HokieZ

iTrader: (1)

I may just be imagining this, or perhaps it is perfectly normal, but it appears as if the rear bumper on my redline 350Z is a bit duller in overall shine than the remainder of the car. Should I expect this to go away with a good couple of Zaino applications?

Thanks,

HokieZ

TCL

The right side of my Daytona Blue bumper looked like it had less clear coat on it than the rest of the car. It too was dull until I took a radical step to fix that along with a worse than average case of orange peel.

HokieZ

iTrader: (1)

What was the radical step? Wet sand?

Thanks,

HokieZ

TCL

Sent the car in for a full, high quality repaint. They disassembled it, sanded it (removing the orange peel), applied a base coat and three coats of clear. If the only issue with your paint is the bumper, you wouldn't need to go that far.

haanz

I have this issue too on my Super Black Z. I have tried clay bar, extra coats of polish and nothing seems to work

mb27

TCL how much is a paint job like that?

TCL

Estimates I got were around 2500 to 3000. I went with the shop with the best reputation I could find and ended up paying $3100. Very satisfied with the results.

mb27

I assume it's better than the factory paint? I have a super black which is already covered in swirls, scratches, tree sap divits etc. All in all on a 4 month old car the paint looks like ****. My brother's 95 black grand am has a better looking paint job.

TCL

They used Spies Hecker polyurethane paint. After shooting the base coat and three coats of clear, they buffed the top coat of clear for a smoother finish. The factory clear coat is much thinner.
Based on the research I've done, my new paint should be more durable. It definitely looks better than the factory paint job.

mb27

Hmmm...sounds nice. I may do this in the future. The Z is my first real sports car, first car I bought brand new as well, and I plan on keeping it for a long time. If the paint is better than factory, it may be 3k well spent. No chipping or swirls made easily? Is there a website to find out more about this Spies Hecker polyurethane?
Thanks for all the help!

TCL

I got most of my info talking with people in the paint business, but here is the website.

http://www.spieshecker.com

mb27

Thanks! I should have guessed that was the URL

BDeppe1316

I used touch up paint on my front bumper and it didnt match worth **** i am soo pissed off casue i got it from the dealership. Anyways how much do you guys this it will cost to fix it, will the whole bumper have to be stripped and repaitned? give me your thought

Duke407

I can't say exactly what it will cost you, but I think that what you will find out is that if you want it done right and for it to look decent, your best bet is to have them completely sand down the whole bumper and repaint it. I can tell you this, I am currently as we speak having my "roof" completely re-painted, due to a piece of metal falling on top of it and it is costing me exactly $360.76. Could've been alot more I guess, but from what I also hear, the touch-up paint ain't worth **** like you said. Stay away from that crap. Just my 2 cents.

johnsZ

bdeppe-
sorry to hear about the mismatch.
You might want to get some of the little fuzz tipped touchup sticks at the local auto paint supply store. they cost about 25 cents to a dollar, or about $5 or $10 per 100 at Eastwoods.
Use them very sparingly to just touch a little bit of paint to the surface, do not try to fill the scratch all at once. Patience is important here. Then, after you have filled the scratch, there may be a bit of a bump. WAIT until it sets- a couple days at least.
You can then take a popsicle stick, wrap it with some 2000 or 3000 grit paper, take a spray bottle full of water, add a drop or two of dish soap to the water in the sprayer.
Then, spray liberally over the scratch. GENTLY rub the popsicle stick covered with the super fine grit paper over the high spots. Take it really slowly so you do not mess up the paint on the main panel. The idea is to just take off the bump, not scratch the rest of the paint. The best way to do this is with a bare light bulb shining on the surface, and work in a garage- then you can see what is happening at the surface. Keep a lot of water on the surface, and do not let the paint clog the paper. Do not rub fast- the paint will heat up quickly and make a mess. Lots of water...
Have some dry cotton cloth to dry the surface, then inspect. When you are close to flattening the bump, stop.
Eastwood's has this weird little round thing with scalloped sandpaper that is also supposed to be good at smoothing small spots- same idea.
Get some rubbing compound (3M), and a dry cloth. Take a bit of the compound on the cloth and gently rub in a circular motion until some shine begins to come back. Do not polish too much- just to get some shine comies back. Wash with water and dry off.
Then, finish with 3M glaze or Aurora 3000 glaze. A little of this stuff on a clean cotton cloth or microfiber cloth, and rub in a small circular motion, gradually making bigger circles will restore the shine to original. Then you can put other stuff on the surface like wax or Zaino or whatever. I stop with the glaze on my F40 and Porsche. Have only used glaze once so far on the Z- no spider webs and over time, it will reduce the orange peel somewhat.
Good luck.

JediPimp

It seems that both front and rear bumpers are slightly duller and they wont take wax. Whats up with that? No clearcote? Beside taking back to the dealer, what can be done about this? Are their any products I can use to help protect and shine these areas?

Drumtemp

I'd about given up on the "plastic-over-foam" spoiler that came with my 240SX--major dull! I finally decided to start anew with a fresh wash using dawn, then I tried Maguier's Paint Clean, then a layer of Maguier's polish. That was enough--the polish seemed to put back in whatever it was that was missing (oils?) from the paint. I then sealed the job with Maguier's Gold Class. The spoiler shines like the rest of the car now!
Might be worth a try....

shortcut3d

Langka is a must with touch-up paint. I used it on my GPP IS300 all the time. That pearl paint was a pain to match because of the flake, but eventually i got it to work. Langka will also remove the old touch-up paint mistakes.

HokieZ

iTrader: (1)

Just an update. Managed to completely remove whatever was on their finally with some Meguiars paint cleaner. It even cut through the Zaino that was on there (which was a real pain in the butt). Funny thing was the first 2 applications beaded up and fell off the bumper, had to put on the applicator, then buff quickly to keep the same from happening. After about 2 hours on the affected sections they now shine like the rest of the car.