About a year ago, I repainted my '94 Stealth a different color.Recently someone backup up and tapped my rear bumper causing the paint in that area to crack and peel off, shattering almost like glass. A guy at the body shop said because of the material the bumpers are made of, it's hard to get paint to adhere to the surface. They had used a primer and sealant before repainting it, so I'm wondering if anyone out there knows anything about the proper way to prep and paint the bumper skirt so it will adhere. Their story doesn't sound right. It seems like the bumpers ought to be made of material that can be repainted, shouldn't they?
I know they make 3rd party rear and front bumpers for the Stealth. I'd rather buy a kit and repaint it than take a chance on repainting the rear bumper on this one if it's going to continue to be a problem. Any advice?
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First of bumpers are repainted constantly without troubles ... It's plain and simple improper prep ... Old paint must be roughed up, since the old paint chipped I'd suggest stripping the entire bumper ... Primer , adhesion promoter then paint , be sure they add a "flex agent" as all bumpers flex this softens the paint and prevents spiderwebbing and paint cracking
Okay, thanks. Actually, the old paint didn't chip off. Everything above it did, which makes me think they either didn't rough up the old paint enough or add enough flex material to the new paint as you said. Above the spot where it chipped off, there's the telltale "spidering" and cracking you mentioned. Sounds like if they prep'ed it properly that shouldn't have happened either.
Also, there's alsoa grove along the front bumper where the top layer of paint has come off, exposing a black (adhesive?) below. The groves are probably harder to get to, hence if they hurried the job they may not have prep'ed these areas as well. Bottom line is the paint is not holding in non-metallic areas (bumpers and door side rails), so if they don't take responsibility, sounds like I may have to get opinions from other body shops and take them to small claims. This was supposed to be a very reputable shop and was very expensive, too. They stripped the car down and everything, but I have a feeling they may have hurried or cut corners along the line.
definately sounds like improper prep ... is the old paint still shiny underneath ??? I'm betting they hit it with prepsol to remove wax and shot it ... the primer should have at least held onto the old paint, if you can take a fingernail and chip away the new paint from the area , bad prep
The old paint underneath is dull colored, not shinylike the originalbut feels very smooth to the touch, not roughed up. Not sure if I should be able to feel arough texture with just my finger as a sign it's been prep'ed properly or not, though. I do know from the pictures they took when doing the car that it was sanded andhad grey primerin those areas where they did body work to fix small dents or dings. The doors were off, headlamps, tail lights, hatch, everything pretty much stripped down. They did door jams, everything.
Where the paintis cracked, it's pretty easy to chip off paint with one's fingernail. In the area where it's already chipped down to the original paint,it's more difficult to continuechipping away around the edges with my fingernail. Thatareawasn't an area that was impacted and isto the right of the license plate (under the bumper) and seems to have been jarred loose from the light impact. I can see cracks in the paint running fromwhere it's chipped off continuingunder the license plate.
Shouldn't the new paint adhere as well as the original? The spidering and cracking from the impact wouldn't happen to the original paint, I don't think.
prepsol will dull the finish but they really need to sand it ... likely they skipped that step ...thats also why the primer didn't stick when you got hit
Paint won't adhere to rear bumper
