Bumper Removal

[terrykrueger]

Hey I am repainting my 87 and I saw a post that referred to bumper removal (front) and said it wasn't too tough. They were right so I removed it to strip it. I am now contemplating the rear. How do they compare in difficulty? My other option is removing the tail lights and marker lights and stripping it on the car. Also, I have read horror stories on other posts about fiberglass stripper. I am contemplating using it on the hood. Most of the horror stories seem to eminate from stripper 'seeping' and removing the paint. I am assuming their seepage is from the seams, none of which are on the hood if I only do that. Any input on this?

 

[JonM]

Once you get the rear lights out, the rear is pretty easy also. about 14 nuts around the seam you can get at with a #10 socket 1/4 inch drive. Then just take the bolts out in the wheel wells. As far as stripping, if I were you and just doing the hood, I would remove the wax with a good wax remover and also go over it with a good silicone remover. Then get into it with some wet sandpaper...start with about 180 and end with about 600.

 

[terrykrueger]

Thanks Jon - your posts are very insightful and have helped me quite a bit. This thing was painted new with 65 miles on it and the guy went with a custom Kandy color which involved a base silver and multiple reds- on top of the original black. Its pretty thick. The hood is the worst (along with the targa) and I and hesitant to put a primer surfacer over so much stuff. Would you still wetsand? Or strip? No one seems to know the composition of the targa. I don't know if I should use bumper stripper (if urethane) or fiberglass stripper. I may just DA that piece.

 

[dmrodco]

Personally I would have it media stripped the chemicals just stay around and ruin a new paint job. Even GM dosent recommend chemical stripping of a vette for that very reason. Trust me it will come back to haunt you

 

[berky2500]

Are you painting your car a piece at a time, or are you prepping it to do all at once? I'm asking because I'm contemplating both methods.

Are you painting or just doing the prep work? Again, I plan on doing my own paint, the problem is my garage won't be done for a while.

 

[terrykrueger]

I stripped the front bumper while my 3 year old was napping. I pick at the rear one when the twins are getting in the minivan. I Sand the targa while waiting for my wife. After I get the paint off I am going to move the lawnmower, cycle, grill, bikes, out of the garage for a day and hope I get it done. So I am not painting each piece seperately, but my prep work will be done seperately. Hows about you?

 

[JonM]

Terry...been there, done all that...check out the link on my sig pic.

 

[terrykrueger]

Sweeeet! It is always good to find a mentor. Did you really do it in 8 days? I noticed you said epoxy coat. Did you do an epoxy primer over the primer surfacer or under? Or maybe you didn't need a primer surfacer? Did you do chemical stripping?
Here are my thoughts on what I am doing - let me know if you have any feedback:

PPG DP epoxy (their new one, not really DP anymore I think) on the bumpers and hood. NCP 250 Primer surfacer on all over the epoxy then a DBU basecoat and urethane clear. Chemical stripping is done on the front and I will be doing the hood soon. The rear bumper will probably be stripped on the car since I hear the taillights are tough to do.
Nice car by the way. My goal is to take the Sh*tbox off of my title.
I am trying to attach a pic if I can get it small enough.

 

[JonM]

From Prime to final took about 8 days...the rest of the prep took a while longer. I did all of the prime spraying and sanding in my garage. The final I did in a booth at a local body shop. (the owner has a crush on a female friend of mine so I took advantage of that LOL) I did two coats of base primer after I had it media blasted with soda. I wet sanded by hand between coats. I did the final with a no-sand epoxy, then the base and clear coats. If you have long arms, you can reach around the muffler and get the two #10 nuts on the tail light lens. This is a must if you want to do a good job.

Here is PPG's Automotive Coatings web site

http://www.ppg.com/cr-refinish/phase1/frmPickRegion.asp

 

[berky2500]

Haven't done anything yet. I keep telling myself I'm waiting on the body until the rest of the car is sound. The body is passable, but there are lots of scrathes that the previous owner tried to touch up. My 3 yr old niece paints her nails better than the scratches were re-done.

I spent the first year on the interior and all of the broken pieces, this winter is the suspension and brakes. Hopefully next fall I will start sanding, but as with yours the nose needs stripped. I hope to have my garage so I have the room.

My real problem is I plan on doing a reverse Grand Sport look, keep the red base, white stripe, and end up with blue hash marks. That means extra prep and maybe longer not being able to drive the car. That's the hard part to take.

In the meantime, I'll just keep admiring all you brave souls that have done your own cars, because that has been my plan all along.