecoat, and Clearcoat in a spraycan as well as somebody filler.
You’ll never get a match from a rattlecan.
And you lack the proper equipment and materials to do a proper job. You’d need a buffer, more variations of sandpaper, different aggregates of polishing compound (NOT to be confused with the stuff you have), sandable primer, and a few miscellaneous things that I’ve unintentionally omitted. And, since that’s a paint filled with ground up mica for that “sparkle” effect, good instructions.
Based on the shine, I’d guess that the car is pretty new. And the damage, while all superficial, is too extensive for a brush-type scratch repair.
I’d suggest getting a quote or two from body shops. It probably won’t cost that much more than buying the proper equipment and materials to do it yourself, and the results will be far, far better. Especially since it’s on plastic (which will require flex additive to the paint, and since it has the mica, which will need to have proper homogeneity in its mix (be well mixed) to come out right.
This would be a good time to stock up on other supplies. You need to sand the area smooth starting with about 120 grit, then up to about 400. You may need to fill the scratched area a little too. Then prime and paint. 1500 grit is only for color sanding the paint surface before polishing, not for prep for painting. Or just have a shop do it.
TSMB and Bing are probably right. However, you COULD try DIY, and then, when your finished job looks as bad to you as before you started, go to the professionals. Only you can judge the value of trying vs the risk of having to spend the $ on the body shop after you have already spent the $ and time on DIY.
IMHO winter is not the best time for DYI tryout, unless heated garage is available
a decent job can be done with something like AutomotiveTouchup.com or paintscratch.com materials, first site also used to have some good instructions for beginners. I would assume bumper cover would have to come off to work on it… initial sand/prime/putty/sand/prime cycle can be done right on the car, but having cover off and in convenient position would help a lot to get a good result in the end
You damaged the bumper cover. There is a metal bar attached to struts underneath it that is the real bumper. Call salvage yards and check on line to see if there is a used bumper cover that costs less than repairing this one.
That damage needs more than paint. You must fill with the proper material, then paint. If you have experieence and a warm place to paint, go for it.
I have very sucessfully repaired bumpers with paint from Tower Paint. The nice thing about rattle can paint is that it is easily removed with lacquer thinner, but factory paint is not. If you don’t like your paint work, remove it and try again or involve a professional.
I live in South Florida where cold is not a problem, and I have done light painting for many years. However, you have a lot of damage. I would have a body shop fix it.
Painting something that flexes, like a plastic bumper, requires something body shops call “flex additive” in the paint. If you don’t use it, whatever paint you use will peal. My recommendation is to either buy yourself a black sharpie to color the scratch marks black, or get the whole bumper fixed properly at a body shop.
Hey everybody, I really appreciate the responses made on my Topic. I wasn’t expecting several replies to my question within a short time frame. I’m a novice since I never sanded and painted a bumper before, I think I’ll play it safe and take it to a body shop. Thanks again you guys.
Good Idea but on the other hand, you have to start somewhere. My first was in 1962 on a bent up pan under the bumper of our 61 Chevy.