Restoration of Bumper

Now that the winter has finally moved in, I''m thinking of projects for next spring.

My front bumper (non Chrome) while not in horrible shape could use a new paint job.

Any idea of what it should cost from to have it removed, sanded down, repainted and to reinstall?

Thanks

Sorry mp,

but i'm not up on American pricing in your body shops. However, a couple of things to bare in mind............... i recently took my '73 front bar off and refinished it myself, and noted that the remove and refit part is fast and easy and that would help save on costs. Also, depending on the condition of your bar now, it may just need a good sanding down and then spot prime as adversed to sanding and completely priming up the whole bar, saving money there too. The paint will be exy unless you have a connection with someone. If you decide to keep the black backing strip on the top of the bar, that should get sprayed in flat 2pak black again, and that will be an extra cost as well. I went to the trouble of wet sanding my clearcoat with 1200 w&d and then polished it up to a peel less finish.That's all extra money i guess, but it came up s*it hot. Try and find a body shop that does good work for a fair price. In my case, i had the luxury of putting in a lot more time and detail to the overall quality of the finished bar. If you were to hand over the car to your body shop and say here, do the whole job, you would have to sacrifice some quality to keep your costs down. In my case, the work i did on mine, would have cost me well over a thousand Aus dollars if i paid a body shop to do what i did myself.

See my bumper bar thread for tips as well.

Reference ................

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-austin-vert-s-front-bumper-makeover

Greg.

If it gets taken down to the black urethane a flexible primer, such as Sherwin Williams P30A Spectra Prime. If you don't, the paint will crack the first time you pick it up. Guess how I know. If filler needs to be used, something like 3M 05887 should be used. None of the materials are cheap (and it is red) so, don't be too shocked when you get quotes. let us know what you decide to do. Chuck[/align]

Sorry mp,

but i'm not up on American pricing in your body shops. However, a couple of things to bare in mind............... i recently took my '73 front bar off and refinished it myself, and noted that the remove and refit part is fast and easy and that would help save on costs. Also, depending on the condition of your bar now, it may just need a good sanding down and then spot prime as adversed to sanding and completely priming up the whole bar, saving money there too. The paint will be exy unless you have a connection with someone. If you decide to keep the black backing strip on the top of the bar, that should get sprayed in flat 2pak black again, and that will be an extra cost as well. I went to the trouble of wet sanding my clearcoat with 1200 w&d and then polished it up to a peel less finish.That's all extra money i guess, but it came up s*it hot. Try and find a body shop that does good work for a fair price.

See my bumper bar thread for tips as well.

Reference ................

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-austin-vert-s-front-bumper-makeover

Greg.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

My front bumper/bar is in very good shape, but could just use a new paint job.

As far as doing this myself, it scares the crap out of me trying to pull off the bumper/bar that been on it since 1990 without screwing something up or breaking something.

I do have a local shop that I can trust, so I'll talk with them next time I stop in.

If it gets taken down to the black urethane a flexible primer, such as Sherwin Williams P30A Spectra Prime. If you don't, the paint will crack the first time you pick it up. Guess how I know.

C9 is right................... if your body shop was going to strip all the old paint off, then yes, a flex primer is a must. In my case and your's by the sound of it, the existing paint is in good condition,and you will be spraying over that paint, and so IMO, you have the option to add or not add flex additive to any paints you use to refinish your bar. I decided not to put any flex additives when i did my job, and i feel sure i won't run into any paint issues down the line. Nothing to stop you adding flex if you wanted too, to be sure.

Greg.

If it gets taken down to the black urethane a flexible primer, such as Sherwin Williams P30A Spectra Prime. If you don't, the paint will crack the first time you pick it up. Guess how I know.

C9 is right................... if your body shop was going to strip all the old paint off, then yes, a flex primer is a must. In my case and your's by the sound of it, the existing paint is in good condition,and you will be spraying over that paint, and so IMO, you have the option to add or not add flex additive to any paints you use to refinish your bar. I decided not to put any flex additives when i did my job, and i feel sure i won't run into any paint issues down the line. Nothing to stop you adding flex if you wanted too, to be sure.

Greg.

Click to expand...

All good info.

I'll save this thread for Spring 2015.

I just finished doing my bumper on my 1972 Mach1. I used a special paint stripper designed for just this kind of job and it worked ok then I sanded the finished surface to a smooth clean surface then primed with a primer for flexible parts the had the local NAPA dealer mix me the matching paint total cost about 100 bucks. and 10 hours total time. Easy job. NAPA had all of the products needed and were a great help.

I just finished doing my bumper on my 1972 Mach1. I used a special paint stripper designed for just this kind of job and it worked ok then I sanded the finished surface to a smooth clean surface then primed with a primer for flexible parts the had the local NAPA dealer mix me the matching paint total cost about 100 bucks. and 10 hours total time. Easy job. NAPA had all of the products needed and were a great help.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback mrmach1,

That sounds great. I'm glad it all went well for you, and you didn't run into any problems per say. Sounds like your a man who knows what your doing.

Cheers,

Greg.

Sorry mp,

but i'm not up on American pricing in your body shops. However, a couple of things to bare in mind............... i recently took my '73 front bar off and refinished it myself, and noted that the remove and refit part is fast and easy and that would help save on costs. Also, depending on the condition of your bar now, it may just need a good sanding down and then spot prime as adversed to sanding and completely priming up the whole bar, saving money there too. The paint will be exy unless you have a connection with someone. If you decide to keep the black backing strip on the top of the bar, that should get sprayed in flat 2pak black again, and that will be an extra cost as well. I went to the trouble of wet sanding my clearcoat with 1200 w&d and then polished it up to a peel less finish.That's all extra money i guess, but it came up s*it hot. Try and find a body shop that does good work for a fair price.

See my bumper bar thread for tips as well.

Reference ................

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-austin-vert-s-front-bumper-makeover

Greg.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

My front bumper/bar is in very good shape, but could just use a new paint job.

As far as doing this myself, it scares the crap out of me trying to pull off the bumper/bar that been on it since 1990 without screwing something up or breaking something.

I do have a local shop that I can trust, so I'll talk with them next time I stop in.

Click to expand...

Mark,

Not much to taking off the bumper. You're bigger problem will be matching your 20 year old paint. You will need to find someone really really good at panel matching and they will charge you for all the spray outs they will need to do. Normally you can blend into the fenders but then you have the decal which opens up a whole new can of worms. Do you decal the whole side. Will new decal cover old decal area ....

Jim

Sorry mp,

but i'm not up on American pricing in your body shops. However, a couple of things to bare in mind............... i recently took my '73 front bar off and refinished it myself, and noted that the remove and refit part is fast and easy and that would help save on costs. Also, depending on the condition of your bar now, it may just need a good sanding down and then spot prime as adversed to sanding and completely priming up the whole bar, saving money there too. The paint will be exy unless you have a connection with someone. If you decide to keep the black backing strip on the top of the bar, that should get sprayed in flat 2pak black again, and that will be an extra cost as well. I went to the trouble of wet sanding my clearcoat with 1200 w&d and then polished it up to a peel less finish.That's all extra money i guess, but it came up s*it hot. Try and find a body shop that does good work for a fair price.

See my bumper bar thread for tips as well.

Reference ................

http://www.7173mustangs.com/thread-austin-vert-s-front-bumper-makeover

Greg.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the info.

My front bumper/bar is in very good shape, but could just use a new paint job.

As far as doing this myself, it scares the crap out of me trying to pull off the bumper/bar that been on it since 1990 without screwing something up or breaking something.

I do have a local shop that I can trust, so I'll talk with them next time I stop in.

Click to expand...

Mark,

Not much to taking off the bumper. You're bigger problem will be matching your 20 year old paint. You will need to find someone really really good at panel matching and they will charge you for all the spray outs they will need to do. Normally you can blend into the fenders but then you have the decal which opens up a whole new can of worms. Do you decal the whole side. Will new decal cover old decal area ....

Jim

Click to expand...

I understand about the paint, but there's no decal on the bumper to match.

Thanks for the info.

My front bumper/bar is in very good shape, but could just use a new paint job.

As far as doing this myself, it scares the crap out of me trying to pull off the bumper/bar that been on it since 1990 without screwing something up or breaking something.

I do have a local shop that I can trust, so I'll talk with them next time I stop in.

Click to expand...

Mark,

Not much to taking off the bumper. You're bigger problem will be matching your 20 year old paint. You will need to find someone really really good at panel matching and they will charge you for all the spray outs they will need to do. Normally you can blend into the fenders but then you have the decal which opens up a whole new can of worms. Do you decal the whole side. Will new decal cover old decal area ....

Jim

Click to expand...

I understand about the paint, but there's no decal on the bumper to match.

Click to expand...

I just mentioned the decals if you needed to blend into the fenders. In that case you would need to remove them. Hopefully they can do a exact match.

Mark,

Not much to taking off the bumper. You're bigger problem will be matching your 20 year old paint. You will need to find someone really really good at panel matching and they will charge you for all the spray outs they will need to do. Normally you can blend into the fenders but then you have the decal which opens up a whole new can of worms. Do you decal the whole side. Will new decal cover old decal area ....

Jim

Click to expand...

I understand about the paint, but there's no decal on the bumper to match.

Click to expand...

I just mentioned the decals if you needed to blend into the fenders. In that case you would need to remove them. Hopefully they can do a exact match.

Click to expand...

Even though I still have some paint from 1990, I sure hope that they can blend to match.

Hmm...New Jersey. East Coast weather has most likely created some rust underneath the urethane cover. While you are at it, take it apart, media blast all the metal and seal it up with new primer and paint. The go to work on the urethane as noted above. Replace the fasteners with new stainless.